Advanced perioperative nursing elective for baccalaureate students

Recruiting baccalaureate nursing students and experienced RNs into perioperative nursing is essential if RNs are to continue their presence in surgical settings. The advanced elective described in this article is the second part of a two-elective sequence in perioperative nursing at La Salle University, Philadelphia. This collaborative program between nursing education and nursing practice contains both didactic and clinical components and broadens the exposure of basic baccalaureate and RN-baccalaureate nursing students to perioperative nursing. This experience increases graduates' marketability, provides perioperative staff members opportunities to recruit new nurses into their specialty, and creates a pool of potential perioperative staff nurses.