Although the number of surgical procedures being performed has increased dramatically during the past 20 years,’ nursing students today have fewer opportunities to care for surgical patients. Many surgical interventions take place in ambulatory care centers, and acute patients scheduled for coronary artery bypass surgery or transplantation often enter and leave the hospital through intensive care areas. Students observe in these clinical areas, but their practice in critical care settings is extremely limited. Students’ exposure to patients scheduled for other surgical interventions also is limited because these patients undergo preoperative testing as outpatients and arrive at the facility only a few hours before the scheduled surgery. As a result, faculty members assigned to clinical teaching are becoming more creative in their use and development of clinical sites to educate students and prepare them for realistic roles in health care.

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of using a perioperative clinical learning setting for a medical-surgical nursing course in a baccalaureate nursing program. The study compared knowledge among nursing students who experienced a five-week or eight-week perioperative clinical rotation with knowledge among students who experienced a five-week or eight-week rotation in orthopedic, oncology, transplantation, cardiovascular, or neurological units. Two hypotheses were posed.
* Students who experience a five- or eight-week perioperative clinical rotation will demonstrate greater knowledge of surgical patient care than students in other clinical rotations.

* Students who experience a five- or eight-week perioperative clinical rotation will seek perioperative employment more frequently than those who have not worked in these settings.