Having surgery can be scary, but we want you to feel comfortable at Unasource! Understanding the process of receiving anesthesia before surgery may help to reduce some of your anxiety, so here’s what you can expect.
After you arrive and check in, a nurse will bring you into your private room. You will have your vital signs taken and IV placed for surgery. At this time, your surgeon and anesthesiologist will meet with you and ask questions about your health.
When the operating room is ready, a nurse and nurse anesthetist will come and wheel you on your bed to surgery. The room will be very cold, bright, and loud! A surgical tech and nurses will prepare the room and equipment for you.
You will then be asked to move onto the operating room bed, which will be warmed up for you. The nurse anesthetist will take your blood pressure, hook up the EKG, and clip a pulse oximeter onto your finger. (EKG stands for electrocardiogram, which is a test that measures the electrical activity of a heartbeat. A pulse oximeter is a non-invasive device that measures the oxygen level in your blood.)
The anesthesia team will then place a mask with oxygen over your nose and mouth as they give you medicine through your IV. Sometimes the medicine feels cool in the IV but only for a second because it causes you to fall asleep! After you are asleep, anesthetic gas is given to keep you sleeping until the end of your surgery. During the surgery, the nurse anesthetist will monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing.
Once your operation is finished, the anesthetic gas is turned off, and you wake up shortly thereafter. You will be back in your own room that you started out in.
The nurses will give the recovery room nurse a report about your surgery, and the recovery room nurse will make sure that you are comfortable and well taken care of.
For more information about UnaSource Surgery Center, visit www.unasourcesurgery.com.
— Karen Shea
CRNA