PURPOSE
The study was done to investigate the effect of ethanol inhalation on postoperative nausea in patients using Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA).
METHODS
The data were collected from June 1st 2006 to September 30th, 2007. The subjects were 70 patients who had had orthopedic surgery under general anesthesia. The levels of the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to measure postoperative nausea. The experimental group was given ethanol inhalation using ethanol pads and the control group received normal saline pads. All participants were instructed to take two deep sniffs with the pad one inch from the nose. This was repeated every five minutes for three doses. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 12.0 program.
RESULTS
The study supported all hypotheses. "The experimental group given first dose of ethanol inhalation would have a lower level postoperative nausea compared to the control group"(t = -5.900, p = .000). "The experimental group given second doses of ethanol inhalation would have a lower level postoperative nausea compared to the control group"(t = -7.507, p = .000). "The experimental group given third doses of ethanol inhalation would have a lower level postoperative nausea compared to the control group"(t = -6.685, p = .000).
CONCLUSION
According to these results, the ethanol inhalation can be considered an effective nursing intervention for relieving the postoperative nausea in patients using PCA.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify pain intensity according to activities over postoperative days and to identify factors of patient satisfaction with pain management after abdominal surgery.
METHODS
The subjects were 123 patients who were admitted at a general surgical ward and had abdominal surgery from Mar. 2005 to June 2005. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 12.0 program.
RESULTS
The average postoperative pain scores were 6.13 at POD 1, 5.46 at POD 2, and 4.22 at POD 3. In stepwise multiple regression analysis a total of 40% of variance in satisfaction with pain management was accounted for by pain intensity on POD 3 at rest (29.4%) and attitude toward using pain medicine (6.6%), and side effects of pain medicine (4.0%).
CONCLUSION
According to the findings of this study, patients had inadequate pain management after abdominal surgery. Therefore, nurses need to provide educational programs focused on changing attitudes toward using pain medicine, to reduce side effects of pain medicine, and to develop nursing intervention for relieving pain.