Surgical Positioning: Injury Awareness and Prevention
Presented by Matthew Zinder, MS, CH, CRNA
Where the arm, the leg and the head go on the table decides whether a patient wakes up with a nerve injury. One contact hour on the risks that come with each surgical position — and the things you can do in the room to prevent them.
$12 1 contact hour
One-off course fee. No subscription, and nothing renews on its own.
In your cart Surgical Positioning is in your cart, 1 contact hour, $12.
- The exam and the certificate are included in the fee.
- Your certificate stays in your account for reprinting at renewal.
- Refund terms are set out in full on the refunds policy.
Course at a glance
One objective, stated plainly
This course sets out a single learning objective and spends the full hour on it. It is quoted below exactly as it appears in the course record.
The participant will be able to:
Identify potential risks associated with different surgical positions, understand the underlying causes of positioning-related injuries, and implement appropriate preventative measures to ensure patient safety during anesthesia and surgery.
What the lecture covers
- How anesthesia changes what a positioned body can tolerate, and why an unconscious patient cannot tell you that something is wrong.
- The specific nerve injuries associated with surgical positioning, and what to watch for in each position.
- Practical steps that prevent injury and reduce risk — how to get a patient positioned well for the procedure they are actually having.
- Current best practices and standards for anesthesia practice as they apply to positioning.
- What closed malpractice claims show about how positioning injuries happen, so the guidance rests on evidence rather than habit.
- How to anticipate positioning complications early enough to raise them with the anesthesia provider and the surgeon while they can still be fixed.
Three steps, and none of them is filler
The whole course is one recorded lecture, the exam that follows it, and the certificate. Alongside the lecture there is one short implicit-bias reading. There are no other modules and no scheduled sessions.
- 1 Surgical positioning — risk, injury and prevention 55min
- 2 Course exam Online
- 3 Certificate 1contact hour
A one-hour course with a 54.9-minute lecture in it
The contact hour is taught, not skimmed. The whole hour is a single recorded lecture running 54.9 minutes, and it is the course — not a summary attached to one.
Watch it in one sitting or come back to it; the position you stopped at is kept in your account. Nothing needs to be downloaded, and nothing needs to be scheduled.
Nurses who are in the room when the patient is positioned
Perioperative and procedural nurses
If you circulate, prep, or hold a limb while a patient is moved onto the table, the decisions in this hour are yours to influence.
Nurses working alongside anesthesia
The lecture is written to help you anticipate positioning complications and raise them with the anesthesia provider and the surgeon before they become injuries.
RNs and LPNs who need one hour
A single contact hour is often exactly what is left at the end of a renewal cycle. This is a clinical hour rather than a filler one.
The statement for this course
Approved provider
Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP 17185, for 1 contact hour.
No outside financial support.
That statement applies to this course. It is not a statement about the rest of the catalog, and it is not a promise about your particular board: requirements differ by state, license type and renewal cycle. Read it against your own board’s current language before you enroll, and if you are not sure, ask us first — we would rather answer the question than sell you the wrong hour.
Enroll, watch, pass, print
- Step 1 Enroll
- Step 2 Complete it online
- Step 3 Pass the exam, complete the evaluation
- Step 4 Download the certificate
Add the course to your cart and check out. You create your account during checkout, and the license details that go on the certificate are captured there.
The lecture opens in your account straight away. It is self-paced — stop and resume as often as you need to.
The exam follows the lecture and is taken online in the same place. 5 randomized questions, 80% or better, and you may retake it as often as you need within your access period.
Your certificate is issued on completion and stays in your account, so you can print it again at renewal.
Before you add it to the cart
Will this hour count toward my license renewal?
The continuing-education statement for this course is printed above, and it applies only to this course. Requirements differ by state, license type and renewal cycle, so read that statement against your own board’s current language before you enroll.
Where we do not hold written confirmation from a board, we print that on the page instead of implying acceptance. We do not print an acceptance claim we cannot stand behind.
How long does it take to finish?
The course is about 55 minutes of recorded lecture. Add the exam on top of that.
It is self-paced and online: nothing to schedule, no live session to attend, and you can stop and come back to it.
What is the exam like?
The exam is taken online in your account once you have finished the lecture: 5 randomized questions and you need 80% or better. You may retake it as often as you need within your access period.
How do I get my certificate?
Complete the lecture, pass the exam, complete the short evaluation, and the certificate is available to download from your account. It stays there, so you can print it again at renewal without asking anyone for a copy.
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