Journal of post anesthesia nursing
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Effect of music therapy in the postanesthesia care unit: a nursing intervention.
This study examined the effect of music on pain, hemodynamic variables, and respiration in the PACU, and the impact of music on patients' recall of their PACU experience. Sixty patients scheduled for thyroid, parathyroid, or breast surgery under general anesthesia were studied. ⋯ There was no difference in pain level, morphine requirement, hemodynamics, respiration, or length of stay in the PACU among the 3 groups, yet the music group was able to wait significantly longer before requiring analgesia on the nursing unit. Patients who listened to music perceived their PACU experience as significantly more pleasant than the patients in the other two groups as recalled both 1 day and 1 month later.
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The purpose of this study was to identify documented interdependent and independent nursing interventions to prevent or relieve nausea and vomiting during the first 24 hours following uncomplicated cholecystectomy. A systematic sampling method was used to select 40 hospital records from 1986 to 1988. Results showed that nausea and vomiting was documented in only two PACU records and nine postoperative nursing unit records. ⋯ Lack of interventions may be due to a fear of potentiating the anesthesia or belief that symptoms would subside with time. Documented interventions included repositioning patients (independent) and administering medications (interdependent). This study illustrates the need for education about nurses' responsibility to prevent or relieve postoperative nausea and vomiting and the importance in documenting the interventions used.
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It has been the purpose of this article to discuss the pharmacology and physiology of local anesthetics. By having an understanding of local anesthetics at this level, the PACU nurse should have a better understanding of the consequences of employing local anesthetics in regional anesthesia.