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As a surgical patient at Monmouth Medical Center, your care will
be handled by a highly skilled team of specialists, which is headed
by your surgeon. The information in this section is designed to
give you step-by-step information to prepare you for surgery and
recovery.
At the completion of your operation,
you may be taken to the PACU, also known as the recovery room,
where a registered nurse specially trained in postoperative care
will care for you. Your vital signs will be monitored frequently,
and post-operative treatments, such as the application of ice or
range of motion exercises, will be initiated when ordered by your
doctor.
Your nurse will remind you to take a deep breath once every few
minutes. Deep breathing and coughing is an important exercise after
surgery, as it opens up your airway and expands your lungs, and
can prevent respiratory complications. Coughing may cause some
pain, but you can minimize the discomfort by supporting the site
of your surgical incision with a pillow.
After surgery, you may experience some
degree of pain. Your nurse will assist you with pain control techniques
such as instructing you to take slow, deep breaths. Pain medication
will be available when needed, and your nurse will ask you to describe
your pain as mild, moderate or severe (your nurse may ask you to
describe the severity of your pain on a scale of one to 10), and
medicate accordingly.
Medication may be given to you in pill form, as an injection,
or through an IV line or patient-controlled analgesia, where you
control the dosage of medication administered through your IV line.
Most Same Day Surgery
patients will remain in the PACU for about one hour, while patients
who will stay in the hospital overnight can expect to remain in
the unit for about two hours, before being transferred to our inpatient
unit.
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