AARP Hearing Center
Cynthia Induni, a nationally certified operating-room nurse, shares her road map for navigating surgery with more confidence, clarity and peace of mind.
Amber Day
Surgery has a way of sharpening every worry you didn’t know you were carrying. For older adults especially, it’s rarely about the procedure itself. It’s about how your body will handle anesthesia, how long recovery will take and whether the operation will truly be worth it in the end.
Those concerns aren’t misplaced. According to a University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging published in 2022, 30 percent of adults between 50 and 80 had considered elective surgery in recent years, most often for joints, eyes or abdominal issues. Among those who hesitated, their top fears centered on pain, recovery challenges and financial cost. Yet most who did get surgery reported high satisfaction afterward, suggesting that the scariest part often happens before the hospital gown goes on.
That presurgery period can feel like an interrogation. Patients are asked the same questions over and over, sometimes by different people, sometimes minutes apart. It’s easy to assume something has gone wrong or that no one is paying attention.
In reality, those questions are doing quiet but critical work. Cynthia Induni, a nationally certified operating-room (OR) nurse with nearly 30 years of experience, has asked them thousands of times, using her patients’ answers to guide everything that happens next. Those conversations help align nursing care with surgical and anesthesia planning, often in ways patients never see.
What follows is a rare look behind the curtain — and a road map for navigating surgery with more confidence, clarity and peace of mind.
Yes, we check your belly button — clean it before surgery
If you’re having abdominal surgery, clean your belly button. Debris there can contaminate the surgical field once the skin is prepped.
Amber Day
If you’re having abdominal surgery, there’s one small detail patients almost never think about but operating room nurses always do: your belly button.
The umbilicus is a natural pocket that can trap lint, dead skin, soap residue and bacteria. Because it sits in the middle of the abdomen, debris there can contaminate the surgical field once the skin is prepped. When that happens, someone in the OR has to clean it out — sometimes thoroughly, sometimes uncomfortably, and occasionally with surgical instruments.
The fix is simple. In the days before surgery, gently clean your belly button with soap and water in the shower. Use a washcloth or cotton swab if needed, but don’t dig aggressively. It’s a small step that helps protect the surgical field and lowers infection risk.
The most powerful call button is a person in the room
If a loved one is hospitalized, being there with them can make a real difference.
Amber Day
If a loved one is hospitalized, being present can make a real difference. Not because nurses aren’t attentive, but because staffing shortages and burnout are ongoing realities in many hospitals. An extra set of eyes and ears helps fill the gaps.
A familiar face can notice subtle changes, take notes during doctor visits and help track medications, tests or discharge plans. Patients are often overwhelmed, medicated or anxious, and they don’t always remember what they’re told. Having someone nearby to listen and ask follow-up questions can prevent confusion later.
Sometimes the help is practical: assisting with comfort, making sure linens are changed or helping your loved one feel clean and settled when staff are juggling multiple patients. Just as important, your presence reduces loneliness and anxiety, something research and patient advocates have long noted can affect recovery as much as medical care itself.
Don’t ask if your surgeon is ‘good.’ Ask who the staff trusts with their own family
People who work in health care see outcomes up close. They notice which surgeons communicate clearly, handle complications calmly and earn trust across the operating room. They also quietly know which ones they’d avoid for themselves or their families, even if they’d never say that out loud.
If you want an honest recommendation for a surgeon, don’t ask hospital staff whether the surgeon you’ve already chosen is “good.” Most won’t criticize a colleague, even if they have reservations. Instead, ask a better question: “Who would you send your mom to?”
Nurses, techs, anesthesiologists and recovery staff all have opinions shaped by experience, not reputation or marketing. Their off-the-record recommendations are often the most honest ones you’ll get.
What you say under anesthesia isn’t nearly as interesting as you think
Many patients worry they’ll say something embarrassing as anesthesia kicks in. In reality, what people say is rarely shocking, meaningful or memorable. Operating-room staff have heard it all, and none of it is personal.
More importantly, what’s said in the OR stays in the OR. Your care team is focused on your safety, not your commentary. Once anesthesia takes effect, your words don’t follow you into recovery, your medical record or the break room. You can let that fear go before you even change into the gown.
If you can choose your surgery time slot, choose early
If you have a choice, try to be the first surgery of the day. Early cases are more likely to start on time, and the [office] is rested and fully staffed. As the day goes on, delays tend to stack up. Earlier surgeries run long, emergencies bump the schedule, staffing shifts change.
The same logic applies to the calendar. Surgeries earlier in the week often run more smoothly than those scheduled late in the week, when fatigue and backlog can creep in.
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