Day of Your Surgery

Day of Surgery

Registration

Upon arrival, you will be greeted by our friendly receptionists who will help you through our short admission process. We will ask you to verify your demographic information, review COVID screening questions, take your temperature, and provide you with a mask if needed. We will ask who your ride is and their information. It is very important to provide us with a phone number for your ride as we will contact them upon completion of your recovery and will provide them with your instructions for discharge and your surgeon may call them to provide updates on your care.

You will then be reminded of your patient responsibility fee (if applicable), then we will inform you of our three consent forms: financial consent, advance notice of patient attestation, and privacy policy/patient rights.

At that time, you and anyone accompanying you will be asked to wait briefly in our reception area until a nurse comes to escort you to pre-op. During your procedure, any guests or family members accompanying you are welcome to remain in the medical center in the waiting room.  

If you cannot read, speak English, or use sign language, an interpreter is required. If you need assistance arranging for an interpreter to be present, please contact the Upper Peninsula Surgery Center at (906) 273-2223 as soon as possible.

Pre-OP

One of our registered nurses or paramedics will welcome you and then escort you to our Pre-OP room and bed. Once there, we will give you a gown to change into and other essential items needed for your surgery. We will go over your paperwork and have you sign the surgical consent forms. The nurse will check your vital signs and start an IV for surgery. If you are a woman of bearing age (55 or younger), you will need to take a pregnancy test before surgery can begin.  

Your anesthesiologist and surgeon will come in and speak with you privately before surgery. You will have an opportunity to ask questions and your surgeon will mark your surgical site. The nurse will then prepare you for your surgical procedure before you are escorted into the operating room.

Operating Room

Our friendly Operating Nurses will come meet with you prior to being taken back to the operating room (OR) in your bed. Once in the OR, they will help move you over to the surgical table and wrap you in a warm, thick blanket. We will then place you on monitors in order to watch your vital signs: a blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter on your index finger and three heart electrodes (small, square sticky patches) on each shoulder and one on your chest. Once these monitors are on, you will have an oxygen mask to breathe into for a few seconds before you go off to sleep. If you are having regional anesthesia (block) instead of going to sleep, that will be placed in the Pre-OP area by the anesthesiologist.

Post-OP

After your surgery has ended, you will be taken back to our recovery area where our Post-OP nurses/ paramedics will continue to care for you and continue observing your vitals. Your surgeon will call your ride to inform them how you did during surgery and to answer any questions. Orthopedic patients will be monitored for a longer time than our eye patients.

Once awake and alert a light snack and something to drink will be offered to you by our Post-OP nurse/ paramedic. However, you will not be discharged until you are recovered enough and have enough strength to leave the Upper Peninsula Surgery Center.

When it is time to leave the Upper Peninsula Surgery Center, a staff member will make sure to provide all the information about the care you should take when you return home and answer any discharge questions you may have.  The staff member will also help you get safely into your family’s or friend’s car.

Please make sure that the person who will drive you home is a reasonable adult, capable of taking proper care of you.

• An average eye patient stays in the post-op area for 30 minutes before being discharged.
• An average orthopedic patient stays in the post-op area for one to two hours before being discharged.
• An average total joint patient stays in the Post-OP area for two to four hours before being discharged.

But, please note that the length of time spent in the recovery area will depend upon the type of surgery you had and how your body recovers.

We would be pleased if you would complete the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire that will be given to you since your suggestions and impressions are always welcome.

Read more about what to expect after your surgery.

For Frequently Asked Questions, click here.