Jennifer Luzares

This page exists for Jennifer Luzares, a member of the Me Clinic team.

We are not publishing a role or qualifications here, because we do not hold verified current details for this page. Our practitioners and their AHPRA registration numbers are on meet the team; phone 1300 852 050 to ask who would look after you.

Instead, something patients are rarely told and almost never ask about: who is actually in the room.

Who is present during a procedure

The operating practitioner

The person who performs your procedure. Ask, before you consent, whether they will perform the whole procedure themselves and what parts, if any, anyone else does. You are entitled to a direct answer.

The anaesthetist

For anything under general anaesthetic or sedation, a separate specialist anaesthetist manages your anaesthetic, airway and vital signs throughout, and your recovery immediately afterwards. They bill separately - ask for their estimate as well as the surgeon's.

You can ask to speak to them beforehand. Tell them about previous anaesthetic reactions, sleep apnoea, reflux, loose teeth, and every medication and supplement you take.

The surgical assistant

A second practitioner assisting for many procedures - retracting, controlling bleeding, helping with closure. Also usually billed separately.

Scrub and scout nurses

The scrub nurse handles sterile instruments and works directly with the surgeon. The scout nurse works outside the sterile field, fetching equipment, documenting, and counting instruments and swabs in and out - the count is why things are not left behind.

Recovery nursing staff

Monitor you as you wake, manage pain and nausea, and check that you are safe to go home.

What you should know before the day

• Where the procedure takes place - a hospital, a licensed day-procedure centre, or a clinic treatment room - and whether that facility is accredited
• What anaesthetic is planned, and who administers it
• What happens if something goes wrong during the procedure, and where you would be transferred
• Where you go overnight if you need to be admitted
• Who to call after hours, and whether a person answers

The setting matters. A procedure under general anaesthetic belongs in a facility equipped to manage an emergency, with staff trained for one.

Consent is a conversation, not a form

You should have already discussed the procedure, the realistic range of results, the alternatives including doing nothing, and the specific risks for you - at a consultation, not on the day. A consent form pushed in front of you as you are changing is not informed consent.

You can withdraw consent at any point up to the moment the procedure begins, including in the waiting room. See deciding not to proceed.

On the day

• Follow the fasting instructions exactly - an anaesthetic can be cancelled over a cup of coffee
• Bring your medication list, and take only what you were told to take
• No jewellery, no nail polish on the fingers used for monitoring, no makeup
• An adult must drive you home and stay the first night
• Arrange the whole day off, and the next

Contact

Me Clinic, 4 Burke Road, Malvern East VIC 3145. Phone 1300 852 050 or (03) 9569 3511.

Related: what recovery involves, risks and complications, questions worth asking.

Individual results may vary. Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.