"Students have perceptions that don't match reality and part of it is their clinicals are based on being a generalist, so they don't really focus in on an individual specialty interest. That goes into why this program is so important, because the first-year turnover rate is so high." — Dr. Karen Cox, PhD, RN, FACHE, FAAN, president, Chamberlain University A new, innovative approach to fill a critical need for operating room nurses, along with reducing first-year nurse turnover, relies on a triad of academic, service, and a specialty association to attract and prepare nursing students to perioperative practice. For this week's lead story, I spoke with Dr. Karen Cox, PhD, RN, FACHE, FAAN, president of Chamberlain University, about the university's Practice Ready, Specialty Focused™ program designed to help prepare perioperative nurses upon graduation meet a significant demand. | 