AORN Guidelines Workshop 2025: Your Local Fast-Track to Smarter, Safer Perioperative Nursing
CE Credits, New Skills, and Networking—All in One Day
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Learn Directly from the Guideline Authors in These Hands-On Workshops
Earn CE credits, build real-world skills, and network face-to-face. All in a day’s work in one of the most efficient nursing workshops in perioperative care.
Guidelines aren’t meant to be stuffy words in a textbook. They’re your lifeline in the OR. This interactive 1-day workshop cuts through the noise and brings you face-to-face with the experts who wrote the AORN Guidelines. Walk away with confident knowledge to bring these directives to your facility.
If you’re looking for high-impact continuing education for nurses, this workshop is for you.
Space is limited, and this event will sell out; reserve your spot now!
Choose Your City & Secure Your Spot
Limited seats available per city!
| Location | Date | Registration Info |
| San Diego, CA Hilton San Diego Mission Valley | Sept. 13, 2025 | Register |
| Detroit, MI Sheraton Detroit Metro Airport | Sept. 27, 2025 | Register |
| Philadelphia, PA Hilton Philadelphia at Penn's Landing | Oct. 11, 2025 | Register |
| Milwaukee, WI Creekside Conference Center | Oct. 25, 2025 | Register |
| Dallas/Fort Worth, TX Hilton Garden Inn Dallas/Arlington South | Nov. 8, 2025 | Register |
| Portland, OR The Benson Portland | Nov. 15, 2025 | Register |
Interested in registering 5 or more from your facility to get 50% off?
What to Expect at the AORN Guidelines Workshop
Think of this as a turbocharged learning experience designed to make your next shift safer, smarter, and more confident. Here’s how:
- Meet the Experts — Chat live with AORN Guideline Authors who literally wrote the book about your daily headaches. Ask the questions that keep you up at night and walk away with insights that’ll make you more confident and ready to tackle the challenges ahead.
- Hands-On Demos — From ERAS protocols to surgical smoke management, get your hands on the latest solutions and best practices. Earn 4.0 CE credits in just one day.
- Interactive Games & Polls — We’re talking Jeopardy-style challenges, live polling, and real-time Q&A.
- Breakfast, Lunch, & Networking — Because learning is better with a hot meal and a refreshing drink.
Guidelines Workshop Itinerary
- 7:00 AM - Registration & Breakfast
- 7:30 AM - Sessions Begin
- 12:00 PM - Lunch
- 4:00 PM - Wrap-Up (but the learning doesn’t stop there)
Who Should Attend?
- New nurses eager to level up their practice.
- Seasoned pros who want a no-nonsense update on the latest Guidelines.
- Nurses seeking affordable CE credits, without the travel headache.
Karen deKay, MSN, RN, CNOR, CIC
Senior Perioperative Practice Specialist
Karen has been a registered nurse for over 30 years, working primarily in the perioperative arena, education, and infection control. She is certified in perioperative nursing, as well as infection prevention and control, two credentials which allowed her to lead a system-wide Robust Process Improvement project to standardize and implement surgical and sterile processing best practices at a large healthcare system in Texas.
The AORN Guidelines for Perioperative Practice have always been the foundation of her practice, so in 2017 when the opportunity to work at AORN to help develop these guidelines came about, she made the move to Denver to be part of the AORN Nursing Practice team. She is a Senior Perioperative Practice Specialist and has been the lead revision author of the AORN Guideline for Environmental Cleaning, Preoperative Patient Skin Antisepsis and Hand Hygiene She is currently working on revision of Surgical Attire.
Karen serves as the AORN representative for the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), has authored several “Clinical Issues” columns in the AORN Journal, and has provided presentations for the Colorado APIC chapter on infection prevention in the perioperative environment. She has also collaborated with SHEA on the 2022 Update to Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-associated Infections through Hand Hygiene and with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Healthcare Standards Institute (HSI) to develop performance standards for germicidal light whole-room surface disinfection in the operating room which will provide perioperative RNs and managers with a standardized evaluation tool to assist in provision of safe patient care.
In her spare time, she enjoys bike riding and hiking in the great Colorado outdoors, visiting wineries, spoiling her two grandchildren and shopping for bargains.
Workshop Topics
Enhanced Recovery After Surgery: A Pathway to Excellence
Faster recoveries, fewer complications, happier patients. ERAS isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a blueprint for transforming surgical care. Learn how to implement it like a seasoned pro.
What You’ll Walk Away With:
- The phases of ERAS care and what patients should expect.
- Steps to roll out ERAS at your facility.
- Adapting ERAS for special populations and addressing healthcare disparities.
Electrosurgery Without the Smoke and Mirrors
This session takes the confusion out of electrosurgical safety and surgical smoke management so you can protect your team, your patients, and your sanity. This session arms you with evidence-based strategies to manage smoke evacuation, reduce risks, and keep your team and patients safe. You’ll learn real-world strategies for equipment use, filtration, and respiratory protection, plus the latest must-know best practices.
What You’ll Walk Away With:
- Real-world smoke evacuation and filtration tips.
- Strategies for safe electrosurgical use, fire risk reduction, and injury prevention.
Surgical Safety Showdown: Prevention of Retained Surgical Items
Test your knowledge in a Jeopardy-style game that’s as fun as it is educational. Learn the latest best practices for keeping patients safe from retained surgical items, straight from the experts at AORN.
What You’ll Walk Away With:
- The nurse’s critical role in preventing RSIs.
- AORN’s recommendations to keep your patients safe.
Minimizing Surgical Site Infections
A bundled approach to infection prevention. Develop your new SSI playbook: discover how hand hygiene, temperature management, and environmental cleaning work together to keep patients safe.
What You’ll Walk Away With:
- The top risk factors for SSIs.
- Evidence-based prevention strategies.
- A roadmap to implement a bundled approach that actually works.
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