The attitude I have gotten from many posts here that if anyone routinely takes a narcotic pain relief med, they should not be working. I am speaking for myself and on my own views here. First drug abuse is much different than taking meds scripted by your MD to improve the quality of your life and the ability to maintain having a life. I have a spinal fusion involving 3 disc's in my lower back with radiating nerve damage down my right leg. I also have severe athritic knees from 22 years of walking hard cement floors caring for loved ones of people intrusted into my care. I fought very hard not to start taking pain medications. But when you reach a point, where you are on your knees doing a treatment and your patient has to call a staff member to help you up off the floor because the pain is so great you are frozen, something has to give and this happened to me more than once. My knees are beyond saving . Pain control is the only way to keep me working. I am 46, should I be kicked out of nursing? Should I be expected to work 10-12 hour shifts in so much agony that the tears rolls down my face without my ability to control them. Or should I be taken out and shot like a lame horse, because I am unable to meet the potentil I once did as a younger nurse, and I might add that even on the days of my greatest pain, I can still work circles around many of the whiny new breed intering our facility that calls off because they have a headache. I have finished med passes while passing kidneys stones on 2 occassions. I routinely take pain meds every four hours while working with another narcotic available if that does not make it tolerable. My work performance is not hampered. I think clearly, make vital decisions and have not had a med error in over the seven years at my current facility. So am I empaired. I have ran codes, worked an entire unit alone that was a 2 LN unit, due to call offs, and my average day is 9 - 12 hours. My supervisors know all meds I take. They back me 100% because the old me is back now that my pain is controlled and I can be me again. Please do not" critisize and accuse until you walk a mile in my shoes." My supervisors have even "noticed my pain and asked me to "take a break and give my meds a chance to kick in, to rest a while in the lounge. They do this because they know I never take breaks, I'm there for my patients from start to finish and will work as late as I have to to make sure they have received the very best of care. The discussion at hand is "drug abuse" not medications that are taken as ordered for a good quality of life. If that is the case, then any LN taking an antidepressant or antianxiety medication should also not be allowed to work, because they are also "mind altering". Now instead, let's all go out and get totally drunk the night before, come in hungover and what the dickens and " can I take care of your loved one?" I think not, I'll continue to do it my way and with a very clear peace of mind. Don't judge me till you've felt my pain and walked in my shoes. I would also like to specify that I do not feel "any buzz" from my meds, they have been titrated to minimum dose for maximum effect without those side effects and the principle is keeping the drug level consistant to control pain but not to produce a "High".

[Furball]

Hey Duckie, you're one tough cookie! Quick question...what does a kidney stone FEEL like? I'm asking because I had a weird, horrid crampy, knife like pain in my side last night at work...it took my breath away, kinda came and went, then came back again.

Thanks from a hyperchondriac!

Originally posted by Furball
Hey Duckie, you're one tough cookie! Quick question...what does a kidney stone FEEL like? I'm asking because I had a weird, horrid crampy, knife like pain in my side last night at work...it took my breath away, kinda came and went, then came back again.

Thanks from a hyperchondriac!

Actually that is the way both of mine started. The pain continued to build and I rushed thru my med passes, made it to the hospital the second time as my B/P hit 240/170, Dilaudid is a wonderful drug, passed that puppy in two hours once I could relax. We can actually pass kidney stones and not realize it, they can be so very tiny but the ones that are slightly larger, the size of a pin head, with the sharp edges are the killers. I've had three total, run in my family but none of us have had them since I put everyone on cranberry pills BID. Works wonders cause they keep the "Demons" from forming ....... ah, what a relief! Hope that helps.

[KaroSnowQueen]

I cannot believe the uninformed judgmental attitudes of some of these posters. People with chronic pain who take the proper medications CAN work, CAN function in an appropriate manner. I suffered from SEVERE headaches and I could take Lortab and work and concentrate. Motrin, Tylenol, all were useless. My supervisors and co workers were aware of my pain and my medications. I asked both my supervisor and my charge person to be sure and tell me if they noted any problems with my functioning, etc. Instead, they would tell me to go take my medicine and a break and come back when I began to feel better.

