Purpose: This pilot study will determine the effectiveness of structured perioperative nursing course implemented for nursing students in a large tertiary university hospital in Saudi Arabia.
Background: Nursing students may lack perioperative nursing skills due to limited exposure in surgical theaters, resulting to fewer numbers of newly graduates seeking perioperative nursing position. Creation of educational programs that incorporate the essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes required in perioperative setting may help address this challenge. Direct patient care experience in the operating room is necessary to expose students to this vital field of nursing and spark interest in the specialty as a career path after graduation. Benner’s novice to expert model, generated from the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition, serves as a framework in the development of nursing students’ clinical competence in the operating room through experiential teaching and learning.
Method(s): 40 nursing students in their 4th year of the bachelor’s degree curriculum are purposively enrolled in the pilot study. Each nursing student is attached to a senior operating room registered nurse as a preceptor. Unit-specific fundamental competency skills are assessed through observational checklist before and after the 6-month perioperative nursing course (preoperative preparations, surgical scrubbing, gowning and gloving, scrub and circulating nurse role, patient positioning, skin preparation and draping, surgical time-out, sterility technique, handling of instruments, and post-operative nursing care management). Student satisfaction and perception of operating room unit as a clinical learning environment will also be measured after completion of the course.
Conclusions: The authors hypothesize that nursing students’ level of clinical competence will increase after the 6-month perioperative nursing course. Students’ satisfaction and perception of operating room unit as a clinical learning environment will be used as basis to improve and create meaningful students’ clinical experience in the operating room, thereby attracting nursing students to pursue perioperative nursing careers.
Evidence-based references
1. Beitz, J. M. (2019). Addressing the Perioperative Nursing Shortage Through Education: A Perioperative Imperative. AORN Journal, 110(4), 403–414. https://doi-org.sdl.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/aorn.12805
2. Davis, A., & Maisano, P. (2016). Patricia Benner: Novice to expert-A concept whose time has come (again). Oklahoma Nurse, 61(3), 13-15.
3. Manz, J., Williams, K., Jessen, J., & Kirkpatrick, A. (2021). Addressing the Perioperative Nursing Shortage Via a Perioperative Nursing Preceptorship for Baccalaureate Nursing Students. AORN Journal, 113(1), 52–63. https://doiorg.sdl.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/aorn.13277