An Undergraduate Preceptorship in thePerioperative Specialty

Abstract

At Mount Sinai Hospital the clinical nurses are experienced with instructing post- graduate students enrolled in the perioperative certificate programs offered by various community colleges. However, this summer I had the unusual experience and pleasure of teaching an undergraduate nursing student from the University of Toronto. In the past a clinical rotation in the operating room was a compulsory component of the basic nursing program. Over the years the presence of basic students in the operating room has decreased as the curriculum in nursing schools changed and the development of sub-specialties evolved. As a clinical preceptor, I decided that before the undergraduate student arrived I had to adjust my methods of teaching and my clinical expectations of this particular student.