SAFETY
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to put a strategic plan in place to make sure we treat these
patients, like all of our patients, with dignity and respect. Our
staff is able to put aside any negative feelings and understand
these patients can be complicated, both medically and psychoso-
cially.
Through formal in-services and staff meetings, staff are now com-
fortable both addressing aspects of the patients' care and taking a
proactive approach in patient communications to ensure we're
doing everything we can to alleviate stress and minimize pain.
Addressing patients' needs is important in every step of their expe-
rience at our center. From the pre-op call to discharge, we
approach every patient with an attitude of respect and empower-
ment. We think our census of surgical patients in addiction recov-
ery has grown because we've created a culture of compassionate
care for this patient population.
How to handle pre-op calls and registration
Our team has become adept at identifying patients coming
to surgery from recovery facilities by their demographic or insur-
ance information, which you can glean from a History & Physical
report. When we identify one of these patients, we make a note on
our pre-op call checklist to discuss that patient's needs for trans-
portation and an accompanying adult to sign discharge orders. If
we're unable to reach patients who are residing in a treatment
facility to give pre-op instructions, we'll give instructions to a care-
giver at the patient's treatment facility; we're sure to document
that fact in the chart. Some treatment facilities can provide supple-
mentary lab work or physical assessment information that may be
helpful.
When we are able to reach the patient, our pre-op team discusses
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