Periop 101 help!

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Hello all. I just transferred into the OR this month and have started my periop 101 classes. So far it’s been us just doing the modules on the AORN website at self pace. This week we will actually have an instructor leading us through lessons every day.

With that being said, how in the hell do I study for the periop 101 exam???? It seems like a ton of information and I don’t know where to even begin to get my brain together. I was previously a medsurg nurse and we didn’t have to study this much in order to work on my old unit. I’m excited to learn new things about the OR, but I’m just afraid that I won’t be able to pass the exam because there’s soooo much information being thrown at me. I am more of a hands on learner, so reading text takes me time to understand. Advice is greatly appreciated! We get 2 tries to take this exam and I have a month to study. I just need to know where to start ?

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

On your student resources area, you will find study guides. Those can help you, as can the post-test questions for the individual modules. Technically, you should have 3 tries for the exam- that is what AORN allows, although your contract may state 2 (although I've never worked with anyone who needed more than the second attempt). My advice would be to focus on the things that you personally don't feel confident in. If you're comfortable with prepping, don't spend as much time studying that. If sterilization is a completely foreign concept to you, that might be one you want to spend time on.

How long total do you have in Periop101? My facility does 2 weeks in the OR observing/doing some small tasks so that when starting the modules there's an actual frame of reference. They meet twice a week for 10 weeks (each week specifies what modules should be completed), then take the exam. The other days of the week they are in the OR, applying what they learned in the modules for that week.

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There is a study guide. However, I have personally precepted around 6 nurses through that program and I promise you if you work all the modules you will pass that test just fine. We have our nurses self-pace through the mods as they are gaining real experience in the ORs with a one on one preceptor. They generally go through the program in 90 days and I have not had one fail the exam. In fact, the first two nurses are coming up on their two years and both are studying to sit for the CNOR certification as soon as they meet requirements.

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Specializes in OR Fellow.

I am wondering if I could get some help locating the study guide on the AORN website.

Once I log on I click "My AORN" at the top and am brought to my account.

To access the modules, I click on "Learning Center" in green text just under "Access Education"

Once I click that, I am brought to a page that has 3 tabs, "My active courses" "My completed courses" and "Credits"

Can I access the study guide from any of these pages?

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

When you are in the learning center, select the dashboard tab and it should be there. In my administrator role, I see Periop 101 Administrator Resource Center in the bottom left under resources (icon looks like a paper with a magnifying glass). I would expect for the student role the Student Resource Center link would be there.

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Specializes in OR Fellow.

Thank you so much for your response!

I clicked the "Home" tab which brings me to a page that says "Welcome to the AORN Learning Center"

I'm looking on that page and I don't see anything that says "Student Resource Center"

I see a list that says:

AORN Resources & Tools

Journal CE Articles

Journal Mobile App

Tool Kits

Webinars

Career Center

Foundation

Shop AORN

eSubscription Online Guidelines

ORNurseLink

AORN Membership (Free for Periop 101 Students)

Other than that I don't see anything that says student resources...maybe I'm in the wrong place?

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

I have sections on my Learning Center. Home is the first. Dashboard is the last. It could be mine looks different as administrator. Reach out to the administrator for your facility for assistance.

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Specializes in OR Fellow.

Thanks for the help, I don't have the "Dashboard" tab - I'll see if I can call AORN or get support from my educators - thanks so much

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Go to your educators. AORN has not that many people to cover the entire country. Your educator should have access through their administrator resources to share the study guides

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Thanks everyone for your comments! I was able to pass the exam just by reviewing the post test for each modules and reading some practice questions on quizlet. Now I can officially start my clinical practice portion of my orientation ?

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Specializes in ICU, Trauma, CCT,Emergency, Flight, OR Nursing.

Congratulations on passing your periOP 101 exam.

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