Simulation with interprofessional teams provides case management opportunities for advanced practice RN students they may not encounter in preceptorships. We designed standardized patient simulations to improve health care safety and outcomes; an academic electronic health record was used in some simulations. We report quality improvement findings from 74 APRN students who completed a survey with open-ended questions. We found that simulation in interprofessional teams positively impacted role immersion, confidence, problem-solving skills, and teamwork. Use of the academic electronic health record added realism. The findings are being incorporated as part of continuous quality improvement in the teaching-learning process.

A lack of targeted perioperative academic preparation may have led to not enough nursing graduates entering and staying in the perioperative field. This deficit and a large portion of the workforce approaching retirement age have contributed to a perioperative nursing shortage. In collaboration with an associated medical center, a college of nursing in the midwestern United States offered and evaluated a redesigned perioperative elective for student nurses. After implementation, interviews and focus groups were used to determine the effect on the student nurses’ confidence, their progression through orientation after graduating and being hired into the perioperative department, and the perioperative department’s retention rates. Recently graduated nurses with perioperative educational experience have a better understanding of the role of a perioperative nurse. Increasing prelicensure student exposure to the perioperative clinical environment is associated with positive outcomes for the department, organization, nurses, and patients. Similar results in other specialties may be possible.

This descriptive study assessed current registered nurse (RN) preceptor perceptions of professional competencies in new nursing graduates. Strengths in caring and compassion were observed by preceptors, in addition to deficiencies in time management and prioritization. Inasmuch as deficiencies observed by RN preceptors may be functions of time and experience, it is recommended that academic nurse educators and residency program educators explore and develop means to improve students’ skills in prioritization and time management.