PATIENT-CONTROLLED ANALGESIA (PCA) - DOES TIME SAVED BY PCA IMPROVE PATIENT SATISFACTION WITH NURSING-CARE

This quasi-experimental study compared the degree of satisfaction with nursing care among patients receiving post-operative pain relief via patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) and those receiving traditional int ramuscular injection (IMI) regimes. This study, which involved a total of 79 adult patients (mainly female) undergoing major abdominal surge ry, was comprised of two main parts. First, the amount of time taken b y nurses to carry out pain control procedures on 11 matched pairs of P CA and traditional patients was recorded. Second, all patients were as ked to fill in a questionnaire regarding their satisfaction with the q uality of nursing care they had received on their third post-operative day. The findings indicated that PCA did save time and this time savi ng could improve the nursing care quality of the whole ward, though no t necessarily resulting in higher satisfaction amongst those patients who used PCA. Interestingly, younger and the more highly educated pati ents were found to be especially critical and be less satisfied with c are. The implications for nursing practice and management are addresse d, with special emphasis placed on the notion that time saved with PCA should be used to increase patient-nurse contact and should not be us ed to compensate for a reduction in nursing staff.