Grand View Health > Services > Grand View Health Surgery > Surgical Care Plan

Surgical Care Plan

By choosing Grand View Health for your surgery, you have chosen to be in the care of experienced surgical professionals throughout your entire stay. You will have access to a surgical care plan specifically designed to ensure the best possible experience and outcomes.

Your surgical care plan helps guide you through your upcoming procedure, including what to know about:

Your surgical care plan helps you to understand what to expect:

The Day Before Surgery

One day before your surgery, between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., a nurse from our Surgical Short Stay Unit (SSSU) will call you. At that time, the nurse will tell you:

  • What time to arrive and where to report
    •  Your arrival time may be one to three hours prior to surgery, depending on the preparation needed (Surgery times are approximate and delays may occur)
  • What you may (or may not) eat or drink the night before
  • What medications to take or not take
  • Have a list ready with your medication’s name, dose and how often you take it
  • What items to bring with you

The nurse will also review your instructions, discuss your medications, and answer any of your questions.

The Day of Surgery

While it’s normal to feel nervous on the day of your surgery, you can rest assured—you are in experienced hands at Grand View Health. The following are a few simple instructions to follow on the day of your surgical procedure:

Before Leaving Home
Your care starts before you leave home. It is important to follow your physician’s instructions as well as these recommendations:

  • Shower or bath
  • Thoroughly wash the area of skin where your surgical incision will be made
  • Do not put on perfume, powder, oil, lotion, or deodorant
  • Dress in comfortable, loose clothing
  • Take, or refrain from taking, medications as instructed by your doctor and the nurse in the Surgical Short Stay Unit (SSSU)

What to Bring to the Hospital
The day of your surgery, you need to bring several items with you to the hospital, including:

  • Identification cards
  • Insurance cards
  • Referral forms, if required by your health plan
  • A list of all medicines you are taking, including over-the-counter medicines, herbal remedies, vitamins, and diet pills
  • A list of allergies you may have to food, drugs, or latex and any sensitivity to adrenaline or epinephrine
  • Any test results, X-rays, consent forms, physical examination forms, or other information your surgeon may have asked you to bring with you
  • A copy of an advance directive document, such as a living will or durable power of attorney

Arriving at the Hospital
The day before surgery, a nurse from the SSSU will call you. At that time, the nurse will tell you where and when to report for your surgery.

Ensuring Your Safety
Shortly after you arrive, a colored wristband will be placed on your wrist for identification. To ensure your safety, staff members will repeatedly ask you:

  • Your name
  • Date of birth
  • Name of your surgeon
  • Type of surgery you are to undergo
  • Any allergies you might have

Although this process may seem bothersome, it is for your own safety.

Before Your Surgery Begins
Before your surgery begins, a nurse will:

  • Weigh you
  • Escort you to an area to change into a gown
  • Review your health status
  • Start an IV

Then, a doctor (called an anesthesiologist) will visit you to discuss the medicines you will receive to reduce your pain and increase your comfort.

What Your Escort Needs to Know
While you are with your nurse prior to surgery, your escort may want to ask:

  • How long the surgery will take
  • If it is necessary to remain in the hospital
  • Where there are appropriate places to wait

Your escort may stay with you until you leave for surgery. Remember, please leave young children with a babysitter.

What is Prohibited at Grand View Health?

  • Guns, knives, mace, pepper spray, and other weapons are not allowed in the hospital
  • Smoking and alcohol are prohibited for both patients and visitors

Grand View Health is not responsible for personal belongings. Please leave valuables such as credit cards, cash, and jewelry (including your wedding band and engagement ring) at home.

During Surgery

You and your team of physicians, nurses, and other health-care professionals have completed all the necessary preparation. You’re ready for your surgical procedure.

Once in the operating room, you’ll be carefully monitored by Grand View Health’s skilled physicians and nurses. Our team works to ensure that you are as comfortable as possible.

Waiting Areas
While you are in surgery, your family or friends may choose from several waiting areas, including our:

  • Surgical Short Stay Unit (SSSU) waiting room
  • Intensive Care Unit (ICU) waiting room
  • Cafeteria

After Your Surgery

Your surgeon will speak with your representative immediately after your surgery. Please name one friend or family member whom you would like as your representative. If this individual leaves the waiting room, remember to have him/her leave a telephone number with the receptionist or request a beeper.

If Your Child Needs Surgery
During the surgical procedure, parents need to say goodbye for a short time. Toys and other comfort items must be removed from the operating room. Following surgery, parents may join their children in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU).

For the ride home, we suggest that a second adult serve as the driver, so you may comfort your child in the car.

Following Surgery

At Grand View Health, we understand that not knowing what to expect after surgery may be just as nerve-racking as the surgery itself. That’s why we provide you with information on what you can expect following your surgical procedure.

Leaving the Operating Room
After your surgery, you will be taken from the operating room to the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) or directly to the Surgical Short Stay Unit (SSSU), where a nurse will:

  • Monitor your vital signs
  • Provide you with medication to manage your pain
  • Ask you to rate your pain using a variety of pain scales

Depending on your type of surgery, you may be admitted and transferred to a nursing unit. If you are receiving same-day surgery, you can expect to stay in the SSSU one to three hours after surgery.

How Will You Feel?
Following your procedure, you may have a sore throat and be sleepy. You may not remember the first hour or two after surgery. Once you’ve recovered, you will be offered a beverage. Loved ones may join you at this time.

Discharge Instructions
Your physician or nurse will give you discharge instructions. Because you may be groggy from your procedure and medication, we suggest that both you and your escort listen to these instructions. We will also give you written instructions.

After your surgery, your physician and/or nurse will talk to you about the following:

  • Care of stitches, staples, incisions, bandages, and dressings
  • Bathing and showering
  • What you can expect regarding pain
  • How to identify signs of infection
  • Guidelines and restrictions on eating, physical activity, sexual relations, and driving

You must be fully awake, able to take fluids, empty your bladder, and be relatively comfortable before you may leave for home. Your anesthesiologist or another physician will visit you before you leave.

Picking Up Prescriptions
Please have your escort fill any prescriptions on the way home, so pain medication will be available as needed. If your doctor has prescribed an antibiotic, begin it promptly and take it until it is gone.

Home Care Eligibility
You may be eligible to receive visits from a nurse or therapist in your home during your recovery. Home care is available through Grand View Health’s Home Care Department, which provides:

  • Nursing
  • Home health aide service
  • Social work
  • Occupational, speech and physical therapy

The Grand View Case Management Department can help you arrange for home care or help coordinate a smooth transition from hospital to a short or long-term living facility.

When to Call Your Doctor
You will need to call your doctor immediately if you have any of the following from your incision or operative site.

  • Bright red drainage
  • Excessive drainage or bleeding
  • Increased redness, swelling, pain or foul-smelling drainage
  • Fever

If You Cannot Reach Your Surgeon
If you cannot reach your surgeon, call the Emergency Department at Grand View Hospital at 215-453-4674.

If you are experiencing severe problems, such as heavy bleeding, chest pains, or difficulty breathing, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately.

To learn more about being a patient or visitor at Grand View Health, visit our For Patients & Visitors section.