DanceRN

Know how to attach EKG leads, bp cuff and pulse ox. Not in that order.

I'm sure all of us have been "fooled" at one time or another. Don't even ask me what the most pain med I have given a pt is. We use the sedation scale along with aldrete and pain level. If a patient states pain level is an 8 but sedation is a 4 and aldrete is an 8 then they are ready for discharge from PACU. One of our MD's has the pt cough (abd. or chest surg). If the pt can't cough or is splinting then they are a 7-10 if the pt coughs but winces 4-7 and if th pt coughs without problem 0-4. He uses this to "verify" what the patients states pain level is.

I took CPAN in November and passed. I have worked PACU for 2 years in a teaching hospital. Our Anesthesia Staff are great! Lots of teaching and cutting edge stuff going on. I also used the study guide. Went through it two times. Studied the standards and took the online review test and passed it too. I thought it was a hard test. I was not confident that I passed. I was really suprised that I passed. One of the other nurses took the test and did not pass. She also did not pass the practice exam or study the guide as much as I did. Good Luck.