3 Things We Learned When implementing a New Periop 101 Program

A cesarean delivery can quickly progress to a more complex surgery, and perinatal nurses should have the perioperative nursing skills like aseptic technique for both the mother and baby.

But they often don’t.

Lt. Col. Christopher Stucky, PhD, RN, CNOR, CSSM, CNAMB, NI-BC, NEA-BC, FAORN, FAAN, and his team observed very competent and confident perinatal nurses unfamiliar with the basics of surgical care, especially when complications came up that required specialized surgical knowledge. "Senior hospital leaders, including perioperative and perinatal experts, told us this was their biggest issue and asked what we could do to improve the perioperative skills of our L&D nurses," he said.

Enter Periop 101: A Core Curriculum™ Cesarean Section. Stucky recognized that this hybrid course contained exactly what perinatal nurses needed to circulate and scrub competently during cesarean delivery surgeries.

Testing a Solution

Lt. Col. Stucky - a nurse scientist and chief of the Center for Nursing Science and Clinical Inquiry at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany - collaborates closely with Major Albert Knight, DNP, RN, CNS-CP, CNOR, a perioperative clinical nurse specialist, to develop research and evidence-based practices that align with the goals of the Army Surgeon General.

Given their expertise, they were well-positioned to launch an evidence-based practice project aimed at measuring the success of implementing the Periop 101 program’s Cesarean Section module for perinatal nurses.

And launch they did. The project recently earned top honors at AORN’s annual conference. In the wake of the accolades, here are three takeaways from the project.

1. Surgical Training is Needed in Labor & Delivery Nursing

Perinatal nursing education often lacks sufficient intraoperative surgical care practicum and comprehensive instruction on AORN Guidelines for Perioperative Practice.

This lack of standardized surgical knowledge is passed on through orientation, with most L&D nurses learning their role from others who did not receive the appropriate surgical education and training.

2. Periop 101 Education Improved Perinatal Nurse Competence

Upon enrolling nurses in the program and actively listening to their concerns, Lt. Col. Stucky and his colleagues realized the significant impact and demand for this training. And the project's findings validated this observation.

Before and after the training, they tested the nurses’ skills for each domain of the education program, including (but not limited to) aseptic technique, instrument management for infection prevention, and working in the scrub and circulating nurse roles.

“Amazingly, the median scores improved by more than 100% for many of the knowledge areas, and competence improved across all domains in the program,” Lt. Col. Stucky said.

3. Nurses Gained Confidence in Cesarean Deliveries

After completing the Periop 101 course, perinatal nurses anecdotally reported feeling more confident in their perioperative nursing skills and empowered in their professional practice.

“After the project, Major Knight and I concluded that perioperative nurses should be more involved in educating perinatal nurses for cesarean deliveries to enhance their clinical knowledge,” Lt. Col. Stucky said. “Periop101 provided our perinatal nurses with a rigorous and engaging learning experience, and our nurses and hospital leadership were enthusiastic about the results.”

An added benefit? The nurses now possess expanded skillsets and can help bolster perioperative staffing in the main OR.

Read the full paper to apply this project approach in your own facility.

Lt. Col. Stucky's work was featured as a poster at AORN Global Surgical Conference & Expo 2024. The full collection of posters are available through the Virtual Pass.