title: Improving associate degree nursing students' perioperative clinical observation experiences.
abstract: For associate degree nursing students at Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, the perioperative nursing clinical experience typically included a one-day observation of a surgical procedure, with students entering the OR suite after the surgery started and having to leave before the surgery was completed. An associate professor of nursing and a perioperative staff education coordinator partnered to address this lack of a complete perioperative experience for students and offer a more formal OR experience. The clinical experience was altered to provide relevant didactic perioperative nursing content in class before the clinical day, a group orientation, and observation in the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative areas. Reactions of students and perioperative staff members to these changes were positive.
authors.affiliation: Associate Nursing Program, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Donna L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Ricketts
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Gray
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004507:Education, Nursing, Associate; D006801:Humans; D013527:Perioperative Nursing / Q000193:education*; D011231:Preceptorship