Pre-op telephone assessments

[cab631]

We will be changing some of our processes in the way we do pre-op teaching/screening. I would like to know if any of you other ambulatory care/outpatient nurses can tell me if and how your facility handles this. We are trying to reduce the time a patient shows up for a procedure/surgery by pre-assessing him over the phone, then doing a quick re-assessment when they arrive on the day of surgery/procedure before we lay them down, start an IV and get VS. Do you have a P&P that covers this?

[rubyd'quis]

I did pre-op H&P's at an out-pt facility for a while. I called the patient about a week in advance to verify data and routine meds. I also arranged for lab work, ekg's, med clearance and a plethera of other things. I had routine pre-printed MD orders and anesthesia orders. On the day of surgery, the anesthesiologist would interview the pt and the info gathered by the RN.

It could get pretty hectic at times. Most of the time it was okay.