This is an introductory level text designed to appeal to a broad-based market from Division 2 'Enrolled Nurse' students through to UG students doing an 'operating room' clinical placement, to PG students in specific Perioperative grad cert/diploma courses. It is also designed to be of use to Registered Nurses already working in or preparing to work in this area, and other Operating Room staff such as anaesthetic technicians. It is a standalone text that discusses the roles and responsibilities involved in perioperative nursing, some technical aspects such as wound care, the changing face of perioperative nursing with a greater emphasis on day surgery, anaesthesia, medico-legal aspects and professional development. It is not intended to address surgical procedures which is covered in-depth in existing resources, but rather it is designed to contextualize essential information in the hospital setting.