A fellow RN on my floor did something last week that continues to amaze and shock me.

There was a patient admitted with pancreatitis, receiving the usual for that diagnosis: NPO, IVF, Dilaudid and Phenergen. Apparently she was asking for her meds as soon as they were due, if not sooner. Nothing new under the sun for pancreatitis.

Was she drug seeking? I don't know, but I don't think it matters. I know I've never had pancreatitis so I don't suppose to know the agony involved. I imagine it's a painful experience. With those cases, I give the meds if they're ordered, due and there are no contraindications. No problem, right?

Well...

My coworker had the bright idea of printing out information on drug addiction, highlighting parts of it and placing it on the patient's bedside table as she slept.

I most likely don't have to share that the patient was very upset. Oh yeah, did I mention that the patient is a hospice nurse? The patient stated after the incident that if she wanted to abuse drugs, she didn't have to come to the hospital. She had easier access to much better stuff.

I cannot understand how or why anyone could think that this is acceptable!

But ya know what? Nurse Nancy doesn't think she did anything wrong.

I'm going to add that this is the same nurse who told me in report that a patient suffering from a stress-induced flair-up of oral herpes virus "need[ed] an HIV test." Hmm, okay. The patient was septic with S. pneumoniae and intubated for a while. Yeah, I think my body would be stressed too...especially since I have HSV! Does that mean I need an HIV test?

Just so y'all know, management is aware and has spoken to her. Patient relations is also involved.

I just had to see if other nurses were as horrified as I am concerning her behavior.

Completely inappropriate.

And what makes it even worse, in my mind, is that she didn't even have the nerve to speak face to face. Leaving a "fact sheet" at the bedside of a sleeping patient is the height of unprofessionalism. She ought to be disciplined.

That is just wrong, and if I were the patient I would go to the higher ups in the hospital. My mother had the knee replacement from hell (it turned out the surgeon ****** up) and she was on narcotic pain meds constantly, so does that make her "drug seeking"?

Oh my lord! I think I would be extremely embarrased if that were me as a patient and angery. Good for you for standing up for her.

If this happened in the doctors office/ hospital floor I worked at the nurse would have been fired on the spot. I am still in awe of the whole situation. I had an operation where I only wanted regular tylenol at first. 2 Aleeve get me looped up. After the second day of not being able to tollerate the pain I actually pulled the doctor to my face across the nurses station stating: give me drugs!! Does that make me a drug addict? This nurse broke a TON of the codes of ethics. She is a lawsuit waiting to happen. 10 bucks states she thinks she did nothing wrong or finds it funny in her own twisted way.

There are so many people in this world that are misinformed and when they open their mouth you can usually figure out the depth of the ignorance they have. But info is needed for your know everythingg nurse. First off pancreatitis is very painful it hurts like the dickens, hence the dilaudid order. Second off when the patients starts puking and they will, the phenergan is really needed as well.

Now the part about the drug addiction B.S. Even if the patient is a drug addict it is non of the nurses bizness, the nurses job is to follow orders and not make judgements on people they don't know. If they want to talk about it they will. they make programs for folks like the nurse. It is called Al-Anon. they will tell you, anothers addiction is just that, their problem and not hers. and for the addict it is called Na OR aa. The best and only way to approach a using drug addict is just as easy. You say "If you think there might be a problem Check out AA or NA." thats it, nothing more and walk away. It is like planting a seed. If they aren't an addict they will not think twice about it If they are they know where to go.

Bottom line you can't drag a horse to water and make it drink.

It has constantly been addressed in school as well as inservices that people tolerate pain differently, and it is better to give the meds than to make the patient suffer. Even physicians don't seem to get this. And, coincidently, this was a hospice nurse...shows that you never know who you are speaking to. Her attitude was wrong.

Wow...just wow.

This is extremely offensive. I feel for you as I have dealt with the same thing in my hospital clinicals. So many stuck up old-timers think they really 'know' when a patient is in pain, and they cruelly withhold meds and do other things like that.

Some of these people might be drug-seeking, but we are not psychic and it is not our place to tell people how they feel.

I'm glad I'm not the only one disgusted by this whole mess.

For the record, I didn't stand up for the patient...I didn't even hear about it until after she was talked to by management. Nursie told me in report, "I got yelled at today...apparently I didn't make a patient very happy *shakes head*...but she's (she said something like deluded and drug seeking, I wish I remembered the exact term)." She didn't go into details with me but wasn't ashamed of them...she told other nurses about it. (I picked the wrong night to be off, I guess; I missed all of the excitement and came into the loop later).

Oh, and she's not one of those old nurses who knows it all...she's been a nurse for less than two years!

And this is a different issue about the same coworker - I hate tattling on people, but I guess I have to on her. This incident has made me get my nerve to tell management that she restrained a patient without a doctor's order in a non-emergency situation.

Thanks for the support, everyone.

i am dumbfounded at her actions ! :angryfire had i been the patient, i would be livid !

she needs to be reported to her state bon in my opinion

praiser :heartbeat

This is just terrible. At clinicals a couple of weeks ago many nurses accused my pt. of drug seeking. However, pain is subjective and whether or not a pt. is drug seeking or not we as nurses must not be judgemental !

Even if the patient is a drug addict it is non of the nurses bizness, the nurses job is to follow orders and not make judgements on people they don't know. If they want to talk about it they will The best and only way to approach a using drug addict is just as easy. You say "If you think there might be a problem Check out AA or NA." thats it, nothing more and walk away. It is like planting a seed. If they aren't an addict they will not think twice about it If they are they know where to go.

I disagree - I think drug dependency is absolutely our business, and I very much disagree that my job is to follow orders. I also think that 1) managing drug addiction is a little more complicated and 2) saying you think the patient has a problem and ought to consider a 12-step program is just a less significant a wrong as the one described by the OP, at least in this situation.

Regardless of any question of drug dependency, the time to tackle addition is not when a patient is acutely ill, particularly if they also have pain. If the OPs colleague had been genuinely concerned about substance abuse

and actually wanted to assist the patient with this (rather than alienate the patient while expressing her own bias/spleen/issues) she could have expressed her concern about the lack of efficacy of the prescribed analgesia or (my preferred option) see if the demand for pain killers diminished as the pancreatitis resolved.

She sounds like an idiot. Part of me is glad she did this to another nurse, who could defend herself and take action, rather than a defenseless layman who might have become worried about asking for enough medication to cover their pain. Did I say idiot already?