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Few professions have more job security than nursing. There鈥檚 a tremendous need for all nurses, but perhaps nowhere greater than in the operating room, which makes the perioperative (鈥減eriop鈥�) program between Mount Saint Mary鈥檚 and UCLA such a tremendous partnership.

A small group of undergraduate students spend the summer between their junior and senior years in a two month, 32-hour-a-week immersion program with a combination of didactic and clinical learning situations unique for students who are still a year away from graduating and taking their licensing exams.

Lauren Fujihara, nursing clinical placement director at the Mount, was the clinical nurse specialist at Ronald Reagan UCLA in perioperative services when her path first crossed that of Leah FitzGerald, PhD, FNP-BC and the Fletcher Jones endowed chair and dean of nursing. 

鈥淏efore I met Leah, I proposed this program to some other schools, and no one was interested,鈥� says Fujihara. 鈥淚t really took an open-minded perspective. But Mount Saint Mary鈥檚 nursing vision is to be innovative and address the workforce needs of the time.鈥�

And the need for periop nurses is great. 鈥淏etween 2013 and 2019, the median number of vacant, fulltime positions went from 3%-6%,鈥� says Fujihara, 鈥渁nd the average age of the perioperative nurse is 47 years old. So within the next five to 10 years, the workforce will definitely be depleted. The projected workforce shortage in perioperative nursing is going to be more dire than in any other specialty, and the reason is that this is a specialty that鈥檚 not commonly offered to nursing students in an undergraduate curriculum. Without exposure in undergraduate programs, the nursing student may not even consider perioperative nursing as an option.鈥� 

That was the situation for Gail Angelli Daclan 鈥�21. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 realize nurses could participate as much as they can in the operating room,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 thought that a periop nurse would just set up the instruments or do the assessments for the patient, but we learned so much along the way and I really like that aspect of it. No one case is the same and you approach them differently and work with different teams all the time. You learn small things about each case every day, and I just like that aspect of growth.鈥�

The Mount begins exposing its undergraduate nursing students to the perioperative environment during their sophomore year, when many have a one- or two-day observational experience in perioperative services. 鈥淎 lot of nursing programs across the country have removed observation days in OR [operating room] nursing completely,鈥� says Fujihara, 鈥渟o you can understand why it鈥檚 increasingly difficult to recruit into the specialty. But there鈥檚 so much you could do with a perioperative nursing background.鈥� 

Fujihara said that one of the reasons she and FitzGerald worked to get this program going was that they thought this would be a small way to contribute to steering more students toward periop nursing. 鈥淟eah and I also published an article about this program in the Association of Operating Room Nurses Journal, the specialty journal for perioperative nurses,鈥� she says, 鈥渋n order to share the information so that it could be replicated, because it has been sustainable and very successful for both the university and the hospital. We heard from the publishers that it was the most widely read article that month on their electronic portal.鈥�

After five consecutive summers, 18 Mount students have taken advantage of this program, which evolves a bit with each reiteration. Originally limited to the hospital鈥檚 main operating room, students now also are assigned to the medical procedure unit, where a lot of diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy procedures are performed. This past year, the program expanded yet again to include the ambulatory surgery center. The number of students participating depends on how many clinical preceptors (instructors) are available, but the numbers have grown each year as more locations are involved and this past summer had five take part.

There鈥檚 much more interest in the program than there are openings. Many students apply and go through the interview process for one of the coveted slots. But this program doesn鈥檛 just benefit Mount students; it鈥檚 a recruitment opportunity for the hospital and gives staff there an opportunity to evaluate the students as potential future new-grad candidates.

Most of the 18 students who have participated in this program applied for jobs at UCLA after obtaining their nursing license (a few went back to their hometowns). All of them were hired. 鈥淲hen I worked on the service side, I probably had the primary voice in hiring the new grads for the OR,鈥� says Fujihara. 鈥淲e hired a disproportionate number of Mount students, and I think it鈥檚 just because of the way they鈥檙e prepared, and their motivation for going into the profession comes through. It鈥檚 been a really great partnership.

鈥淭his program gives the students a really good look into whether this is something they want to pursue,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very unique environment. It鈥檚 very fast paced, dynamic, with a lot of different interprofessional team members, and high stress. But the students do very well.鈥�

鈥淎pplying for the program was probably one of the best choices I鈥檝e made because it really did give me the experience I needed to be more confident in my nursing skills,鈥� says Marlene Alcantera 鈥�21. 鈥淲hen you are doing regular clinicals, you always start fresh. You鈥檙e always new, and you always have to gain that trust from everyone around you. But in this program you always build, especially since you鈥檙e going every day. You build upon what you鈥檝e learned and you continuously grow and get better as long as you push yourself and don鈥檛 limit yourself.鈥�

鈥淎 nurse needs to, in a very short amount of time, create a relationship and obtain trust with the patient and their family. We may only have five to 10 minutes to interview the patient before surgery and gain their trust that we鈥檙e going to be the one who is going to be taking care of them during the surgery.鈥�

It鈥檚 fascinating for Fujihara to listen to the student accounts regarding when they first go into the operating room, as many don鈥檛 realize that it鈥檚 not just an observational learning experience but a very participative one.

鈥淚t was really fun,鈥� says Jasmin Diaz 鈥�21. 鈥淚t was a lot more than we expected. The very first day they said that if I wanted to try something out, they would guide me and I could do it. They would tell me what an instrument is called and that I could hand it over when they called for it. It was a lot more engaging.

鈥淚t was pretty nerve wracking on day one. I was surprised I could really touch things. It鈥檚 really a great learning environment, and everybody really wants you to learn and participate. With the people, it was really easy to get comfortable. Everybody was really a mentor, even those who weren鈥檛 your preceptor.鈥�

The range of experiences is what Vincent de la Luna-Tabanera 鈥�21 appreciated most. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a really great program,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ecause you get to experience both an inpatient setting where patients are more critically ill and the outpatient setting where you have more interaction with the patients because they鈥檙e a little healthier.鈥�

What Jerica Magbitang 鈥�21 enjoyed about the experience was how dynamic the OR is. 鈥淣o one person can learn everything about the operating room,鈥� she says.  鈥淭here鈥檚 always going to be new surgeries, there鈥檚 always going to be new technologies. There was a new robot, and we all had to learn about it. I like that in the OR everybody is a student, including the surgeons. The whole team is continuously learning.鈥�

NOTE: Check the newsroom in the days ahead for more information on these student鈥檚 backgrounds, what led them to pursue nursing as a career, and what they鈥檝e gained from this partnership with UCLA.