A perioperative nurse impacts patients at some of their most vulnerable times. For many patients, a surgery is a significant life event in which every aspect of their medical care can have a life-long impact. The perioperative nursing specialty is continuously evolving requiring nurses to continually seek information and education of new trends and treatments in surgical care. Fortunately, organizations like the Association of perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) diligently work to collect and disseminate the latest innovations and best practices in perioperative nursing. Below are some reasons to attend the AORN conference this year and more years to come. 1. Stay Sharp on Clinical Knowledge with Over 200 CEs Perioperative nursing is constantly changing. Technologies that were readily used 5 or 10 years ago have already been replaced. I mean, robots have become the norm. It’s like we’re living in the future. All this innovation in patient care means that there will always be new knowledge and best practices to learn 2. Stream Any Session on Demand Nursing conferences are amazing because they allow you to stay up to date on the latest evidence-based practice. One big disadvantage that many conferences suffer from is concurrent session sabotage. If you’ve ever been to a conference with a ton of concurrent sessions, you know how frustrating it is to want to attend 3 great sessions that are all occurring at the same time. You have to pick a winner and just hope that there are slides available for the sessions you missed. The AORN conference has solved this problem; and did it in a way that nurses (nerdy and non-nerdy alike) everywhere can truly appreciate. They’re recording all sessions and making them available on-demand for streaming in the conference app. It’s like Netflix for perioperative nursing knowledge. 3. Networking Networking is one of the most important things you can do to evolve in your career. Right after getting your degree and continuing your education, your network can make the biggest impact on your professional career growth. If you’re a perioperative nurse or have any interest in becoming one, you will be among your tribe. The AORN Global Surgical Conference & Expo is the largest gathering of perioperative nurses in the world. No matter what how much experience you have as an OR nurse, there is something for you. There are special events including 1st-time attendee receptions and meetups, as well as fitness activities including Zumba and Yoga. Also, since you are in New Orleans, the Night Out in NOLA is an absolute must. Who wouldn’t love to network in the land of Mardi Gras? 4. Seeing the Latest Technology in Action Put me on the expo floor of any conference or tradeshow and I’d feel like a kid in a candy store. Some of the most interesting clinical pearls and learning can occur while you’re exploring the latest advances in technology. Surgical innovations are happening every single day. The trade show floor at the AORN conference has over 500 exhibitors that are ready and willing to share information that will impact you. In addition to seeing the latest technology in action, you can actually earn CEs on the exhibit floor as well. 5. Get Re-Energized It’s no secret that nursing has a high risk of burnout. A recent survey reported that 63% of nurses stated their work has caused burnout. We all know that self-care is incredibly important to nurses, but there’s nothing quite like a good nursing conference to relight the fire that inspired us to become a nurse in the first place. Source: https://thenerdynurse.com/5-reasons-why-every-perioperative-nurse-should-attend-the-aorn-conference/