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What is AORN?
AORN — the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses — is a professional membership organization for nurses who work in surgical and procedural settings. Its core purpose is to define and spread standards for safe perioperative care through evidence-based guidelines, continuing education, and clinical resources. In practical terms, it functions as the place where OR nurses go for the "how this should be done" answers: recommended practices, implementation tools, and training that hospitals adopt facility-wide.
Who it's for
- Perioperative nurses (OR, PACU, ambulatory surgery, procedural areas)
- Nurses moving into surgery from another specialty, and new graduates entering the OR
- Nurse educators, managers, and leaders responsible for standardizing practice
- Facilities that want a shared guideline set across a surgical department
What it actually offers
- Guidelines for Perioperative Practice, with implementation tools that help a team apply standardized techniques consistently rather than reading a document once.
- Continuing education in several formats, including online courses for novice OR nurses and hybrid courses for nurses who support cesarean procedures.
- Events and workshops, such as guideline and leadership workshops, plus a research symposium and award programs.
- Community and career resources, including a journal, a store, and a career hub.
- Public comment periods on draft guidelines, which is how the standards get revised with input from practicing nurses.
How it differs from adjacent resources
| If you need… | AORN is a good fit | Consider instead |
|---|---|---|
| Perioperative-specific standards and OR training | Yes — this is its focus | General nursing bodies cover broader practice |
| Specialty society guidance for surgeons | No | Surgical specialty organizations |
| Facility-wide accreditation preparation | Partly — guidelines support it | Accreditation bodies set the requirements |
A concrete scenario: a nurse educator at an ambulatory surgery center is onboarding four new OR nurses and needs a consistent curriculum plus a way to align the whole department on one guideline set. AORN's novice-nurse course and facility subscription model are built for exactly that combination. A single staff nurse who mainly wants to keep a license current may find the education offerings useful but should check whether the credits count toward their state requirements first.
Next step: decide which problem you're solving — individual credential maintenance, onboarding new OR staff, or department-wide standardization — then look at the membership versus facility options and the specific course credit types before committing. A trial membership is a low-cost way to test whether the guideline tools match how your team actually works.
How do I become a member of AORN and what does membership include?
You join AORN through its website by choosing a membership tier and completing an online application, and membership centers on evidence-based perioperative guidelines, continuing education, and community support.
How joining works
- Go to AORN and use the Join/Renew entry point in the main navigation.
- Create an account, select your membership category, and pay online; the site also offers a low-cost introductory trial for new members.
- If your employer is a facility subscriber, check with your education or nursing leadership before paying individually, since course and guideline access may already be covered.
What membership includes
- Access to AORN Guidelines for Perioperative Practice and implementation tools that help teams standardize technique facility-wide.
- Continuing education, including CNE-bearing courses; the site lists courses such as a hybrid Cesarean-section course for labor and delivery nurses and Periop 101 OR for novice OR nurses, with credit hours shown per course.
- Member resources and services: the AORN Journal, an online store, a career hub, and the AORN Foundation.
- Community and professional programs: events and workshops, awards and nominations, research symposium abstract submissions, and public comment periods on draft guidelines.
- A dedicated member area for managing your profile and benefits.
Who benefits most
- New perioperative nurses get structured orientation content and foundational courses.
- Experienced nurses and leaders get guideline updates, leadership workshops, and implementation support.
- Managers and educators can compare individual membership with a facility subscription, which suits teams needing broad guideline access.
H3. Practical next step Decide whether you need individual benefits or team-wide guideline access, then compare the trial, standard membership, and facility options on the site. If you are unsure which course or credit type fits your role, contact AORN member services before enrolling.
How can I earn continuing education (CNE) credits through AORN?
AORN offers CNE through its courses, events, and publications, with credits typically expressed in contact hours (CH), AEU, and IPCH. The main routes are:
- Periop 101 and specialty courses. Periop 101 OR is an online course that prepares novice nurses for the operating room; a hybrid course is aimed at new and returning labor and delivery nurses who participate in Cesarean section procedures. Both carry stated credit totals (for example, 39.8 CH/39.8 AEU/10.8 IPCH for Periop 101 OR).
- Guideline and leadership workshops. Interactive sessions such as AORN Guideline and Leadership Workshops provide practical learning that can count toward continuing education.
- Events and experiences. AORN Congress and similar events include education sessions; the Nursing Research Symposium also accepts abstract submissions.
- Facility subscriptions. An online facility subscription gives teams access to current AORN Guidelines for Perioperative Practice plus implementation tools, which supports ongoing education across a department.
If you are deciding where to start, match the credit type your state board or employer requires to the course description: CH and AEU are AORN's general measures, while IPCH indicates infection prevention contact hours. A staff nurse new to the OR would get the most direct credit path from Periop 101 OR; an experienced nurse seeking leadership credit would look at the guideline and leadership workshops.
Next step: check the individual course or event page for its credit statement and any accreditation details before registering, then confirm those credits are accepted by your licensing body.
What are the AORN Guidelines for Perioperative Practice and how do I access or implement them?
The AORN Guidelines for Perioperative Practice are evidence-based standards that define recommended practices for surgical and perioperative care, covering areas such as asepsis, sterilization, patient positioning, medication safety, and moderate sedation. AORN describes them as the standards that help keep healthcare workers and surgical patients safe, and it pairs them with education and implementation resources rather than publishing them as a standalone document.
