On the Day of Your Surgery
Please arrive for your procedure at the admissions entrance, located at the front of the hospital. Our staff will be expecting you, and will have some papers for you to sign. If you are under 18, you must have a legal guardian present to sign your forms and remain with you for the duration of your surgery. You might be anxious about your procedure, so we encourage you to bring a friend or family member for support and comfort.
However, due to space limitations and our concern for your and our other patients' privacy, we request that you limit your visitors. While in the Same Day Surgery (SDS), one visitor may remain with you until you enter surgery and after you return to the SDS area. If he/she wishes to leave the facility during your surgery, we will provide a pager. We are always happy to work with you when special circumstances arise.
During admission, our nurses will help you prepare for surgery. This process includes:
- Confirming your name, date of birth, and your procedure. You will be asked these questions many times.
- Reviewing your medical record
- Supplying your hospital gown
- Taking your blood pressure and temperature
- Starting an IV
- Taking x-rays where necessary
- Answering all of your questions
Your anesthesia provider will discuss your anesthesia choices and have you sign a consent form. Finally, the OR nurse, who will be with you during your surgery, will reconfirm your surgical site and procedure. The nurse will talk about her role and then ask your family member(s) to wait for you in the admissions area waiting room. Depending on the type of surgery you are having, the doctor who will perform your surgery will mark the correct location on your body on which your procedure is to be performed. Called "site marking," this is a critical step in ensuring your safety and preventing errors, especially if you are having surgery on one of your arms, legs, hands, fingers, eyes, ears, etc.
For example, if you are having a cataract removed only from your right eye, the surgeon will make a mark above your right eye. Before your surgery starts, your surgeon and everyone in the room with you will do a "time out." During time out, the members of the health care team assure themselves that they are performing the correct procedure at the correct site and on the correct person.
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