Here are the four essentials:
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1. Ensure patients and families are provided information on proper use of the patient-controlled analgesia pump so they understand the pump delivers a powerful narcotic and that there should be no “PCA by proxy,” a practice in which an unauthorized person activates the PCA.
2. Make sure patients and families understand why they must be monitored for safety reasons using oximetry on the finger and a capnography cannula on the nose.
3. Educate patients and families about monitor readouts.
4. Explain to patients why alarms sound and what to do when they sound.
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