Collaborative educational initiative: developing and implementing a perioperative nursing course for baccalaureate nursing students.

Baccalaureate nursing curricula provide minimal exposure to the perioperative specialty area despite the fact that students are often very interested in this area of nursing. Usually the baccalaureate learning experience is that of a single passive observation rather than actively participating in care of perioperative patients. There are many reasons for this lack of exposure including the focus on preparation of nurse "generalists" for practice. This article will highlight the collaborative effort between nursing education and perioperative staff development to meet the essentials of baccalaureate education requirements as well as the challenges and positive outcomes of introducing this course.