After a Harrington rod surgery, an adolescent has a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump that is set to allow morphine delivery every 6 minutes. Which statement by the family member indicates to the nurse that the family understands instructions about the PCA pump?

A. They need to push the PCA button whenever they need pain medication is correct. The key principle of PCA therapy is that only the patient pushes the button when they are experiencing pain. The pump has a built-in lockout interval (every 6 minutes in this case) to prevent overdose, allowing safe self-administration based on the patient’s pain level. This statement shows appropriate understanding of how PCA is intended to be used. B. I’ll make sure they push the PCA button every 6 minutes is incorrect because PCA is not scheduled dosing. The patient should push the button only when pain is present, not automatically at fixed intervals. C. I’ll press the PCA button every 6 minutes so they get enough pain medication while they are sleeping is incorrect because family members must never press the PCA button. This is unsafe and can lead to oversedation and respiratory depression, especially while the patient is asleep. D. I’ll have to wake them up every 2 hours overnight so they can push the PCA button is incorrect because patients should not be awakened to receive PCA medication. If the patient is asleep, it indicates that pain is adequately controlled.