My wife is a nurse and she says that at her hospital, the standard practice is for the surgeon(s) to meet with the patient before the surgery, confirm what's to

My wife is a nurse and she says that at her hospital, the standard practice is for the surgeon(s) to meet with the patient before the surgery, confirm what's to be done with the patient, then they actually write the procedure to be done on the patient's body as close to the organ/limb/whatever of interest as possible, and sign it.