Implementing a Perioperative RN Training Program for Recent Graduates

In 2010, nurse educators at one health care facility implemented a new program that emphasized placing new graduates in specialty areas, including the hemodialysis unit, the gastroenterology unit, and the OR. Managers in the OR faced staffing challenges because of the difficulty in recruiting and retaining experienced perioperative nurses and the expected retirement of a significant number of staff members. Surgical services managers agreed to participate in the new graduate program and decided to use AORN's Periop 101™ course and a series of monthly simulation training sessions to supplement the program and provide recently graduated nurses with a strong perioperative nursing foundation. In three years, a total of nine newly graduated RNs successfully completed the program. The three-year retention rate was 78%.