On Admission

You and Your Comfort Zone

Your comfort during your stay is very important to us. On Admission you will be asked about your comfort level. After your surgery you may experience some pain, in order for us to be able to manage any discomfort we will ask you to discribe your pain, one of the tools we use to help you describe your pain is the Pain Scale.

The Admitting Process

Our patients are generally scheduled for surgery by their physician following an office visit. Each patient can expect to have some lab work and possibly an EKG or x-rays to be completed within a few days prior to the scheduled surgery date.

Your doctor or his nurse will give you a specific time to arrive in the Hospital Admitting Office on the day of surgery; however, it is not unusual to receive more than one phone call from the Medical Center regarding your arrival time. The Operating Room schedule can change several times because of unanticipated emergencies, which may consequently affect the time of your surgery.

On the day of your surgery you will be asked to check in at the Admitting Office and from there you will be escorted to the Preop Area. We encourage our patients to bring someone for company and support. Because or our small waiting room, we ask that you limit it to only one person.

Soon after your arrival in the Preop Area, you will be asked to change into a hospital gown. You will also be given a cap to cover your hair and a pair of terry cloth slippers. A nurse will conduct an interview with you as well as check your temperature and blood pressure. Most of our patients will also need to have an IV inserted for fluids and medication during surgery. For your safety, many of our questions will be asked several times, such as, when was the last time you ate or drank, what surgery are you having done and on which side of your body and do you have any allergies?

Following the nursing interview and exam, you will briefly visit with an anesthesia provider who will also interview you and discuss your anesthesia. We encourage you to come prepared with questions regarding any concerns or information about previous experiences with anesthesia.

A registered Operating Room nurse will escort you to the Operating Room. You may again be asked questions that have already been asked, but it is a routine meant to ensure your safety.

Disclaimer
If you think you have a MEDICAL OR PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCY, CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY or go to the nearest hospital. DO NOT attempt to access emergency care through this web site. An emergency medical condition is a medical or psychiatric condition that manifests itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that you could reasonably expect the absence of immediate medical attention to result in any of the following: serious jeopardy to your health, serious impairment to your bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part. An emergency medical condition is also "active labor," which means a labor when there is inadequate time for safe transfer to a Plan hospital (or designated hospital) before delivery or if a transfer poses a threat to the health of the member or unborn child.

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