Pre Admission / Testing - Ambulatory Surgery

brownbook · Aug 11, 2017

I've worked two different out patient surgery clinics.

The first one the patient actually came into the clinic, the pre op admissions nurse got a height and weight, took their vitals, a quick yes/no health history, list of their medications, allergies, past surgeries, etc. If ordered by the surgeon she drew labs, did an EKG, and sent them to radiology if Chest c-ray was ordered. Ideally they had time to check the chart for H&P, consent to read, any unusual antibiotics ordered.

The second place I worked no patient ever came to the center. The pre op admissions nurse did everything by phone call. Honestly most nurses at this clinic did not like the job. The felt they were losing all their nursing skills. Stuck in an office, sitting in a chair all day. Talking to patient on the phone can be crazy and confusing. Then they were responsible for tracking down the paperwork, H&P's, EKG's, lab work, etc., if they had been ordered by their primary care physician or the surgeon. Lots of headaches! Nurses who were on restrictions, no heavy lifting, were a good fit for this job.

Both positions require you to have the smarts to contact the anesthesollogists if some red flags popped up that this patient was too sick to handle out patient surgery. Both positions you teach the patient about NPO, what medications to take in the morning with a sip of water, wear comfortable clothes, do not wear jewelry (wedding rings were ok), don't wear contacts, etc.