Now some other narcs, Flexeril, oh boy, I couldn't take one and stand up for more than ten minutes.
EACH person HAS meds that help them without messing them up. This was mine.
PAIN MANAGEMENT is a big thing now, and I can see why. People do take pain meds because they are in pain and want to function fully, NOT just to get high.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Originally posted by KaroSnowQueen
I cannot believe the uninformed judgmental attitudes of some of these posters. People with chronic pain who take the proper medications CAN work, CAN function in an appropriate manner. I suffered from SEVERE headaches and I could take Lortab and work and concentrate. Motrin, Tylenol, all were useless. My supervisors and co workers were aware of my pain and my medications. I asked both my supervisor and my charge person to be sure and tell me if they noted any problems with my functioning, etc. Instead, they would tell me to go take my medicine and a break and come back when I began to feel better.

Now some other narcs, Flexeril, oh boy, I couldn't take one and stand up for more than ten minutes.
EACH person HAS meds that help them without messing them up. This was mine.
PAIN MANAGEMENT is a big thing now, and I can see why. People do take pain meds because they are in pain and want to function fully, NOT just to get high.

Duckie and Karo, the people I am referring to as potentially "impaired" when using narcs are the ones who are likely to be more narcotic-naive in the first place, not chronic pain sufferers who use them daily. The ones who don't use them routinely for months and years have NO business working until they know no untoward effects that could hamper judgement or reflexe

[SmilingBluEyes]

Originally posted by KaroSnowQueen
I cannot believe the uninformed judgmental attitudes of some of these posters. People with chronic pain who take the proper medications CAN work, CAN function in an appropriate manner. I suffered from SEVERE headaches and I could take Lortab and work and concentrate. Motrin, Tylenol, all were useless. My supervisors and co workers were aware of my pain and my medications. I asked both my supervisor and my charge person to be sure and tell me if they noted any problems with my functioning, etc. Instead, they would tell me to go take my medicine and a break and come back when I began to feel better.

Now some other narcs, Flexeril, oh boy, I couldn't take one and stand up for more than ten minutes.
EACH person HAS meds that help them without messing them up. This was mine.
PAIN MANAGEMENT is a big thing now, and I can see why. People do take pain meds because they are in pain and want to function fully, NOT just to get high.

Duckie and Karo, the people I am referring to as potentially "impaired" when using narcs are the ones who are likely to be more narcotic-naive in the first place, not chronic pain sufferers who use them daily. The ones who don't use them routinely for months and years have NO business working until they know no untoward effects that could hamper judgement or reflexes will affect THEM while driving or caring for patients. Again, common sense needs to be used here. And obviously, most of thdse posts did not refer to YOUR situations.

Originally posted by KaroSnowQueen
I cannot believe the uninformed judgmental attitudes of some of these posters. People with chronic pain who take the proper medications CAN work, CAN function in an appropriate manner. I suffered from SEVERE headaches and I could take Lortab and work and concentrate. Motrin, Tylenol, all were useless. My supervisors and co workers were aware of my pain and my medications. I asked both my supervisor and my charge person to be sure and tell me if they noted any problems with my functioning, etc. Instead, they would tell me to go take my medicine and a break and come back when I began to feel better.

Now some other narcs, Flexeril, oh boy, I couldn't take one and stand up for more than ten minutes.
EACH person HAS meds that help them without messing them up. This was mine.
PAIN MANAGEMENT is a big thing now, and I can see why. People do take pain meds because they are in pain and want to function fully, NOT just to get high.

Thank you, my sentiments exactly! I would never work impaired or take a drug that caused that. My medications orders were settled after many months of tring different combos and finally coming up with a winner. BUT I also refuse to walk on my feet all these hours with tears streaming down my face when a pill can bring me back to normal living.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Originally posted by Duckie
Thank you, my sentiments exactly! I would never work impaired or take a drug that caused that. My medications orders were settled after many months of tring different combos and finally coming up with a winner. BUT I also refuse to walk on my feet all these hours with tears streaming down my face when a pill can bring me back to normal living.

you would not but MANY others do.......i think if you re-read the posts, you would see most do NOT refer to cases like yours! we are referring to different cases, here ya know.

[TX Guy]

You gotta have a thick skin here sometimes.

Articulation is not everyones strong suit.

Dont let it mess with ya.

Paul

[lateblumer]

It surprises me that most people think drug abuse only involves narcotics. We had a resident who had a months supply of Ultram come up missing. After getting all the nurses on our unit involved in the search for them, tearing both our Med room and drug carts apart, and calling the pharmacy to re-check if they had been stored there by mistake, 13 people, including the pharmacists and unit manager, were all called in for a drug test. We were not told why, just that a prescription medication had come up missing.

Although i had my suspicions about who had taken the bottle, it was never disclosed who took them. We all had assumed that it was a narc that was taken, but were surprised to find out it was just Ultram.