Ask A Magnet Nurse

Right After Surgery, PACU Nurses Are There For You

Charlene Prince-Wright, RN-C
Post-Anesthesia Care Unit
Candler Hospital

Smart Living: What is the PACU?

Charlene Prince-Wright: PACU stands for Post-Anesthesia Care Unit. It is sometimes known as the recovery room. It is for patients who are waking up from anesthesia after surgery or for patients who needed general anesthesia for an MRI or CT scan.

Our team of nurses monitors patients to make sure their vital signs, such as blood pressure, respiratory rate, and oxygen level, return to within 20 percent of what they were at pre-op. We make sure it returns to the patient’s baseline. We also monitor a patient’s end-tidal CO2, which is the level of carbon dioxide they are releasing when they exhale. This is especially important for patients with respiratory issues. We also help make sure a patient’s post-op pain comes down to a reasonable level.

SL: How do people generally feel when they wake up after surgery?

CPW: Many patients wake up quicker and more alert than patients did in the past, because of the newer anesthetics. Some may feel discombobulated or feel they’ve lost a sense of time. We let them know that what they are feeling is normal. For children, we always have two caregivers looking after them to help ease any anxiety they may feel.

Occasionally a patient is confused and gets agitated, but each nurse in the PACU has their own special way of calming a patient. We always provide safety first. That’s number one—making sure no one can injure themselves. And then we provide that calm, tender-loving care as our patients recover.