Home | Preparing for Surgery | Post Anesthesia Care

Once it has been determined that a patient will require surgery, his/her physician’s office will refer him/her to VVMC’s Pre-surgical Planning department. At this point, it will then be determined if the patient is a candidate for a telephone assessment or is needed to be present in the office for an appointment. Pre-surgical Planning is located on the first floor at the rear of the elevators (1R).

PreSurgical Planning

The Day of Your Pre-surgical Planning Appointment
Upon arriving at the hospital for a Pre-Surgical Planning appointment, patients should register at Admissions, located on the first floor, just past the lobby.

A VVMC Registered Nurse will conduct a health history assessment to ensure diagnostic needs are met, lab work is complete and an anesthesiologist has been consulted if necessary. To ensure the Pre-surgical Planning Nurse gathers all the correct information about the patient's health history, patients should be sure to bring the following information:

• A complete list of all current medications;
• A complete list of past surgeries and/or major illnesses;
• A medical insurance card; and
• If the patient has a living will or advanced directive, please bring copies of these documents.

The Night Before Surgery

• Stop eating solid food at midnight before surgery.
• No gum or candy should be consumed after midnight.
• A maximum of 16 ounces of water may be consumed up to four hours before the arrival time.
• Medications may be taken with a sip of water.
• It is recommended that patients quit smoking 4-6 weeks prior to any elective surgery and smokers are encouraged to refrain from smoking 24 hours prior to surgery.
• No chewing gum, mints, or other hard candies should be consumed for eight hours before surgery.
• Patients should avoid alcohol or limit alcohol to not more than 1-2 drinks the night before surgery.
• Please do not shave your surgical site. Report any cuts or abrasions around the surgical site to your pre-op nurse or physician.
• Please notify your physician of any recent colds or flu symptoms immediately.

The Morning of Surgery

• Patients should shower the morning of surgery before they leave for the hospital.
• Do not wear makeup, jewelry or perfume. Nail polish is permitted if the nails are at least 6 inches from the surgical site.
• If the patient wears contact lenses, dentures, or hearing aids, please remember to bring the cases and solutions for storage during surgery.
• If the patient is scheduled for lower extremity orthopedic surgery and may have crutches, please bring them to Pre-Op.
• Please leave all valuables at home or check them in at Admissions with Security for placement in the hospital safe.
• If the patient is planning to go home the day of surgery, we do request that he/she brings some form of payment (cash, credit card, etc) to purchase discharge prescriptions.
• Patients are asked to please limit luggage brought to the hospital during the brief hospitalization due to our limited storage space.

Pre-Op

Arriving at the Hospital for Surgery

• Upon arriving at the hospital, patients should register at Admissions, located off the main hospital lobby. Here, they will receive an identification bracelet, which will be worn until discharge from the hospital.
• After Admissions, the patient will be directed to the Pre-operative Department on the 3rd floor, where the Pre-Op Registered Nurses will get him/her ready for surgery.
• The nurse will review the patient's medical and surgical history, medications, allergies, etc.
• Immediately before surgery, the patient will meet with his/her anesthesiologist to discuss some options. We highly encourage the patient to ask any questions throughout the perioperative stay.
• All outpatient surgery patients MUST have a responsible adult available to drive them home from the hospital.
• Inpatients are asked to have their transportation home arrive at the hospital no later than 11 AM the day of discharge.

Prescriptions and Nonprescriptive Medications

• The patient's regular medications will be ordered by his/her physician during his/her stay at the hospital. It is very important that the patient's surgeon and nurses know the exact name and spelling, dose, and frequency of all current medications. Patients should have a written record of medications at the hospital.
• The patient's surgeon and/or pre-admission nurse will give him/her instructions on which medications to take and which medications to avoid prior to the day of a scheduled procedure.