This document contains 150 AORN Perioperative 101 exam practice questions with verified answers designed to support nursing students and perioperative trainees preparing for operating room competency exams and perioperative certification assessments. The content is structured in a clear question-and-answer study format that reinforces essential clinical knowledge related to anesthesia principles, sterile technique, surgical safety, infection prevention, patient positioning, and perioperative nursing responsibilities. The study material allows learners to review high-yield perioperative concepts frequently assessed in AORN Periop 101 courses and hospital-based surgical nursing training programs.
The questions review a broad range of perioperative topics including types of anesthesia (general, regional, local, and monitored anesthesia care), the four stages and three phases of anesthesia, malignant hyperthermia recognition and treatment, surgical fire prevention, and patient monitoring during anesthesia care. Additional sections explore infection prevention strategies, surgical hand antisepsis, sterile field management, electrosurgical unit safety, specimen handling procedures, wound classification systems, and perioperative documentation requirements. For example, early sections explain anesthesia provider roles and stages of anesthesia, while later sections discuss sterile technique, surgical instrument handling, patient positioning risks, wound healing phases, and surgical site infection prevention (pages 1–20).
The content aligns closely with the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Periop 101: A Core Curriculum™, which is widely used to train nurses transitioning into perioperative and operating room practice. The document also complements major perioperative nursing textbooks such as “Alexander’s Care of the Patient in Surgery” and “Berry & Kohn’s Operating Room Technique,” both of which provide foundational knowledge for surgical nursing practice, sterile processing standards, perioperative patient safety, and operating room workflow management. The questions in this study guide reinforce clinical reasoning and procedural knowledge necessary for safe surgical patient care.
This document may be beneficial for students enrolled in perioperative nursing, surgical nursing, operating room orientation programs, and surgical technology training courses. It is especially relevant for learners preparing for AORN Periop 101 examinations, perioperative clinical competency assessments, or CNOR certification preparation. The material may support students studying in RN perioperative residency programs, transition-to-operating-room training programs, perioperative clinical practicums, and advanced nursing clinical skills courses. It may also be useful for nursing students and practicing nurses from institutions such as Chamberlain University, Walden University, Purdue University Global, Herzing University, Rasmussen University, and other nursing schools offering perioperative or surgical nursing education.
Keywords:
AORN perioperative 101 exam questions, perioperative nursing exam preparation, operating room nursing practice questions, anesthesia stages and phases nursing review, malignant hyperthermia management nursing, sterile technique operating room guidelines, surgical fire prevention nursing review, perioperative infection prevention practices, surgical wound classification nursing exam, perioperative patient positioning safety, electrosurgical unit safety guidelines, surgical specimen handling procedures nursing, perioperative documentation standards review, surgical hand antisepsis guidelines nursing, wound healing phases perioperative nursing, surgical count safety procedures, perioperative nursing competency exam preparation, CNOR certification practice questions, operating room safety protocols nursing, perioperative patient assessment review
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AORN Perioperative 101 2026
Exam Questions and Verified
Answers | Already Graded A+
First forms of anesthesia: - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Nitrous Oxide and ether
Who may provide anesthesia care? (4 answers) - 🧠 ANSWER
✔✔Anesthesiologist, CRNA, Anesthesiologist assistant, perioperative
nurse
Factors to consider when determining what anesthetic to use for a
particular patient: (8 answers) - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔-pt/surgeon preference
,-Surgical procedure
-Physical Status
-Age
-Postoperative recovery time
-Length of surgery
-Position of pt
-Pt previous experience with anesthesia
General Anesthesia - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔a reversible state of
unconsciousness, consisting of amnesia, analgesia, and muscle relaxation
Regional Anesthesia - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔a reversible loss of sensation, which
is achieved by injecting a local anesthetic to block the nerve fibers from
transmitting impulses.
Local Anesthesia - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔functions like regional anesthesia but
usually applies to a smaller area or a single body part such as a finger or a
toe.
Monitored Anesthesia Care (MAC) - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔consists of intravenous
medications and concurrent local infiltration of tissue at the surgical site
,What are the Four STAGES of Anesthesia? - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔• Stage I:
Initial Administration - The first stage is the actual administering of the
anesthetic drugs. There are only a few seconds in between the initial
administering of the drug and unconsciousness.
• Stage II: Excitement - In Stage II the patient is now unconscious. Also
known as "excitement", is the time from loss of consciousness to the loss of
eyelid reflex. Involuntary movements may occur at this time.
• Stage III: Intrasurgery - This is the time of surgical anesthesia. The patient
has rapid eye movement and breathing may be labored until the muscles
completely relax. It is time to start the surgery.
• Stage IV: Possibility of respiratory failure - During this last stage of
anesthesia, the patient might need help. If too much anesthesia has been
given, this stage is characterized by respiratory failure, leading to
circulatory failure. Without breathing apparatus and heart support, the
patient can die.
What are the three PHASES of anesthesia? - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔• Induction -
This phase begins with the administration of anesthesia and lasts until the
surgical incision is made.
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, • Maintenance - This phase begins with the surgical incision and lasts until
near completion of the procedure (Stage 3).
• Emergence - This phase starts as the patient begins to awaken and ends
upon exiting the operating room
IV regional anesthesia (Beir Block) is most often used for: - 🧠 ANSWER
✔✔Upper extremity nerve blockade
A common side effect to monitor after spinal anesthesia is: - 🧠 ANSWER
✔✔hypotension due to vasodilation
What is the most consistent physiological indication of Malignant
Hyperthermia? - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔Increased end tidal CO2
What drug is given for Malignant Hyperthermia? - 🧠 ANSWER
✔✔Dantrolene
*Also, stop triggering agents, give 100% oxygen, cool pt
During Monitored Anesthesia Care (MAC), the Pt is monitored for what 3
risks? - 🧠 ANSWER ✔✔• Extravasation of intravenous medication
• A reduction of arterial oxygen saturation