← AANA Practice Manual
Practice Consideration
Post-Anesthesia Care / PACU (Practice Consideration)
Last AANA revision: 2024
Our paraphrased summary. The text below is our own condensed phrasing for board review, derived from the AANA Practice Manual document of the same name. The AANA document is the authoritative source — read it on aana.com for legally-binding language.
PACU phase: continuous monitoring + intervention until patient meets discharge criteria (Aldrete ≥ 9, Phase II / PADSS for ambulatory). Anesthesia provider remains responsible until handoff.
Key points
- 1.Standardized handoff: patient, procedure, anesthetic, vitals trend, fluids, blood loss, complications, postop plan
- 2.Aldrete: activity, respiration, circulation, consciousness, oxygenation (each 0–2, total ≥ 9 for discharge)
- 3.PADSS: vital signs, ambulation, nausea, pain, surgical bleeding (each 0–2, total ≥ 9)
- 4.Manage PONV proactively (Apfel-driven multimodal)
- 5.Pain protocol: multimodal + reassessment + adjustment
This is an exam-prep summary, not a substitute for the full AANA document. Read the source at aana.com for authoritative wording. Education only.