We aim to keep our patients for about 1 hour following surgery. During this time:
- The nurse will continue to assess your vital signs to make sure they are within normal ranges
- You will be given water, juice, or a carbonated beverage to sip.
- Your pain level will be assessed and depending on your level of discomfort you may receive IV pain medications, pain pills, and/or a muscle relaxer. Any medications given during this time will be relayed to your caregiver with a time given for the next dose of the medication.
- You will also be monitored for nausea, a common side effect of anesthesia, and you may be given medications or fluids if needed, to help with nausea or vomiting.
- The recovery nurse will call your caregiver and relay all discharge instructions to them over the phone. The nurse will also instruct your caregiver on the exact location to pick you up.
- Most of our patients are still sleepy when they leave our facility. We try to time your discharge from the facility so that you are alert enough to be helped into the wheelchair and the car, but drowsy enough to fall back to sleep on the ride home.
It is our goal that you are comfortable upon discharge from our facility. While you may not be completely pain free, we aim to minimize your discomfort enough that you can get home and continue to rest and heal from your surgery.