What to Expect on the Day of Surgery


When you first arrive at the facility, please provide your name to the Admitting Receptionist. We register the patients in the order needed for surgery so please be patient if someone that arrived after you is registered first. While registering, you will be confirming demographic info provided from the Surgeon’s office and signing a few forms.

Shortly after registration, a nurse will call your name from the side door of the lobby. They will escort you and your loved one to the pre-op area. We ask that initially only you and one other person go with the nurse. Once you have had an opportunity to speak with the anesthesiologist and the preoperative medications are given additional family members can join you, as space and time allows. If you have any concerns for privacy of your medical information to be protected from family members, you will want to come to the pre-op area alone. Once you have met with the anesthesiologist, you may ask the nurse to get family members. Your medical history and medications will be reviewed prior to surgery.

If you are a women of menstruating age that has not had a hysterectomy, a urine sample will be collected in the pre-op area to test for pregnancy.

While you are at the Ohio Surgery Center, the staff will work with you to keep your surgical pain at a manageable level. It is expected after having surgery that there will be some pain or discomfort and while we cannot totally relieve all pain, the goal is to have it at a  level where it is tolerable for our patients.   We will ask you to rate your pain frequently throughout your experience at the surgery center beginning in pre-op before surgery.  We use different scales to monitor pain based on developmental levels.  For adults, we ask them to rate their pain between 0 and 10 with 0 be absolutely no pain or discomfort, and 10 being the most pain they could imagine. For more information, click here.

You will receive an IV in the pre-operative area. Typically we give medications to pre-dose for pain, to prevent any nausea or vomiting, and also to help you relax. This will be customized based on the type of procedure you are having and anesthesia’s recommendations based on your medical history.

The Operating Room Nursing Staff will provide your family with a copy of your Bear Essentials. This is our version of Surgeon and procedure specific discharge instructions for you. Please have your loved ones review these and write down any questions that they have.

They will wait in the lobby while your surgery is performed. Once the surgery is complete, the Admitting Receptionist will escort your family into a private interview room. Your Surgeon will meet them there and provide all the details of the surgery. He/She will also answer any questions that they have about the discharge instructions.

At this point you will be in the first phase of PACU (post anesthesia care unit) still asleep from the anesthesia. Phase One is just our terminology for the first area of recovery where you are receiving one on one nursing care while you are awaking from anesthesia. It is not unusual for this phase of recovery to take 45 minutes or longer.

Once you have started coming out of the anesthesia and your pain level is assessed, a nurse will come to get your family to join you in the second phase of PACU. Phase Two PACU is our terminology for the phase of recovery where one on one care is no longer needed. During your time in Phase Two, you will be given snacks and something to drink. It is important for your recovery that you remain hydrated. The IV will be left in place until you are able to drink without experiencing vomiting or nausea.

We will also go over the discharge instructions with you and your family. You will be given any work /school excuses needed or prescriptions at this time. The packet you receive to take home will provide you with contact information for us and your surgeon and also the last time that you had pain medication along with any restrictions on activities.

Maintaining a high level of patient satisfaction is part of our mission.    Prior to discharge, we will obtain your e-mail address. Several days after surgery, you will receive an email from surveys@ctqsolutions.com with the subject line Ohio Surgery Center Patient Satisfaction Survey. It will include a link to complete the patient satisfaction survey online. We do read each and every one of these; the information we obtain helps us to set our goals and improve our facility. We strongly encourage you to please take the time to share your feedback.