New Perioperative Nurse

Career Pathway, <1 year

GOAL: Learning periop practice, building clinical skills

At this phase of your career, these are the goals you will be focusing on:

  • Gain the knowledge to work collaboratively and safely with the perioperative team to provide patient-centered care
  • Improve patient outcomes: focus on patient and worker safety, aseptic practice, equipment safety, patient care and sterilization
  • Decrease recovery time and costs

Count on AORN with resources to support this phase of your career.

AORN Nurse Education for the OR, preop and postop.

Three people look forward smiling.

Stylized shot with blur of nurses wheeling patient down a hallway.

Periop nurses work with a surgeon on a patient.

Periop Nurses - AORN Members

Periop Nurses - AORN Members

AORN Expo event

Additional articles & resources

There's so much more to explore when it comes to boosting your career and skills. Check these out:

AORN Membership Eases Your Professional Journey

Periop101 students receive a free 1-year AORN membership that includes dozens of clinical resources and tools to help you build your skills in and around the operating room. Stay active to use all these benefits, plus mentorship program, and career coaching as you progress in your career.

See Member Benefits Download AORN Mobile App

Find available jobs. Get help with your resume. Read articles & tips.

Behind The Mask

AORN and award-winning filmmaker Carolyn Jones (American Nurse Project) unveil the high-touch, high-tech perioperative world that takes place Behind the Mask and beyond the OR doors. Discover why so many extraordinary professionals choose this specialty: Close collaborative teams. Quality patient connections. Changing lives every day.

Looking for a higher-paying job or wanting to negotiate a raise? Discover your paycheck potential with AORN's Salary Calculator, which now includes 2023 data.