Guidelines in Practice: Positioning the Patient

Abstract

Positioning the patient is an important perioperative task; the recently updated AORN “Guideline for positioning the patient” provides perioperative personnel with background information and evidence‐based best practices for perioperative patient positioning and focuses on maintaining patient and staff member safety. The revised guideline includes recommendations for placing patients safely in a variety of positions and avoiding positioning injuries, such as postoperative vision loss. This article provides an overview of positioning recommendations for assessing patients’ risk for injury, implementing safe positioning practices, placing patients in the Trendelenburg position, and preventing intraocular injuries. It also includes a patient‐focused scenario on preventing adverse events associated with the Trendelenburg position that aligns with information discussed in the article. Perioperative nurses should review the guideline in its entirety and implement appropriate recommendations for positioning patients during procedures.