Domains | No | Items | Correct response rates n (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Design principles of PCA | 1 | The design of PCA is informed by the concept of patient-demand analgesic administration. (O) | 291 (96.0) |
2 | The mechanism of PCA is the provision of a new analgesic to achieve a satisfactory analgesic effect and to maintain peak serum concentration. (X) | 169 (55.8) | |
3 | The definition of bolus dose for PCA is the maximum dose reaching a moderate analgesic effect with the probability of moderate side effects. (X) | 201 (66.3) | |
PCA setup | 4 | The common routes of administration for PCA include intravenous, epidural, and continuous subcutaneous injections (for terminal cancer patients and others). (O) | 275 (90.8) |
5 | 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) | 294 (97.0) | |
6 | The bolus dose of PCA should generally be set to half of the dose of intramuscular injection. (X) | 118 (38.9) | |
7 | The suggested lockout interval of intravenous PCA is 30 to 60 min. (X) | 133 (43.9) | |
PCA side effects management | 8 | The medication used in IV PCA should be nonopioid analgesics because the side effects of these medications are limited. (X) | 69 (22.8) |
9 | When a PCA overdose is suspected, the use of flumazenil as an antagonist should be considered to confirm the diagnosis. (X) | 157 (51.8) | |
10 | Because of the opioid analgesics used in PCA, the most common side effect is addiction. (X) | 55 (18.2) | |
11 | A respiration rate of less than five breaths per minute may be due to an overdose of PCA analgesics. (X) | 238 (78.5) | |
12 | To prevent addiction to IV PCA, the best choice of PCA analgesics is NSAIDs. (X) | 102 (33.7) | |
PCA administration | 13 | The goal of pain relief is achieved when the caregiver uses the PCA equipment directly. (X) | 71 (23.7) |
14 | The best advantage of PCA is that uncooperative patients can be prioritized for PCA administration. (X) | 25 (8.3) | |
15 | 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) | 133 (43.9) | |
16 | 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) | 25 (8.3) | |
17 | 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) | 63 (20.8) | |
18 | The same class of IV PCA analgesics should be administered to achieve an analgesic effect when the effect of IV PCA is unsatisfactory. (X) | 54 (17.8) | |
19 | 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) | 80 (26.4) | |
20 | 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) | 104 (34.3) |