Your health and safety are our top priorities!
On the day of your surgery and/or procedure, we want to make sure that you and your loved ones are well informed of what will take place and are comfortable with the procedures we have implemented to ensure a successful operation and your complete recovery.
As an HCA facility, we subscribe to the highest standards of healthcare, which means exercising the Universal Protocol for Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure and Wrong Person Surgery. Endorsed by more than forty professional medical associations and organizations, this protocol consists of following safety measures on the day of your surgery to ensure we have correct information.
What to expect on the day of your surgery and/or procedure
- You will be asked to sign a consent form, which verifies that you and your doctor have discussed the surgery to be performed as well as the associated risks.
- During pre-admission, the pre-op assessment nurse will complete verification of the correct patient, correct procedure and correct operative site by:
- Consulting with you and/or your representative
- Confirming that your consent form is complete
- Confirming “patient, procedure and site” with the physician’s documentation
- The staff will verify who you are, what kind of surgery you are having, and the expected part of the body on which the surgery is being performed, as well as double-checking what you tell them against the documents provided by your doctor’s office (for example: X-rays).
- Depending on the type of surgery you are having, the person performing your procedure will mark the correct location on your body where the procedure is to be performed.
- This is called “site marking” and is a critical step to preventing errors, especially if you are having surgery on one of your arms, legs, hands, fingers, eyes, or ears. For example, if you are having a cataract removed only from your right eye, the surgeon will make a mark somewhere around your right eye with a surgical marking pen or semi-permanent tattoo. This is to ensure the correct eye is the one being operated.
- The patient, family member, or significant other will participate in the verification process prior to pre-op medication, sedation and anesthesia.
- Time out Once you are taken to the operating room, a “time out” will be completed by the surgical team before beginning your surgery to assure themselves that they are performing the correct procedure at the correct site and on the correct person.