Surgery in Waikato

Kia ora and welcome to Waikato Hospital.

If you have been told you are having an operation at Waikato, this video will help to show you where to go in the morning and what will happen while you are in hospital.

If you are driving in, you can find the main parking building on Hague Road.

This runs around behind the hospital.

The turn-off to Hague Road is on Pembroke Street, just south of the Emergency Department.

You can easily find it on Google Maps.

It is a good idea to allow extra time to find your way and to find a car park.

Once you have found a park, take the lift up to level three of the Meade Clinical Centre. On level three of the Meade Clinical Centre, follow the corridor until you reach Reception K.

This is the Day of Surgery Admissions or DOSA.

The DOSA receptionist will check you in and let the nursing team know you have arrived.

Kia ora, I'm Katie. I'm a receptionist at DOSA.

I'm the first person you'll see on your journey at Waikato Hospital.

So the first thing that will happen is you'll approach the counter.

We'll check your details, then you'll be asked to take a seat while you wait for the DOSA nurse.

Your DOSA nurse will call you from the reception room into a private consultation room. Here they will go through your history, your paperwork, ask you some questions about your health, and they may do some blood tests.

Hi Emily, my name is Miguel.

I'm your DOSA nurse for today and I will be preparing you for your surgery and I'll be carrying out some of your observations like vital signs such as your temperature, your blood pressure, and your pulse oximeter.

And also I'll be taking your weight.

We have a scale just outside, so once we go out of this room, we'll take your height and weight.

Your height and weight will be measured, as this information is important for your anaesthetist.

You will then be taken to a private changing room to get changed into a hospital gown.

All of your belongings will be kept with you in DOSA.

After you are changed, you will be taken to either a chair or a hospital bed.

Before your operation, you will meet with your surgeon and your anaesthetist.

They will discuss their plans for your care and complete the consent forms and answer any questions you may have.

You can have a support person with you while you are in DOSA.

We encourage you to bring something with you to help you pass the time while you wait for your operation.

Once it is your turn for surgery, you'll be brought to theatre on your hospital bed.

Kia ora, my name's Antony.

I'm a specialist anaesthetist and my role is to look after you during your surgery.

My name is Gabby, I'm an anaesthetic registrar.

A registrar is a specialist in training.

We often work in teams and there'll always be one of us there to look after you.

Once you've been checked in, in DOSA, you'll get to meet your anaesthetist and at that point we'll be able to discuss what options are best for you for your anaesthetic and you'll be able to ask any questions that you have at that time.

When it's your turn, you'll come through to a room like this before we take you through to the theatre.

This is called the anaesthetic room where we will do our final checks of the paperwork.

We'll pop an IV line in to give you medication for your anaesthetic.

And if need be, this is where we'll do our local anaesthetic blocks.

After that, we'll pop through these doors into the operating theatre for your surgery.

Kia ora, welcome to theatre.

My name is Tangi and I'm one of the orthopaedic doctors.

Hi, my name is Isabel and I am one of the obstetrician and gynaecologists.

In the morning of your surgery, you'll meet your surgeon or one of their colleagues.

At this point, we can answer any of your questions and also confirm the site we'll be operating on.

You may meet a lot of people on that day and it is quite normal to have two surgeons for the same procedure.

They may be of the same speciality or a different one, and that will be explained to you and they will be introduced to you on that day.

Once your surgery is completed, we'll phone your contact person and let them know how everything went.

Later on in the day, we'll catch up with you on the ward.

Hi, my name's Jolene, I'm a post anaesthetic recovery nurse and I work here in the Post Anaesthetic Care Unit or PACU for short.

After your surgery, you'll be brought through to PACU.

I'll stay with you the entire time and make sure that any pain or nausea that you might wake up with is all taken care of.

Although we might not be able to get rid of all your pain, we make sure that when you leave PACU it's at a level that you feel comfortable with and that you can manage safely on the ward.

When you're awake, medically stable and nice and comfortable, we'll either send you off to one of the wards if you're staying overnight, or next door to DOSA where you'll go home after a few hours.

If you're an adult having surgery, we don't have visitors in PACU, but you can see your friends and family on the ward.

If you are scheduled for day stay surgery, you will return to DOSA after you have woken from your anaesthetic, and there you will be given something to eat and drink.

Once you are fully recovered and your paperwork is completed, including an off work certificate and a medication prescription, you will be discharged home.

Your support person will meet you in DOSA before you leave.

You must not drive yourself home and it is a legal requirement that you have someone with you overnight.

We do not want you going home to an empty house.

We hope this video will help to clarify what can be a confusing time as you come into hospital for your operation and we wish you all the very best for your surgery.