AORN position statement on advanced practice registered nurses in the perioperative environment.

POSITION STATEMENT Perioperative nursing is a specialized area of practice for the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN). Specialty areas of practice require additional preparation. This AORN position statement delineates the definition and educational requirements for the APRN who functions in the perioperative environment, including the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative patient care areas. The requirements of the APRN who functions in the role of the first assistant at surgery are differentiated. The qualifications to be met and components of the clinical privileging process are described. AORN supports the role of the APRN in the perioperative setting who may or may not function as a first assistant at surgery. AORN endorses the Consensus Model for APRN Regulation: Licensure, Accreditation, Certification and Education. AORN supports the American College of Nurse-Midwives position statement: The Certified Nurse-Midwife/Certified Midwife as First Assist During Surgery as the guidance for appropriate regulation, education, training, and credentialing for all midwives certified by the American Midwifery Certification Board, including those who are licensed in states as APRNs. An APRN who practices in the perioperative environment must complete the education requirements as defined in the Consensus Model and be licensed or recognized as an APRN by the state in which he or she practices. If a state regulatory agency elects to adopt this position statement as a requirement for eligibility to practice, AORN recommends that the agency develop a grandfather clause that allows the perioperative APRN and the APRN who is practicing as a first assistant at surgery at the time of adoption to continue to practice in that role within the state(s) of current licensure.