Willingness of undergraduate nursing students to specialise in perioperative nursing in selected universities, Southwestern Nigeria

• Published in: Perioperative care and operating room management Vol. 37; p. 100425
• Main Authors: Oyediran, Olufemi Oyebanji, Akinfala, Olamide Emmanuella, Ayandiran, Emmanuel Olufemi, Ojo, Iyanuoluwa Oreofe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-12-2024
• Subjects: Attitude; Nursing undergraduates; Perception; Perioperative nursing; Willingness; Nursing undergraduates; Perception; Attitude; Perioperative nursing; Willingness
• ISSN: 2405-6030; 2405-6030
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pcorm.2024.100425

This study assessed the perception, attitude and willingness of nursing undergraduates to specialise in perioperative nursing.
The field of perioperative nursing is currently facing a significant shortage of trained perioperative nurses. This has great implications for patients’ care and surgical outcomes. Nursing students are the future workforce and their perception, attitude and willingness to join the perioperative nurses’ workforce will go a long way in averting this dangerous trend.
The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional research design.
The study that was conducted in July, 2023, employed proportionate stratified random sampling technique to select a sample size of 271 nursing students across selected universities. Data collection was done with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Data collected was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, with p value set at 0.05 level of significance.
Findings revealed that less than half (39.5 %) of the respondents possessed positive perception towards the specialty of perioperative nursing while the majority (60.5 %) had negative perception. Similarly, majority (51.3 %) of the respondents had a negative attitude to the field of perioperative nursing. Results further showed that majority (54.2 %) of the respondents exhibited low level of willingness to specialise in perioperative nursing. Data generated for the hypothesis showed a significant association between respondents’ attitude, willingness and their perception of perioperative nursing specialty.
The study concluded that nursing undergraduates are not that willing to specialise in perioperative nursing. Therefore, plans must be put in place to heighten the nursing students’ interest in perioperative nursing. This is with a view to boosting enrolment in perioperative nursing and resultant increase in recruitment and retention of perioperative nurses.