Use of postanesthesia care unit for purposes other than postanesthesia observation.

Postanesthesia care units (PACUs) were originally developed to care for patients who needed monitoring until they recovered from anesthesia. As new treatment options are developing, however, the role of PACU is changing and the scope of PACU nurses is expanding. We performed a study to find out the proportion of patients who were admitted to the PACU for reasons other than postoperative observation and care and analyzed the resources, observation, and interventions these patients required in PACU facilities. These patients were a heterogeneous patient population who required variable monitoring, care, and nursing activities and, therefore, considerably increased the workload of PACU nurses. A small proportion of these patients suffered from problems that further increased the demand for special care.