Olubajo, O.O., Thorp, A., Oless, C., Ritchie, C., Charles, J. and Berry, J. (2026), Enhancing Perioperative Onboarding Through an Education Champion Project. AORN J, 123: e1-e8. https://doi.org/10.1002/aorn.70078
ABSTRACT
A perioperative department expansion at a large urban academic tertiary center in the southwestern United States necessitated the hiring of additional perioperative personnel. The OR department planning team identified onboarding capacity gaps and developed an education champion project to facilitate onboarding efforts alongside the perioperative nurse educators. Over six months, the three perioperative education champions—two RNs and one surgical technologist—facilitated the onboarding of new staff members, while the educators focused on existing staff member competencies and continuing education development. At the end of the project, survey responses from 29 new hires indicated high satisfaction, stronger integration with the perioperative team, and greater perceived effectiveness of the onboarding process. The education champions reported increased confidence in their teaching ability, and the perioperative nurse educators were able to reallocate time to strategic departmental initiatives. This article details the development, implementation, outcomes, and implications of the updated onboarding process.
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