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Download HNELHD Getting Ready for Surgery Booklet
Current as of Tuesday, 09 July 2024.
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Guide to getting ready for surgery in Hunter New England
Surgery day in a Hunter New England Hospital
On the morning of your surgery
- Shower as normal using a good lather of soap to wash your face and body. Use a gentle soap to wash.
- If you have been given the special skin wipes or body wash from the hospital, use them as instructed.
- Wash your hair with normal shampoo and conditioner and rinse it off completely.
- Remove any make-up and nail polish.
- Keep warm. This will help to reduce the amount of heat your body loses during surgery. It will also help with pain and nausea after surgery and reduce the potential for bleeding.
- Make arrangements with family, friends, community transport or via other means to get to and from hospital.
- Bring a small bag with the essentials you will need for your stay.
- Wear clean, freshly laundered clothes to hospital.
Things you should avoid on the day
- Lotions, creams, powders or under arm deodorant. These can make it hard for the operating roomstaff to stick heart monitoring dots to your skin.
- Shaving or waxing below the neck. This can cause small cuts that can introduce infection. Facial shaving is allowed.
- Lipstick, nail polish or facial makeup. This will help the operating room staff monitor the true colour of your skin and nails during surgery.
- Hairspray or hair gel. These can be flammable.
When you arrive
We will contact you in the days leading up to your surgery to tell you what time to arrive at the hospital. We will also tell you where to go on arrival. If not, go to the information desk near the front entrance and staff or volunteers will guide you.
We will need to confirm your personal details
On admission to hospital, staff will need to know:
- Your medical history.
- Your current address and phone number.
- Details of the appropriate person to contact including telephone numbers.
- Details of your GP or other treating health professionals.
- Your Medicare number, pension, healthcare or Department of Veterans Affairs details.
- Details of your private health cover or any other health cover you have that might fund your hospital stay.
- Any legally authorised guardians that will help you with decision making. Not everyone has these in place but if you do, please let us know who they are and if they will stay with you (a Guardian is the person able to make decisions about your health care if you are unable to speak for yourself).
Ongoing patient identification for your safety
When you are admitted, a plastic identification band will be placed on your wrist and ankle. Please check
the details on the band are correct and wear it while you are in hospital.
During your stay in hospital for your safety, our staff will regularly ask you your name and date of birth.
This is to confirm your identity and make sure the right patient is receiving the right treatment and medications.
What the doctors and nurses will do
While the doctors and nurses treat and care for you, they will:
- Introduce themselves and explain their role in your care and treatment.
- Explain what will happen before and after your operation. Ask if you have any questions or if there is anything you don’t understand.
- Check you know what surgery you are having and ask you to check your consent form.
- Ask about any allergies you may have.
- They may also mark the site of your operation on your body.
- Let staff know straight away if where they mark your operation site is not where you think your surgery will be.
- Let staff know if you would like an interpreter or cultural support worker.
Surgery cancellations
Every effort is made to provide surgery on the day it has been scheduled for, however sometimes last-minute cancellations can happen.
Surgery may be cancelled if operations before yours take longer than expected or patients require emergency surgery.
If your surgery is unexpectedly cancelled, the hospital staff will make arrangements with you to reschedule your surgery for another time.