Rationale for Program
After attended a previous national AWHONN conference discussion on perioperative nursing education I decided I needed to add a new class to the new grad orientation program I had developed.  New graduate nurses entering the field of perinatal nursing meet many challenges.  The development of this perioperative class for the perinatal nurse provides a hands-on experience that encourages learning and retention.
Purpose of the program and description of outcomes
The purpose of this project is to provide a learning environment in which the nurse learner will be an active participant during the training program increasing their learning.  The perioperative class for perinatal nurses involves many different hands-on activities which increase learning for most people.
Timeliness of Program
Living in the nursing shortage and preparing for the retirement of many of the nurses who are currently working in the perinatal department a new grad orientation program was developed to train the nurses in all areas: newborn nursery, labor and delivery, and mother/baby.  As part of the labor & delivery experience the nurses needed to be trained in the care of the woman experiencing a surgical delivery, for this presentation specifically a cesarean birth. 
Relevance of program
The surgical delivery suite can be a very challenging experience for the woman experiencing the surgical birth and her healthcare providers.  To create a level of knowledge in the new graduate nurse it was important to have them “experience” surgical births and the preparation involved in the safe environment of the classroom.  The new graduate nurses attended this class approxiamately at the 4 month in their orientation, which is the second month of their labor & delivery experience.  The class provides for many hands-on opportunities enabling the participants to get a feel for what is happening in the operating room.  Over the last three years we have been following the new graduate nurses who have gone through the program, just recently the nurses completed a post class survey indicated their retention of knowledge in regards to the perioperative patient.
Implications for women’s health, obstetric, and neonatal nursing practice, education or research.
This perioperative class enables the participants to get a hands-on feel for the role of the circulator and the care of the perinatal perioperative patient in a safe environment.  The role playing enhances the learning experience as the participants enact both an “normal” and emergent cesarean birth.