A look at a successful perioperative nurse extern-intern program.

IN 2000, St Mary-Corwin Medical Center, Pueblo, Colo, launched a perioperative nurse extern-intern program to address the critical nursing shortage the facility's OR was experiencing. THE PROGRAM HAS THREE LEVELS, all of which focus on applying lessons learned in the classroom to the clinical setting. The final level of the program is designed to help participants' transition from being students to being clinical practitioners.