A perioperative practicum

It is increasingly difficult for nurse educators to provide clinical experiences for students in settings that offer excellent educational opportunities. Hospital administrators are phasing out entry-level medical-surgical nursing positions and decreasing the number of inpatient beds, correspondingly decreasing the numbers of patients available to students. Educators need to develop new strategies to meet this challenge. Perioperative practicums are one method to help accomplish this. The author describes a unique perioperative experience that includes an important home care component.