Transitions in Practice: OR Nurse Training
Course Overview
Transitioning into perioperative nursing means moving between two connected but distinct environments. The operating room runs on protocol, anticipation, and an absolute standard of sterility. The post-anesthesia care unit runs on vigilance and rapid reassessment, where a patient who looks stable can decompensate within minutes. Transitions in Practice: OR Nurse Training is a 5.0 contact-hour continuing education activity that prepares registered nurses for the clinical and communication demands of both settings.
Across nine modules, the course covers the surgical workflow and team roles, aseptic and sterile technique, surgical safety protocols including the Universal Protocol and surgical counts, intraoperative practice and patient positioning, Phase I PACU recovery and discharge readiness, crisis response including malignant hyperthermia and airway emergencies, and structured handoff and patient advocacy. Content is anchored in AORN, WHO Surgical Safety Checklist, Joint Commission, MHAUS, ASPAN, and TeamSTEPPS standards, with clinical judgment activities aligned to the AACN Clinical Judgment Model and Tanner’s Model of Clinical Judgment.
This activity is appropriate for registered nurses transitioning into perioperative practice from any specialty, along with the preceptors, educators, and managers who support surgical services orientation. Upon completion, learners will be better equipped to close the gap between general nursing preparation and the specialized competencies required for safe perioperative nursing.
Learning Outcomes
Upon the completion of this course, the learner should be able to:
- Outline the phases of the perioperative continuum from pre-operative preparation through intraoperative care, PACU recovery, and discharge, and identify the roles and responsibilities of each member of the surgical team.
- Distinguish sterile technique from general aseptic technique, and identify the boundaries of the sterile area on a gowned team member and on a draped surgical field.
- Apply the Universal Protocol and the three WHO Surgical Safety Checklist pause points to a surgical case, and identify the five points at which surgical counts occur along with the required response to a count discrepancy.
- Identify the three components of the fire triangle in the surgical environment and select precautions that reduce each, including electrosurgical and oxygen-related risk.
- Distinguish the responsibilities of the circulating nurse from those of the scrub role, and select appropriate nursing actions related to patient positioning, equipment management, and intraoperative documentation.
- Apply Phase I PACU assessment priorities to the recovering patient, and interpret discharge readiness scoring alongside clinical findings when evaluating a patient for transfer.
- Select appropriate nursing responses to postoperative pain, agitation, and nausea and vomiting, distinguishing among the differential causes of emergence agitation in the recovering patient.
- Recognize malignant hyperthermia, perioperative anaphylaxis, hemorrhagic shock, and airway emergencies from their earliest clinical signs, and state the immediate nursing response each requires.
- Apply structured handoff communication and graded assertive language to perioperative care transitions and safety concerns, and apply integrated clinical judgment across a start-to-finish surgical case simulation.
About the Author/Presenter
Shirley Aycock, DNP, RN, is a Registered Nurse and healthcare leader with extensive experience advancing clinical excellence, operational performance, and professional development across acute care and continuing education settings. Her leadership background spans medical-surgical service line management, learning operations oversight, emergency care leadership, and healthcare content strategy. Most recently in clinical operations leadership, she served as Director of Nursing at Hospitality Health Emergency Room, where she provided strategic and operational leadership for a freestanding ER averaging more than 70,000 patient visits annually. Her work centered on elevating clinical quality, strengthening the patient experience, developing the nursing workforce, and ensuring safe, efficient emergency care delivery.
Shirley holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from Rush University, an MSN in Nursing Administration from the University of Texas at Tyler, and a BSN from the University of Texas at Arlington. She is passionate about building strong teams, elevating nursing practice, and driving continuous improvement throughout healthcare systems through both clinical leadership and transformative education.
Audience/Accreditations and Approvals
TRC Healthcare/ NetCE
In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by TRC Healthcare/ NetCE. TRC Healthcare/NetCE is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
This course is designed for the following healthcare professions (select your profession for details):
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