[KellieNurse06]

Has anyone asked the lady herself what she wants????? I think the daughter is a twit if she doesn't care that her mother is in pain..........doped up? C'mon!

[cookie102]

have you tried a NSAID for the back pain, even with cancer patients it is the best for bone pain, hope it helps

[Cameron67]

The I would ask the daughter to come in and sit with mom to help comfort her through the pain...let her sit and see how much pain mom is in and how refusing stronger meds hurts mom.

[michelle126]

Your facility has a responsibility to the patient first. Assessing and managing her pain is first and formost. The suggestion of upping the patch and trying NSAIDs is good, but if that doesn't help, you need to contact the ombudsman. Aside from having this pt suffer, the state would have a field day with this one. Been there, done that, have the t shirt.

[pansylvr523]

I talked with my counterpart last night. She said they had upped the patch to125, and put her on trazadone and she is doing better. Thank you for all your suggestions. I will keep up on this and if necessary will notify the Ombudsman.

Kathy

[earle58]

i never, ever knew about contacting the ombudsman or public health for intervention.
even though i found it grossly unfair, i thought poa decisions were firm.
kripes, i've had doctors give an order but in the same breath, tell me not to give it because of pts' son, dtr, long lost cousin....

at the inpt hospice where i worked, there were so many family members that didn't want their loved one being doped up, or addicted, or "just because i said so".
often, i insisted they sit w/the dying pt, crying out in agony.

and all this time, all i had to do was call dept of public health? or jcaho???

leslie

[mcdonaldgirl]

It doesn't sound like the daughter is thinking about her mothers'best interests. Sounds like something else is going on there.....

'Mac'

[txspadequeen921]

What it sounds like is this daughter has been misinformed about pain medications. Has the Doc talked to this lady yet. This is the kind of families I hate , they bring their family member to you then refuse treatment. Why does this woman refuse additional pain medication, has someone sat with her and got into great detail with her. I hate the fact we have to go by the POA when you know darn well what the patient needs. This situation drives me crazy......

[softstorms]

This is a social services issue. Some one needs to chat with the POA and see how realistic her ideas are. What are her goals here? As her nurse, your goal is to get your patient where she needs to be. You need to seek help from the other people around you. Her Dr. can be of help too. He can talk with her and the pt. No family member wants someone to be in pain. He needs to let them know the diffence between being in pain and being awake and alert. Sometimes is more for the family than the patient. Get help from the team you work with. Thats what they are there for.

[Kymmi]

Im interested as to whether the mother is coherent and able to make her own decisions. If the resident is able to make her own decisions then the issue of POA doesnt matter anyway.