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Nuchtere Opname Afdeling (NOA): Admission for an operation or examination
In consultation with your doctor, you are going to have an operation or examination at MUMC+. You report to the hospital ward NOA. In Dutch, this is called the ‘Nuchtere Opname Afdeling’ (‘Ward for Admission on an Empty Stomach’). The ward is so called because you need to fast in preparation for the operation or examination.
This leaflet will tell you what will happen on the day, from the waiting room to your return home.
Watch this video online at info.mumc.nl/pub-703
Care on the NOA
You will be admitted to the NOA. This is where the admission interview will take place and you will be prepared for the operation.
During the admission interview, the nurse will tell you which inpatient ward you will go to after the operation.
Your companion
It is important that you have help from your partner, a family member or a friend.
- Take 1 companion with you to the hospital.
After surgery, you may need help getting dressed, walking or getting into a car. - Your companion can stay with you until you go to the operating theatre
- If you can go home the same day, your companion will come to fetch you with a wheelchair. The wheelchairs are on the parking deck.
It is important not to be on your own the first night after surgery. Make sure someone stays the night at your home.
You will then be able to get help quickly if you have a complication, such as severe pain, nausea or bleeding.
Preparation
Take the following things with you to the hospital:
- An overview of all your current medicines (in Dutch, Actueel Medicatie Overzicht – AMO). You can get this from your chemist’s.
- Your medicines for 24 hours. Take these with you in the original packaging.
- Wear loose, comfortable clothes so that there is enough room for a bandage.
- Do not bring extra pyjamas, bathrobe, slippers or extra clothes.
- Do not wear contact lenses, jewellery, piercings, make-up, hair clips or elastic hair ties with metal crimps.
- Do not use nail polish and remove gel nails and acrylic nails on the index fingers.
We want to be able to see your nails to check how you are. - Do not bring any expensive items. During your treatment, you will not be able to keep an eye on your belongings.
- Take a maximum of one large bag with you. That will hold all your clothes, shoes and other belongings.
Do not bring any extra items to the hospital. We need to be able to take your belongings with you to the nursing ward.
Empty stomach
For your own safety, you must have an empty stomach on the day of your procedure.
If you have eaten, your operation cannot take place!
What exactly is an empty stomach?
We explain below how to make sure you have an empty stomach. Please read it carefully!
- You must not eat anything for 6 hours before you are due at the hospital.
You may still drink clear liquids, such as non-carbonated water and tea or coffee, with or without sugar, but do not put milk in your tea or coffee! - For 2 hours before you are due in hospital, you must also stop drinking liquids. You may still take your medicines with a little water.
There is more information on ensuring an empty stomach in the leaflet ‘Information on anaesthesia (info.mumc.nl/pub-986)’ (in Dutch).
Postponing the operation
Sometimes, we have to postpone your admission or the operation, for example because there is an emergency admission. Are you still at home? If so, we will let you know as soon as possible that your admission will not go ahead. We will also arrange a new date with you. Have you already been admitted? If so, your operation may not go ahead after all, for example, if you have flu or your blood is not in order. It may also be that the day’s surgical programme has taken too long. In that case, we will try to call you in again as soon as possible.
We use a checklist for your safety
At various times, we will ask you for your name, date of birth, the type of operation you will have and on which side of your body. These questions are for your safety and to check that we have the correct medical information about you.
On the day of your treatment
You have received a letter with the date and time to come to the hospital.
Please report to the waiting room, which is on level 3. (www.mumcplattegrond.nl/#map/d0_d174)
How to get there
Are you coming from the car park to the central hall?
Take the lift (C-D-E-F) on your left to level 3.
Are you coming from the main entrance to the central hall?
Take the lift (C-D-E-F) on your right to level 3.
When you get out of the lift on level 3, the waiting room is diagonally across the corridor.
Please report to the reception there.
Admission to the NOA
After reporting to reception, please go and sit in the waiting room. A nurse will pick you up from the waiting room and take you to the NOA. There, you will have an admission interview with the nurse.
Further preparation
The operating theatre is sterile to minimise the risk of infection. For this reason, you will be given a hospital gown and surgical hat. Please take off your own clothes and underwear.
Make sure all your hair is tucked under the hat. Do not use any hair clips or elastic hair ties with metal crimps. After getting changed, please lie down in the bed.
Sometimes, the surgeon or anaesthetist will come to see you. You may have to wait for a while before someone picks you up for surgery.
Will you be receiving a local anaesthetic? If so, you will usually be given this anaesthetic before going to the operating theatre. But sometimes you will have the local anaesthetic in the operating theatre.
To the operating theatre
The following people are often present in the operating theatre:
- the nurse anaesthetist
- the anaesthetist
- the operating theatre assistant
- the surgeon
- the assistant physician
Because MUMC+ is a university hospital, there are sometimes doctors in training present.
The anaesthetist will prepare you for anaesthesia. You will receive a drip and be connected to the patient monitor. The surgeon will then check your details (checklist).
When you are asleep or the local anaesthetic has fully taken effect, the surgeon will start the operation or examination.
After the operation
After the operation, the operating theatre assistant will treat your wound and the anaesthetist will wake you up. You may not remember this later.
You will then be taken to the recovery room.
Recovery room
In the recovery room, you will be on the patient monitor and the nurses will continually check your breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. You can ask these nurses any questions you have.
If necessary, they will give you extra painkillers or something against nausea. You will stay in the recovery room until you are properly awake, stable and the pain is under control.
The nurses in the recovery room will take the best possible care of you, so that you are comfortable when you return to the nursing ward.
The nurses will check your details again before you go to the nursing ward,
You can find more information on the recovery room in the patient leaflet ‘Recovery (info.mumc.nl/pub-695)’ (in Dutch).
Back to the nursing ward for discharge from hospital
On the nursing ward, your surgeon will visit you once more to tell you about the operation or examination and what happens next. The surgeon decides whether you can go home the same day or whether you have to stay in the hospital for one or more nights.
Ward staff will tell you which lifestyle rules are important to follow at home and for how long. They will also explain what medicines you need to take at home and what painkillers you can take.
Standard pain relief is:
- 1st step: 500 mg Paracetamol tablets.
Take 2 tablets of 500 mg Paracetamol 4 times a day.
In other words, take 2 tablets every 6 hours.
2nd step: Naproxen or Ibuprofen
Please note: do not use Naproxen and Ibuprofen together!
- Naproxen: 500 mg Naproxen tablets.
Take 1 tablet of 500 mg Naproxen 2 times a day.
In other words, take 1 tablet every 12 hours.
Or
- Ibuprofen: 400 mg Ibuprofen tablets
Take 1 tablet of 400 mg Ibuprofen 3 times a day.
In other words, take 1 tablet every 8 hours.Here’s a tip:
Get these standard pain killers in advance. You can buy these from the chemist’s without a prescription.
Your doctor will decide when you can return home. You or the nurse will then call your companion to say that you can go home. Your companion will come to the ward, bringing a wheelchair for you.
Contact
You may experience complications at home, such as post-operative bleeding or a problem with the dressing. If so, please call the hospital. If there any complications in the evening or night after the operation, please call the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department. T: +31 (0)43 387 67 00.
During office hours, please call the outpatient clinic. The phone number is on your appointment card.
Websites
- MUMC+ (www.mumc.nl/)
- Healthy Idea (gezondidee.mumc.nl)