Your assignment is to participate in a discussion based on one of the three groups, the one you are assigned to by your instructor. Review your group assignment and individually post your initial response. Respond to the discussion questions, using references to support your posting.  

As you begin your post this week, please identify whether you are in group one, group two, or group three by adding this as your first statement in your initial posting by Thursday 11:59 PM ET of the week. This designation will make it easier for your peers to identify the different group posts and compose a response(s) to the correct person(s). Use your assigned group when the discussion instructions indicate groups. If groups are not indicated, then answer as directions guide you.

Group One Discussion Prompt: 

List 4 specific interventions that the nurse should implement when caring for Mrs. Gardner when she has PCA infusing. 

Provide a rationale for each intervention. 

 

Answer:

Group one

Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is a pain control method that enables patients to control their pain by themselves (Wuhrman,2015). In PCA a computerized patient-controlled analgesia pump containing a doctor's prescribed pain medication syringe is connected to the intravenous (IV) of the patient directly (Palmer,2010). the patient controls when and when not to receive the pain medication. The aim of this study is to highlight different nursing interventions for Mrs. Gardner who when she has PCA infusing.

Step-by-step explanation

The specific nursing interventions that the nurse should implement when caring for Mrs. Gardner when she has PCA infusing are:

·         Teaching the patient and the patient's family on how and why to use PCA- this is to demonstrate to them on how to push the button and warn them against doing it for the patient unless she can't do it herself and needs it done. Warn them against the dangers of unauthorized dosing button activation when the patient is asleep or sedated by making it clear that the patient has to self-administer while they are awake. This helps to prevent potential risks of unauthorized dosing which are life-threatening

·         Determining the vital signs and baseline the level of pain, consciousness, sedation, and mental status as well as current or previous medical allergies- to determine whether the drug is effective to her and know whether she can continue pressing the dosing button. Determining the patient's mental status will also help to know if the patient is capable of self-administration (Pasero,2015).

·         Verification of the PCA pump against the patient's identity, the drug, drug route, drug concentration and dose-volume limits by connecting the PCA pump tubing to the drug reservoir and then connecting it to the IV line and rechecking for assurance to ensure the rights of drugs administration have been followed. Rechecking is done whenever there is a change in shifts.

·         Monitoring the site of insertion for pain, swelling, tenderness, coolness or tenderness to rule out phlebitis or displacement of catheter.

References

Wuhrman, E., & Broglio, K. (2015). Patient-controlled analgesia helps manage pain. Nursing2020 Critical Care, 10(4), 38-42.

Pasero, C. (2015). Unconventional Use of a PCA Pump: Nurse-Activated Dosing. Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 30(1), 68-70.

Palmer, P. P., & Miller, R. D. (2010). Current and developing methods of patient-controlled analgesia. Anesthesiology clinics, 28(4), 587-599.