Specialties PICU
Published Jun 6, 2012
You are reading page 2 of Morphine PCA
One2gofst
163 Posts
Just a sort of aside, but if folks aside from the patient are pushing e button it is no longer a PCA, by definition.
imaginations
125 Posts
There are two major children's hospitals in my city. I worked at the largest one last year (it's also one of the biggest children's hospitals in the country) where they had an 'NCA' policy (or, 'nurse controlled analgesia) for patients who were not, for whatever reason, able to operate a PCA. These were prescribed and monitored by the pain service and parents did not push the button, the nurse did.
At my current hospital, the other children's hospital in this city, if a child is not able to use a PCA as assessed by the pain team other methods of pain control are sought, generally an infusion.
mama_d, BSN, RN
1,187 Posts
Not sure how this would apply to your population, but when we have patients on PCAs that are unable to use them (generally EOL oncology patients), the nurse (never anyone else per policy) titrates to the Ramsey scale. If we're pushing the button regularly, basal rate gets increased.