With the growing shortage of nurses in the workforce, perioperative leaders are facing a significant challenge in recruiting new nurses who are committed to perioperative nursing. One medical center in northern Florida developed a successful summer externship program to introduce nursing students to the perioperative environment. The program incorporates both didactic and clinical experiences. Students who complete the program are better prepared and motivated to choose a career in perioperative nursing. The retention rate for nurses from the externship program who were hired into the OR in which the program was conducted was 89% after two years.

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Nursing student diversity is a priority of the University of North Florida School of Nursing, but faculty members found that the prelicensure track admission process favored students with high grade point averages (GPAs) and eliminated many potentially good students, including minorities. Adding an interview to the admission process resulted in acceptance of highly qualified students while giving deserving students, including minority students with good but lower GPAs, the opportunity to enter the program. The change in the admission process increased minority admissions from a low of 2% to as high as 25%. Neither the overall attrition rate nor the licensure examination pass rate has been adversely affected.

The purpose of the study was to identify the basic structure of an experience from life through which or during which the elderly derive the sense that life is meaningful, as a manifestation of the human spirit. A phenomenological methodology was used, with participants being interviewed until common themes emerged. Protocols obtained from the interviews were analyzed according to the seven-step method developed by Colaizzi (1978). An exhaustive description of the meaningful experience was obtained; it includes four common themes. The themes and the implications for nursing practice are discussed.

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