Standardize to Make Surgery Safe
AORN’s Guidelines for Perioperative Practice provide evidence-based recommendations to deliver safe perioperative patient care and achieve workplace safety.
All perioperative professionals can use the guidelines to standardize their practice and keep patients safe. They are published annually with updated recommendations - and can be accessed in multiple formats.

A Better Way to Access the Guidelines
Introducing the AORN Facility Reference Center—quickly and easily search the most current evidence-based Guidelines for Perioperative Practice.

Guideline Topics
Expand your perioperative knowledge by exploring all five guideline topics.
- Aseptic Practice
- Equipment and Product Safety
- Patient and Worker Safety
- Patient Care
- Sterilization and Disinfection

Put the Guidelines Into Practice
A number of tools - called Guideline Essentials - also are available to help your entire team effectively implement the guidelines, including:
- Implementation roadmap
- Quick View videos and documentation
- Key takeaways, FAQs, and Case Studies
- Webinars and other clinical resources
Rely on Evidence-Based Standards
Why is evidence-based important?
Evidence rating assures that clinical decisions are based on the latest available research and understanding of safe patient care. Evidence-based practices are an expectation of patients, health care providers and administrators, and regulatory agencies.
The evidence ratings and tables used to create the Guidelines for Perioperative Practice are available for download.
Be Survey Ready
Many state health organizations and other accreditation bodies refer to AORN’s Guidelines for Perioperative Practice in annual surveys. They’re also the only evidence-based guidelines for perioperative nurses approved by the National Guideline Clearinghouse.