Florida Surgical Center / UF Health Children’s Surgical Center

UF Health Florida Surgical Center (FSC) and UF Health Children’ Surgical Center are outpatient surgical facilities located at 3480 Hull Road, Gainesville Florida. Perioperative nurses working at FSC and CSC strive to achieve a high standard of excellence while providing services in all phases of Peri-Operative care. The unit is staffed with Registered Nurses, Surgical Technologists, and ancillary support personnel.

The Florida Surgical Center (FSC) includes 16 preoperative areas, 8 operating room suites and 11 PACU bays. The operational hours of the facility are normally Monday through Friday, 0600 -1900.

The Children’s Surgical Center (CSC) includes 7 preoperative areas, 4 operating room suites, 7 PACU bays in Suite I and 7 PACU bays in Suite II.

Description of Patient Population

The FSC patient population consists of patients >13 years old and excludes ASA Class IV or higher anesthesia risk patients – including patients exceeding a BMI > 50 kg/m2. Exceptions may be made based upon the surgeon, attending anesthesiologist, and Medical Director’s recommendation. Please see FSC/CSC-PRT-001(Guidelines for Adult Outpatient Surgery) for detailed guidelines. The surgical specialists providing care at FSC generally include General Surgery, Orthopedics, Oral Maxillofacial and Dental, Otolaryngology, Plastic, Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Burn, Chronic Pain, and Neurosurgery.

The CSC patient population ranges from three months (full term) to adult excluding class IV or higher anesthesia risk patients. Surgical specialties generally include General Surgery, Orthopedics, Otolaryngology, Plastic, Dental, Hematology-Oncology, Endoscopy, Ophthalmology, Podiatry, Urology and Gynecology.

Nursing Care

The perioperative nursing staff are Registered Nurses licensed by the Florida State Board of Nursing. Surgical technologists are graduates of community college-based Surgical Technology or comparable programs and function under the direction of a Registered Nurse. New staff is oriented to the unit during a planned orientation ranging from two to six months, depending on previous perioperative nursing experience. Professional certification in perioperative nursing is available from the Association of perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) and the American

Society of Peri-Anesthesia Nurses (ASPAN); certification in Surgical Technology (CST) is available from the Association of Surgical Technologists. All staff members who are responsible for direct patient care possess Basic Life Support (BLS) skills. Operating room staff are provided educational opportunities to attain and maintain competence in their role as defined by the job description for their specific role and by the Departmental Education Plan.

Health Care Team

The Florida Surgical Center Medical Director and the Children’s Surgical Center Medical Director are appointed Board Certified Anesthesiologists. Medical staff utilizing the facility, including community physicians, are credentialed by Shands at the University of Florida. The Associate Vice President (AVP) of Perioperative Services serves as the principal administrative officer by providing management, operational leadership, support, and is responsible for the strategic vision of perioperative services and all quality and safety practices.

The nursing management structure consists of a Director of Perioperative Service (DPS), two Clinical Coordinators (CC), Administrative Assistant, Assistant Business Manager and Charge Nurses. The Director provides leadership in the development of professional nursing practice and maintains 24-hour accountability for unit functions. The DPS is also responsible for strategic planning, implementation, evaluation, and revision of systems that achieve the nursing vision and organizational goals. Registered nurses in Clinical Coordinator positions serve as clinical mangers for patient care and provide leadership support in the Preop/PACU and OR areas, respectively. The Clinical Coordinator position encompasses all operational activities from patient scheduling to time of discharge including transferal to a higher level of care, as needed. Clinical Coordinators also provide clinical and analytical support to the AVP and DPS to plan and predict patient care needs based on quality benchmarking. Charge nurses are assigned daily to facilitate clinical care delivery and serve as a resource for problem resolution to the following areas: 1 RN to FSC/CSC Preop/PACU, 1 RN to CSC Pre-op/PACU and 1 RN to the Operating Room.

The FSC/CSC unit leadership fosters an autonomous, accountable nursing practice by providing opportunities to staff members for involvement with quality improvement, peer reviews, and professional practice activities. Collaboration in the unit, among registered nurses, physicians, anesthesiologists, surgical technologists, sterile supply technicians, patient support technicians, and the business office staff, is fostered by participation on unit committees.

Staffing Plan

The nursing care delivery model is team nursing. The department is staffed with Registered Nurses, Surgical Technologists and ancillary support staff. Daily staffing is based upon actual number of planned cases, anticipated acuity of patients and number of operating rooms needed to provide care. Scheduled work hours may be flexible, based upon the surgical schedule. Staffing in perioperative services is flexed based on the needs of the individual departments. The charge nurses are scheduled to make assignments and staff rooms according to the planned procedure and patient needs.

Skill Mix

Pre-op: All Pre-op Areas are staffed with Registered Nurses and Patient Care Assistants (PCAs). The Regional Block Area is staffed to accommodate 1:1 nursing care during the regional block procedure. This area is staffed according to volume beginning at 0600 AM.

OR: Each OR is staffed with 1 Registered Nurse (RN) and 1 Surgical Tech or RN in the scrub role. In addition, Patient Support Techs and Anesthesia Techs cover all operating rooms. Sterile Supply Technicians are scheduled according to caseload distribution.

PACU: All PACU areas are staffed with Registered Nurses and Patient Care Assistants according to American Society of Peri-Anesthesia Nurses (ASPAN) standards; specifically, 2 licensed registered nurses, one of whom has completed unit orientation, skills validation and is competent in PACU nursing. This staffing model is to be maintained throughout Phase I and Phase II. An anesthesia attending will be on-site until all patients are discharged from PACU.

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Reviewed and Revised: 01/2021

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