Table 2 Nurses’ knowledge of PCA (N = 303)

Design

principles

of PCA

The design of PCA is informed by the concept of patient-demand analgesic administration. (O)

The mechanism of PCA is the provision of a new analgesic to achieve a satisfactory analgesic effect and to maintain peak serum concentration. (X)

The definition of bolus dose for PCA is the maximum dose reaching a moderate analgesic effect with the probability of moderate side effects. (X)

PCA setup

The common routes of administration for PCA include intravenous, epidural, and continuous subcutaneous injections (for terminal cancer patients and others). (O)

The setup of the PCA pump includes the loading dose, bolus dose, continuous dose, lockout interval, and 4 h-limit dose, among other components. (O)

The bolus dose of PCA should generally be set to half of the dose of intramuscular injection. (X)

The suggested lockout interval of intravenous PCA is 30 to 60 min. (X)

PCA side effects

management

The medication used in IV PCA should be nonopioid analgesics because the side effects of these medications are limited. (X)

When a PCA overdose is suspected, the use of flumazenil as an antagonist should be considered to confirm the diagnosis. (X)

Because of the opioid analgesics used in PCA, the most common side effect is addiction. (X)

A respiration rate of less than five breaths per minute may be due to an overdose of PCA analgesics. (X)

To prevent addiction to IV PCA, the best choice of PCA analgesics is NSAIDs. (X)

PCA administration

The goal of pain relief is achieved when the caregiver uses the PCA equipment directly. (X)

The best advantage of PCA is that uncooperative patients can be prioritized for PCA administration. (X)

Although patients may use PCA by themselves, the nurse should educate the patient as much possible to reduce the use of PCA to prevent overdose and side effects. (X)

The intended analgesic effect of PCA is that patients do not feel pain at all and their pain score is 0 out of 10 on the visual analogue scale; otherwise, it is necessary to increase the dose. (X)

It is acceptable to extend the use of PCA for 14 days of a patient requests it when the analgesic effect of PCA is satisfactory. (X)

The same class of IV PCA analgesics should be administered to achieve an analgesic effect when the effect of IV PCA is unsatisfactory. (X)

The analgesic used in IV PCA and epidural PCA is the same; therefore, it is possible to administer the epidural PCA analgesic directly via the intravenous route. (X)

Pain is a subjective feeling; thus, nurses’ knowledge of pain and their options for treatment cannot influence the time and dosage of analgesic administration and the outcomes of postoperative pain control. (X)