Eskenazi Health Perioperative Services’ mission is to deliver safe, compassionate and quality care to surgical patients by promoting teamwork and collaboration, effectively utilizing resources, adhering to standards of practice, providing outstanding customer service and ensuring optimal patient outcomes. Perioperative nurses assess, plan, implement and coordinate patient care throughout their operative journey. Eskenazi Health has been recognized as a Surgical Quality Partner by the American College of Surgeons for the interdisciplinary collaboration on surgical quality initiatives. Perioperative Services includes:
Operating Room
Eskenazi Health has 21 total operating rooms (ORs). The main OR consists of 17 OR suites, including a hybrid endovascular suite, dedicated trauma suite and various robotics platforms. The OR is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ensure coverage for emergencies with eight-, 10- and 12-hour shifts. Eskenazi Health OR nurses are trained in all surgical specialties, which include general, gender health, breast, colorectal, ENT, orthopaedics, neurosurgery, OB/GYN, plastics, urology, vascular, thoracic, ophthalmology and trauma.
Post-Anesthesia Care Unit
The Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) is a critical care-based unit where nurses work directly with anesthesiologists to assist patients in their immediate post-procedure phase of care. The 12-bed unit also supports the Acute Pain Service team. Nurses are responsible for performing direct patient care postoperatively, assessing, documenting, continuous cardiac monitoring and interpretation, providing medications, assisting with conscious sedation, and immediate post-anesthesia education.
Post-Procedure Short Stay Unit
Created in 2019, the Post-Procedure Short Stay Unit focuses on post-procedure patients who may need to stay for a 23-hour observation. This eight-bed unit has a 1:4 nurse-to-patient ratio. The multidisciplinary staff cares for patients recovering from procedures to allow for safe discharge home. Care can include continuous monitoring, medication titration and discharge education.
Pre-anesthesia Testing
Eskenazi Health Pre-Anesthesia Testing (PAT) consists of nurse practitioners, RNs and care techs with medical oversight by anesthesiologists. In PAT, the staff ensures patients are optimized for surgery by conducting a thorough medical history review and a telephone screening questionnaire to determine the need for an in-person visit. Patients may come in to see a nurse practitioner and/or be referred for more specialized workups prior to surgery. Nurses will review surgery instructions for the days leading up to surgery and post-operative instructions. PAT also serves outpatients with physician orders through its walk-in lab.
Prep/Recovery
Eskenazi Health Prep/Recovery, also known as pre-op, prepares patients for surgery. On the day of a patient’s surgery, preoperative nurses ensure all surgical safety checks are completed and all labs and tests are done prior to the patient going to the operating room. Perioperative nurses will also help ensure patients are prepared for discharge after an initial recovery period, providing detailed education and guidance on post-operative care.