Same-Day Surgery/Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (SDS/PACU) is a nursing unit at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics where patients are admitted preoperatively and recovered postoperatively.

We perform simple outpatient procedures to complex procedures requiring an Intensive-Care Unit (ICU) stay for the patient (i.e, open heart surgery and kidney transplants).

We have three different areas in the unit, including Preoperative, Phase I PACU and Phase II PACU.

Parents are with their children throughout the preoperative process until the child goes into the operating room.

During surgery, families are welcome to wait in the state-of-the-art surgery waiting room, a large room featuring private conference rooms, an eating area, several TVs, and a special area for children with a bear cave and a huge projection TV.

After Phase I recovery is complete, the parents are reunited with their child in Phase II PACU where they prepare to go home. If the child is being admitted, the parents will accompany their child and his/her PACU RN to the inpatient unit.

Our nurses are trained pediatric nurses; approximately 45 percent of our nurses are specialty certified in this area.

We have an anesthesiology department that specializes in pediatric anesthesia, and they are dedicated to being team players. We function together as a cohesive unit. Our unit is like extended family and we thoroughly enjoy what we do!

Patients range in age from neonate to 18 years. We do a few cases for adults with congenital problems or who are serving as an organ donor.