Who they are for: perioperative nurses, OR educators, infection preventionists, and facility leaders responsible for standardizing practice across a surgical service. The page also points to related audiences: new OR nurses through Periop 101, labor and delivery nurses who participate in Cesarean procedures, and facilities buying team-wide access.
How access typically works
- Individual membership: AORN promotes a trial membership for full access to guideline implementation tools and continuing education, with the stated option to cancel.
- Facility subscription: the page describes an online facility subscription providing access to the most current AORN Guidelines for Perioperative Practice plus a complete set of implementation tools, so a team can apply standardized techniques facility-wide.
- Education add-ons: courses such as Periop 101 OR and the Cesarean-focused hybrid course carry continuing education credit and are aimed at building the clinical foundation for safe surgical practice. The page lists credit values for several offerings, but treat those as page-level details that can change.
- Public input: AORN opens public commenting on individual guidelines, for example the Guideline for Care of the Patient Receiving Moderate Sedation/Analgesia.
A practical implementation path
- Confirm which edition your facility is currently using and who holds the subscription.
- Pick one or two high-risk topics rather than rolling out everything at once.
- Use the implementation tools to translate the recommendation into your unit's policy, competency checklists, and auditing.
- Assign an owner for each guideline and set a review date.
- Feed gaps into education — AORN's own course catalog shows how it links guidelines to training for novice OR nurses and specialty areas.
Decision criterion: if you need the guidelines for a single nurse's practice and continuing education, an individual membership is the lighter route. If you need organization-wide standardization, auditing, and onboarding, the facility subscription is the better fit because it distributes access and implementation tools across the team.
Next step: check your facility's current subscription status before buying individual access, then start with the guideline that maps to your most recent safety event or accreditation finding.
How do I register for AORN events such as Congress or leadership workshops?
Registration happens on AORN's own site, but the path differs by event: Congress and large meetings use the main registration system, while leadership workshops are listed under Events & Experiences with their own workshop registration pages.
AORN
What to expect on the site
- Events & Experiences is the hub for workshops and conference listings. The homepage currently points to AORN Guideline and Leadership Workshops described as practical, interactive learning; the registration link sits with that listing.
- AORN Congress has its own event area, including delegate sessions and Congress news. If you need to register as a delegate rather than an attendee, expect a separate process handled through your chapter or state council.
- Workshops are typically smaller and may have limited seats, so registering early matters more than for a large annual meeting.
- Membership status can affect what you pay and what you can access. The site is promoting a $1 two-month trial membership, which is worth checking before you register if you are not currently a member.
A practical sequence
- Create or sign in to your AORN account (the My AORN / Log In links in the header).
- Go to Events & Experiences and open the specific event.
- Choose your registration category — member, non-member, student, or group/facility.
- Complete payment and save the confirmation email; it usually carries the link to claim continuing education credit.
- For Congress, book housing and travel separately, and check the schedule for pre-conference sessions that require their own add-on fee.
Choosing between them
| Congress | Leadership / guideline workshops | |
|---|---|---|
| Scale | Large annual meeting with delegates, exhibits and research sessions | Smaller, focused sessions |
| Best for | Broad updates, networking, presenting abstracts, delegate duties | Building specific skills or leadership capacity |
| Planning | Register and book travel well ahead | Watch for limited capacity and waitlists |
If you get stuck
Contact AORN member services directly rather than relying on third-party event pages — those often lag behind the official listing, and only AORN can confirm your registration, transfer a seat, or issue a receipt for employer reimbursement. If your facility is paying, ask for an invoice option and the exact course codes (the CH, AEU and IPCH figures shown with each course) so your education department can process it without back-and-forth.
What resources does AORN offer for new perioperative nurses, such as Periop 101?
AORN's core offer for new perioperative nurses is Periop 101, an online course designed to prepare novice nurses for the operating room. The page also lists a related hybrid course for new and returning labor and delivery nurses who take part in Cesarean section procedures, providing the clinical foundation for safe surgical practice there.
Beyond formal courses, new nurses get:
- Evidence-based guidelines and implementation tools — AORN describes these as the standards that help keep surgical patients and healthcare workers safe, with tools meant to apply standardized techniques facility-wide.
- Continuing education (CNE) — the education spotlight lists contact hours (CH), AEU and IPCH values for its courses, which matters if you need to track credits for licensure or certification.
- Community and support — the membership pitch emphasizes guideline implementation tools, CNE and 24/7 support from a perioperative community.
- Events and workshops — guideline and leadership workshops for practical, interactive learning.
- Career and research channels — a Career Hub, a Nursing Research Symposium where you can submit abstracts, and award nominations.
If you are evaluating Periop 101 for yourself or a new hire, check three things before committing: how much of the course is self-paced versus proctored, whether your facility's educators are set up to supervise the clinical component, and whether the contact hours count toward the credential you are pursuing. A new graduate hired into a hospital OR, for example, will usually need the facility to pair the online curriculum with hands-on preceptorship — the course supplies the didactic foundation, not the supervised cases.
For the authoritative course list, hours and enrollment steps, go to AORN and open the education section; for comparison, the Competency & Credentialing Institute at CCI covers perioperative certification rather than onboarding training.
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