Leaders seeking competent staff for the OR are increasingly training their own. These internal programs, typically targeted toward both new graduates and nurses without previous OR experience, require planning, organization, and follow-through. “You need to integrate the didactic with the clinical setting,” says Ellen Lord, MS, RN, CNOR, a perioperative…

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Traditionally, nursing students have had little exposure to the perioperative setting, creating a challenge for OR leaders seeking to build the future workforce. How can they spark interest in the OR, if students haven’t experienced it? One way is for hospitals to partner with schools of nursing. Two innovative programs…

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Part 1 of this series on staffing challenges, published in October OR Manager, explored the challenge of increased demand. In Part 2, we turn to lack of experience, again including examples of how OR leaders are responding.   Recruiting for experience In all, 70% of respondents to the 2016 OR…

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OR managers might yearn for a past when a well-staffed team of experienced RNs and surgical technologists were committed heart and soul to their jobs, but it’s clear that idyllic time is gone, if indeed, it ever really existed. Most managers now face a triple threat in staffing trends, any…

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Editor's Note RNs today are younger, more diverse, and more highly educated, according to the 2015 National Nursing Workforce Survey. Results show: The average age of RNs is 48.8 years, showing that the aging of the RN population is slowing and that retirements portend no impending shortage. Men made up…

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Editor's Note The healthcare sector is on track to produce nearly 440,000 jobs for RNs by 2024, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports. The healthcare sector added 46,000 jobs overall in May, including more than 24,000 ambulatory care positions and more than 5,000 positions in nursing facilities. According to…

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Editor's Note RNs at Kaiser Permanente’s Los Angeles Medical Center began a 7-day strike on March 15, PR Newswire reports. The focus of the strike is on: improving staffing to protect patient care achieving economic gains to retain experienced RNs and increase recruitment of new RNs. The walkout affects 1,200…

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Editor's Note This study from the UK found that a patient-to-nurse ratio of no more than six patients per nurse on medical wards was associated with 20% lower patient mortality than when each nurse was responsible for at least 10 patients. Results also showed a 17% reduction in mortality with…

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Editor's Note The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston on January 22 opened its new Veterans’ Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. The program will facilitate the transition of United States military veterans into professional nursing by providing an opportunity for up to 10 veterans per semester to…

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Editor's Note This Canadian study finds that transformational leadership practices lead to high quality care and increased retention of new nurses. Conversely, abusive managers lead to poorer quality care and a strong intention for nurses to leave healthcare facilities and quit the nursing profession. The authors surveyed a sample of…

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