Date of Award

5-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Department

Nursing (Graduate)

First Advisor

Louann B. Zinsmeister, PhD, RN, CNE

Abstract

Educational institutions have modified their curriculum and as a result perioperative education in undergraduate nursing programs has decreased to where it is nonexistent in some institutions (Byrne, Root, & Culbertson, 2016). The decrease of perioperative education in nursing programs has led to a lack of new graduate nurses choosing to work in the perioperative setting and creating a nursing shortage (Castelluccio, 2011). The purpose of this evidence-synthesizing capstone project was to explore and determine how best practices to incorporate perioperative concepts into undergraduate nursing education curricula influence new graduate employment in perioperative nursing.

Methods: A total of 12 articles fit all parameters of inclusion and exclusion criteria and was critically appraised using the Johns Hopkins evidence-based practice model. The twelve articles that were synthesized all implemented or evaluated students that had completed a perioperative course in an undergraduate nursing program.

Results: The articles focused on one of two themes. The first theme was incorporating Quality and Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN) core competencies into the undergraduate nursing curriculum and having the students gain increased skills in the six QSEN core competency areas. The second theme was increasing the number of new graduate nurses that chose to work in the perioperative setting after graduation to combat the perioperative nursing shortage.

Implications: Incorporating the perioperative setting into the undergraduate nursing program curriculum was found to have the possibility of increasing the number of nurses that choose the perioperative setting after graduation. Also, the perioperative setting provides an environment where the six QSEN core competencies can be fostered. Therefore, more original research is needed to test perioperative educational methods for facilitation of quality and safety in nursing practice.

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