Interestingly, I found in my practice that I could influence what some of my colleagues thought and their behaviors by what I said and how I said it when I gave report. And I noticed that works negatively as well as positively--I tried to avoid the negative. Of course, that doesn't help you when you are the (helpless) patient!

[mdslabod]

My biggest problem was that I was a nurse. I guess that means I
don't need teaching.

[cheerfuldoer]

Everyone needs teaching when they are a patient regardless of their educational background. No nurse should ever assume that just because she/he is caring for another nurse, that that nurse doesn't need instruction regarding their surgery - pre or post op. I know when I was faced with an operation, even though I am a nurse, I liked the reinforcement of teaching before and after my surgery. When I was a patient, I was a patient, when I'm working as a nurse, I'm working as a nurse. Get it?

[CC NRSE]

mdslabod, sorry to hear you had such a hard time. My experience with thorocotomys is,....they hurt!!! Sometimes, (usually) more than the hearts!! Mostly the ones I have taken care of have come back on PCA pumps. Then we usually find some combo with tordol to help control pain. Pain control is a key issue with post surgical patients. If you control their pain effectively,...they will cough,..move,...and heal faster (usually). That is the key to them getting better!! Sounds as if even though these were very experienced nurses,..... they need some education in pain control. Everyone has a different level of pain tolerance and depending on the procedure,.... may have been malipulated differently (so they may experience more pain). A good nurse will recognize that and accomodate the patient accordingly. They are many ways to tell when patients are hurting. You can usually tell. Even so,...LISTEN TO YOUR PATIENT!!!

Glad to hear your doing better,....unfortunatly,....it shouldn't take an experience like this to make you a better nurse. Sorry this happen to you. (((((((((((mdslabod))))))))))))

Nurses like that give us a bad rap and make for a bad hospital experience.

Also,...pre-op teaching is a BIG issue. I can ALWAYS tell when it hasn't been done.

[mdslabod]

Thanks for the reply and the support. I know how important pain control is, I practice it every day. The hospital I was a patient in is known for being "on the light side" of pain control. Many other people I talked to had the same experience.

I am fine now. Thanks again.

[Hella6191]

I have the same problem, sometimes I think the Nurses feel like the charges for pain medd's come out of their own paycheck. At this time our hospital works on a trial how to correct that problem.
If anyone has some information about post op pain management I would love to hear about it.
Thank you