CPAN: POST-ANESTHESIA NURSING
STUDY CARDS PART 1 QUESTIONS
AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Preoperative Details ✅✅ANSW-Encourage patient to avoid smoking for at least 12 hours prior to
surgery or as long as possible.
Confirm absence or presence of pregnancy in women of childbearing age.
Beta-blockers should be taken prior to arrival to the facility or within 24 hours of surgery (may be
after PACU discharge).
Instruct patient to remove all jewelry, especially mouth/tongue jewelry.
Remove dentures.
Instruct patient about NPO requirements for their procedure.
Preoperative Time ✅✅ANSW-Most common nursing diagnoses: anxiety and knowledge deficit
Anxiety:
Patient may not be able to identify a source of the anxiety (as opposed to the fearful patient).
Desired outcome is to lessen, not eliminate, anxiety.
Interventions include therapeutic communication/listening, information as requested by patient,
and reassurance/support.
Knowledge Deficit:
Desired outcome is that the patient will demonstrate knowledge of the physical and psychological
responses to surgery.
Interventions include prompting the patient for questions about the surgery, identifying readiness
and ability to learn, providing information compatible with patient ability to understand, and
explaining surgical routines.
Intraoperative Time ✅✅ANSW-Most common nursing diagnoses: risk for injury and risk for
infection
Risk for Injury:
Desired outcome is that the patient would not experience any unexpected injury (e.g., wrong-site
surgery, sponges left in a cavity).
Interventions include surgical "Time-Outs," using approved documentation and ordering systems,
and following proper checklist procedures.
, Risk for Infection:
Desired outcome is that the patient would not develop a postop infection.
Interventions include verification of preop antibiotics, proper site cleansing and shaving, strict
maintenance of sterile fields, and meticulous scrub-in procedures.
Postoperative Time ✅✅ANSW-Most common nursing diagnoses: pain and knowledge deficit
Pain:
Desired outcome is that the patient would verbalize pain relief/control.
Interventions include providing pain management techniques to lower pain to normal or below
normal ranges for the patient, soliciting frequent pain reports, and observing patient vital signs and
activities (e.g., guarding, wincing).
Knowledge Deficit:
Desired outcome is that the patient would verbalize understanding and/or demonstrate desired
skills for self-care.
Interventions include encouraging questions, repeating essential points of preop education, and
providing opportunities for return demonstrations.
Chain of Infection ✅✅ANSW-Preventing infection involves breaking one of the following "links":
Infectious agent source: concentration high enough to cause infection
Susceptible host (e.g., low-risk vs. high-risk patients)
Portal of entry (e.g., surgical incisions)
Mode of transmission (e.g., direct, indirect)
To see surgical procedure infection rates, review the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance
report.
Asepsis ✅✅ANSW-Asepsis: absence of any disease-causing (pathogenic) microorganisms
Surgical asepsis: sterility; the absence of ALL microorganisms
Medical asepsis: clean; the absence of pathogenic microorganisms
Aseptic technique: a process of reducing the risk of infection (for both patients and staff) by
preventing contamination
Infection: Sources ✅✅ANSW-Exogenous (outside the body):
Personnel (e.g., colonized HCWs, skin flora, droplets from talking/coughing, hair, long or artificial
fingernails)
STUDY CARDS PART 1 QUESTIONS
AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Preoperative Details ✅✅ANSW-Encourage patient to avoid smoking for at least 12 hours prior to
surgery or as long as possible.
Confirm absence or presence of pregnancy in women of childbearing age.
Beta-blockers should be taken prior to arrival to the facility or within 24 hours of surgery (may be
after PACU discharge).
Instruct patient to remove all jewelry, especially mouth/tongue jewelry.
Remove dentures.
Instruct patient about NPO requirements for their procedure.
Preoperative Time ✅✅ANSW-Most common nursing diagnoses: anxiety and knowledge deficit
Anxiety:
Patient may not be able to identify a source of the anxiety (as opposed to the fearful patient).
Desired outcome is to lessen, not eliminate, anxiety.
Interventions include therapeutic communication/listening, information as requested by patient,
and reassurance/support.
Knowledge Deficit:
Desired outcome is that the patient will demonstrate knowledge of the physical and psychological
responses to surgery.
Interventions include prompting the patient for questions about the surgery, identifying readiness
and ability to learn, providing information compatible with patient ability to understand, and
explaining surgical routines.
Intraoperative Time ✅✅ANSW-Most common nursing diagnoses: risk for injury and risk for
infection
Risk for Injury:
Desired outcome is that the patient would not experience any unexpected injury (e.g., wrong-site
surgery, sponges left in a cavity).
Interventions include surgical "Time-Outs," using approved documentation and ordering systems,
and following proper checklist procedures.
, Risk for Infection:
Desired outcome is that the patient would not develop a postop infection.
Interventions include verification of preop antibiotics, proper site cleansing and shaving, strict
maintenance of sterile fields, and meticulous scrub-in procedures.
Postoperative Time ✅✅ANSW-Most common nursing diagnoses: pain and knowledge deficit
Pain:
Desired outcome is that the patient would verbalize pain relief/control.
Interventions include providing pain management techniques to lower pain to normal or below
normal ranges for the patient, soliciting frequent pain reports, and observing patient vital signs and
activities (e.g., guarding, wincing).
Knowledge Deficit:
Desired outcome is that the patient would verbalize understanding and/or demonstrate desired
skills for self-care.
Interventions include encouraging questions, repeating essential points of preop education, and
providing opportunities for return demonstrations.
Chain of Infection ✅✅ANSW-Preventing infection involves breaking one of the following "links":
Infectious agent source: concentration high enough to cause infection
Susceptible host (e.g., low-risk vs. high-risk patients)
Portal of entry (e.g., surgical incisions)
Mode of transmission (e.g., direct, indirect)
To see surgical procedure infection rates, review the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance
report.
Asepsis ✅✅ANSW-Asepsis: absence of any disease-causing (pathogenic) microorganisms
Surgical asepsis: sterility; the absence of ALL microorganisms
Medical asepsis: clean; the absence of pathogenic microorganisms
Aseptic technique: a process of reducing the risk of infection (for both patients and staff) by
preventing contamination
Infection: Sources ✅✅ANSW-Exogenous (outside the body):
Personnel (e.g., colonized HCWs, skin flora, droplets from talking/coughing, hair, long or artificial
fingernails)
