Recovery

For Patients

You will stay in our Recovery area for 30 minutes to an hour. During this time we will monitor you and strive to decrease your nausea and pain. All recovery nurses are certified in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS).

You'll be given written discharge instructions before you leave. This is the time for us to answer questions you may have. Before you go home, we'll review your medications to continue taking. We will also go over any new medications. If you have stopped a blood thinner for your surgery, we will ask your doctor when you should restart your medication.

If you don't understand your discharge instructions, please let your nurse know right away so we can help clarify them. It's extremely important that you understand your new medications. You'll receive a survey in the mail about two weeks after your discharge.  Please provide feedback on what went well and on ways we could improve.

Discharge Instructions Include:

  1. When to make an appointment to see your doctor
  2. Any eating restrictions
  3. Any lifting or activity restrictions
  4. Signs and symptoms of infection to watch for
  5. Your doctor's phone number and when to call

For Family and Friends

  • If you are asked to wait in the Surgical Waiting Room, there is a tracking board on the wall to assist in communicating the patient's status. To ensure privacy, each patient is listed on the tracking board by an assigned number, not by name. The board will include the patient's special number, status and room number when available. The board will allow you to see where the patient is in his or her surgical process. 

Please wait in the Surgical Waiting Room until after you have talked to the doctor and the patient's room number is displayed on the board. This will allow time to get the patient to their post-op room, settled and ready for your visit.

If you must leave the waiting room, please be sure to tell the volunteer where you are going. We also encourage family and friends to leave a cell phone number with the patient's nurse if you need to leave the waiting room area. If there isn't a volunteer present, please have one person stay in the waiting room at all times. If no volunteer is present and the phone rings, please answer it as the doctor or staff may be trying to contact you.