Unit description: 12 unit presurgical area, 6 operating rooms, 6-8 bed first stage recovery area, 10 bed second stage recovery area

Patient population: Outpatients, adult and pediatric, having same day surgery.

Services/treatments: Preoperative care, intraoperative care, immediate postoperative care and second stage recovery care.

Skill mix: 70/30 RN/Surg Tech ratio. PACU is an all RN staff. Nursing assistants assist with cares in all areas.

Number of patients seen daily: 40-80 preoperatively, 20-30 in OR and recovery areas.

Hours of operation: 0500-1800 Monday through Friday. ASC recovery is open until 1930.

Other information about the unit: No night or weekend shifts. Rotate on-call in the main PACU. High customer service skills are needed. Staff are expected to prepare patients for surgery, scrub, circulate. Recovery staff do post-op teaching and discharge patients from this area. Pre-surgical staff prepares patients for surgery.