Helpful Tips in Using the PCA

• For the best pain relief it is important to maintain a constant level of pain medication in your bloodstream. You should press the PCA button when your pain BEGINS to feel worse.
• You should give yourself a dose of medication BEFORE activities that could cause pain . . . such as walking, moving in bed, and coughing/deep breathing.
• If you are not getting sufficient pain relief or you are having side effects such as itching, nausea, or sleepiness you need to tell your nurse. Depending on the problem you are experiencing, changes can be made to the PCA settings, a different pain medication can be used, or another medicine can be given to help control the side effects.
• If you are the only person pushing the button, it is hard to give yourself too much medication.
• There is a preset time span between doses. Even if you pus the button 20 times in a row, you will only receive on dose per time span. You will know you are getting a dose when you hear the pump "chirp" after you push the button.
• ADDICTION to medication in the PCA happens less than 1% of the time when used for medical reasons. Therefore, we encourage you to use the PCA machine, as much as you need it to keep yourself reasonably comfortable.

You will be asked to "rate" your pain, using a scale. We want to know how much pain you are having. If you are asked to give your pain a number from zero to ten - zero means you don't have any pain at all, and ten means you have so much pain you cannot imagine it being any worse!

Pain is different for everyone and you are the only one who knows exactly how you feel. Patient Controlled Analgesia is a safe, effective way to help you control your pain.