Drug-seeking in prison? Rx narcotics?

[maddison1002]

I have had it with the inmates submitting medical slips requesting/demanding that they receive narcotic pain medications for their back pain. It's always back pain. And these are inmates with histories of substance abuse.

Does your facility prescribe/administer narcotics, such as hydrocodone?

I'm getting a bad attitude toward inmates that are seeking these medications. I don't think they should be prescribed unless it is end stage cancer or fresh surgical pain or serious injury.

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

The DEA has docs terrified to order pain Rx, even when justified. Neuropathy isn't visible on film. Darvon is gone, there's nothing between Tylenol and codeine (some are allergic to ultram, some can't tolerate NSAID's).

I hope you never have to deal with invisible, but real, pain in your own body.

I'm not saying I'm judging their pain. I do believe pain is what the person experiencing it is.

I am saying that if you're in a lock down facility and believe you need narcotic pain meds and don't have an observed problem, you probably won't get narcotics prescribed.

I feel for those with "invisible" pain and didn't mean to characterize those with neuropathy as drug seekers.

I'm just saying it's not typical to recv narcotics while you're in a court ordered lock down facility.

[valzRN, ASN, RN]

That sarcasm might get you shanked one of these days! Be careful. You might be making enemies unnecessarily.

There are some innocent people in there, you know? If you don't feel genuine compassion, if you're burned out, just fake it. It could be you or your loved one locked up falsely - or even rightly.

I don't worry about it because they know what I say is true. They can put all the sick calls they want for more meds or even narcs, but our dr. doesn't do that. I don't get smart with them until they start in on me. These guys around here know how I am. I just tell them like it is, no BS. There are enought nurses around here that "feed" them the line of crap all the time. I'm not worried about being shanked around here because these guys know that if there is any nurse around here that advocates for them it's me. I work in confinement so there is little to no contact with them except when I draw labs. No, I don't have a lot of compassion left in me, but that goes along with any nursing job. When your patients lie to you about just about anything just to manipulate the situation to get what they want, it happens. Besides, I am sure that ER nurses, floor nurses, nursing home nurses... doesn't matter what kind of nurse you are really, everyone gets burned out. But what can you do? Quit? I don't think so... People have to work to provide for their families. I can see giving the benefit of the doubt to those in jail. They haven't been convicted, but I work in a prison and 99% of these guys here are guilty.

[sweetsarah116]

Its our jail's rule (not the doctor's but the jail itself) that they will not accept any narcotics- which i fully agree with. However, our new doctor is ordering Motrin and Tylenol and passing it out like its candy lately. i can understand ordering it on a short term basis but when the doctor starts ordering it for several months-it gets kinda frustrating. The doctor has never worked in a jail before and believes everything the inmates say.

[proudauntie415, LPN, RN]

Yeah, that is a great trick too. I usually reply with, "well okay no problem sorry to hear about your back pain, I'm gonna go ahead move you bottom bunk/tier with rec restrictions". Then they are like wait I want a single cell on top tier, and don't want to lose rec. Well then sir, your back pain is not effecting your ADL's and you may have Motrin. Next!

[TriciaJ, RN]

Another thing: narcotics are jailhouse currency. They can be cheeked, palmed, keistered, bought, sold, traded. Easy to end up in someone for whom they're not prescribed. Alternative methods? OK, no spa but rest, heat, cold and yoga postures are doable in corrections. People who really have pain will try anything for relief. We also know that narcotics for chronic pain bring additional problems and should be prescribed judiciously even in the non-incarcerated population.

[RNforLongTime]

We give out narcotics in my prison. Oxycontin, Methadone, Norco 10's, ultram. There's also Stock Tyl #3's... It's only a handful of inmates but there are some to whom Narcs are prescribed. The one guy who was caught cheeking his Narcotics & selling them? He got them taken away REAL quick!

I have chronic back pain. Never had an MRI or anything to get an official read on my injuries. I NEED to...my health insurance will cover them at 100%. Most of the time, ibuprofen 600mg works pretty well. I'm really NOT supposed to take NSAID'S due to my RNY gastric bypass surgery...but I do. The Bariatric Surgeon said it was ok, so long as it wasn't habitual.

[Orca, ADN, ASN, RN]

The only time we give out narcotics is postoperatively if an inmate has surgery, and only while in the infirmary. These are normally limited to 48-72 hours. We don't hand any narcotics out the window at pill call.

[LilRedRN1973]

I work in the NDOC system (Nevada) and am in the infirmary. We have quite a few inmates on oxycodone, T3's and a few on fentanyl patches. All our narcotics are floated in water and we also float Lyrica as well (we have a problem inmate who is the only one I know of on Lyrica). But because we are the regional medical facility and considered a medical yard, we get the majority of the cancer patients and those who are chronically ill sent to us from all around the state. So the ones who are on scheduled narcotics indefinitely are the elderly ones with chronic conditions or inmates dying of cancer. We try to treat with non-narcotic as much as possible.

[Y-chromosome]

I'm currently a nursing student but I work part time as a pharmacy technician, and it's sometimes tempting to make judgements about who is hurting and who isn't.