The recovery room or the post-operative care unit (PACU) is an area within the operating room where a specialized registered nurse provides care to patients immediately following an operative procedure as the patient recovers from the surgical procedure and anaesthesia. According to the Australian College of Operating Room Nurses (ACORN), nurses specialized in this area of perioperative care must demonstrate certain minimum skills and knowledge referred to as practice standards in order for them to be considered competent in their field of specialty (ACORN, 2013). The competency standards are useful in a way not only to access the professional markup for the license of registered nurse, but is also intended to maintain the standard of nursing
