Linda Groah MSN RN CNOR NEA-BC FAAN

Linda K. Groah MSN RN CNOR NEA-BC FAAN has been the CEO/Executive Director of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) since March 2007.  AORN is a membership organization representing more than 40,000 Registered Nurses in the US and internationally who facilitate the management, teaching and practice of perioperative nursing. 

A veteran perioperative nursing executive, Linda has devoted her career to perioperative nursing practice, education, and executive management. Her previous professional positions include international healthcare consultation, Chief Operating Officer/Nurse Executive of Kaiser Foundation Hospital, San Francisco, and Assistant Director of Hospitals and Clinics OR-PACU and Surgery Center at the University of California San Francisco.  

Awarded AORN's Award for Excellence in Perioperative Nursing in 1989, Linda was inducted in 2000 as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. In 2005, she received Nursing Spectrum magazine's California and US Nursing Excellence Award for Leadership.  In 2011 Linda was named by Becker’s as one of the top 10 Leaders in the Area of Clinical Quality and in 2013 and 2015 was identified by Becker’s as one of 50 experts leading the field of patient safety.

Linda serves as the Chair of CSPS, is a member of the CSAC (Consensus Standards Approval Committee) of NQF and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Anesthesia Foundation for Patient Safety.  Most recently Linda served as the Chair of the Nominating Committee for the American Academy of Nursing and the Chair of the Nursing Alliance for Quality Care.