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When Colleen Becker was offered the opportunity to work as the Director of Perioperative Education for the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) in 2021, this fulfilled a passion for surgical education that had grown throughout her four-decade nursing career.

Travis Tingle’s journey into perioperative nursing was inspired by his grandfather, who was a medic in World War II. “My grandfather was very influential in my upbringing,” Travis says. “I heard lots of stories growing up about his experience as a World War II medic so I knew I wanted a career in medicine.”

It’s funny how a chance encounter can alter the course of one’s life. After she graduated with her BSN from the West Virginia School of Nursing in 1993, Jamie Ridout was sitting with some fellow graduates at the Sigma Theta Tau induction ceremony. A woman she didn’t know asked Jamie if she could sit down next to her.

Joanne first became a registered nurse in 1962 after graduating from the University of Texas Medical Branch School of Nursing. “There was a six-week tour through the operating room and that’s when I decided that perioperative nursing is what I really wanted to do,” she says.

Next year, Pat Thornton will celebrate a milestone career achievement: Her 50th year in nursing. Pat’s career started in 1976 when she graduated from Clayton Junior College with her ASN and went to work as an RNFA private surgical nurse.

It’s probably safe to say that very few if any perioperative professionals have had a career like Johnny Kotcher’s. Johnny’s perioperative journey started when he joined the Army in 1981 and scored well in healthcare and medical on the aptitude test.