A historical review of the AORN Journal

The purpose of this project was to critically review 35 years of AORN Journal content from 1963 to 1998 to determine if the original mission and goal of the Journal were being met. Content analysis revealed a diverse mixture of feature articles and regular columns that typically targeted perioperative nurses. Feature articles addressed multiple perioperative specialty areas, along with other areas of interest to perioperative nurses. Regular columns provided a means of keeping AORN members informed of educational offerings, policy changes, AORN business, and clinical practice issues.