Altru's Surgical and Procedural Care Unit offers safe and efficient outpatient surgical care. Patients have the benefit of recuperating from the procedure in the comfort of their own homes. Patients also have the added dimension of Altru Hospital's highly trained staff and state-of-the-art equipment readily available if additional observation should arise.
Altru's Surgical and Procedural Care Unit provides comprehensive care in areas such as general surgery, ophthalmology, gynecology, and plastic surgery. The Surgical and Procedural Care Unit also provides the preoperative assessment and presurgical preparation for patients, admitted on the day of surgery, who are staying for a few days after surgery.
Altru's Surgical and Procedural Care Unit is located on the main floor of the hospital. To contact the Surgical and Procedural Care Unit, please call 701.780.5690.
Preadmission
A preadmission nurse will call you the day before surgery between 1 and 3 p.m. to provide you with your arrival time, review the instructions regarding medications, and answer any of your questions. If you have not been contacted by 3 p.m., please call 701.780.5382 before 5 p.m.
Please take note of the following instructions:
- If you have small children, you may want to consider having someone care for them for at least 24 hours after your outpatient surgery.
- If you are an outpatient, please arrange for someone to drive you home and stay with you the night of your surgery to assist you with personal needs.
- Plan to stay in the Surgical and Procedural Care Unit with your child if they are under the age of 18.
- The preadmission nurse will instruct you on what time to stop eating and drinking
- Chewing gum, breath mints, cough drops, etc. are not allowed after midnight the night before your surgery.
- Do not drink alcohol at least 12 hours before your arrival.
- Do not smoke or chew tobacco after midnight the night before surgery.
- Do not wear any makeup or nail polish.
- Leave all jewelry and valuables at home.
- Wear comfortable walking shoes.
- Wear loose, comfortable clothing to avoid pressure on surgery sites and to accommodate dressings.
- Shower or bathe the night before or the morning of your surgery to minimize the chance of infection.
- You may brush your teeth and rinse your mouth without swallowing liquid the day of surgery.
Failure to observe these requirements may result in delay or cancellation of your surgery.
Care After Surgery
It may be helpful to have your prescriptions filled by family members while you are recovering so that you will have them available as soon as you need them at home.
You may have your prescription filled at any Altru Pharmacy.
A Surgical and Procedural Care Unit nurse will attempt to call you within 72 hours of your surgery to check on your progress.
However, if at any time you have questions or concerns, you may call your surgeon’s office, or call the Surgical and Procedural Care Unit at 701.780.5690, Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
If you experience an emergency health issue and are unable to reach your physician, call 911 or go to Altru's Emergency Room or Urgent Care.
Managing Your Discomfort
The goal at Altru Health System is for every patient to be as pain-free as possible. Your level of discomfort will be evaluated by asking you to rate your pain on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain.
Your Surgical and Procedural Care Unit nurse will work with you to manage your pain. It is important to let your nurse know when you start experiencing pain so appropriate measures can be taken. You can expect to have some discomfort, but it should be tolerable.
Tips for managing your pain at home:
- Take your pain medication routinely as directed by your healthcare provider. This will help keep your pain under control.
- If your pain medication is not controlling your pain, call your healthcare provider to discuss other options.
- It is important to take your pain pills with food to prevent nausea.
- Follow your health care provider’s recommendations for ice, elevation, rest, etc.
- Listening to music, watching TV or videos may help distract you from your pain.
