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| No. 40 | 
Apr 17, 2008, 02:59 PM
 Re: Did he get too much morphine?
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I do wish a speedy recovery for your brother.
 | | Advertisement Sponsored Links | | | | No. 43 |
Apr 17, 2008, 03:09 PM
Updated
Apr 17, 2008 at 03:17 PM by Altra
Re: Did he get too much morphine? Originally Posted by natania  Did the OP say this medication was pushed IV? I've given MS as an IM injection, and 8 mg is within the safe range. Students are allowed to give IM injections independently where I live. Originally Posted by Deb123j She gave it over maybe 2-3 minutes.
While OP has not explicitly said the morphine was given IV, I am making that assumption based on the "given over 2-3 minutes" data provided.
| | No. 44 |
Apr 17, 2008, 04:36 PM
Re: Did he get too much morphine? Originally Posted by Blee O'Myacin I have more of an issue with a student nurse giving an IV push drug without supervision than I do with the dosage.
Blee
In med-surg 3 once our instructor saw us give an IV push drug safely she let us go on our own. I am not saying that is right or wrong (if I was a CI I would feel the need to be present with every student giving IV push), but that is the way some places are doing it. Granted, when I was a student nurse in med-surg 3 I had worked as an extern for a year on a hem/onc unit. I could push meds in my sleep by then.
FTR, 8mg of morphine can be appropriate, depending on the patient. Onc patients tend to get high doses, so I am pretty used to giving them. Post-ops can get some pretty hefty doses as well.
| | No. 45 |
Apr 17, 2008, 05:43 PM
Updated
Apr 17, 2008 at 05:49 PM by clee1
Re: Did he get too much morphine? Originally Posted by Blee O'Myacin I have more of an issue with a student nurse giving an IV push drug without supervision than I do with the dosage.
Blee
Myself....
I have and do frequently give doses like that to 170lb male fresh post-ops; but I don't think I want a student to wander around with a dose of MS and pushing it w/o me being there.
| | No. 46 |
Apr 17, 2008, 06:25 PM
Re: Did he get too much morphine?
Unless you are on epidural or PCA morphine (which doesn't happen for cholis and appis up here) all morphine is subq.
Nobody on our floor does IV push meds. That skill is restricted to ICU, ER and dialysis.
| | No. 47 |
Apr 17, 2008, 07:43 PM
Re: Did he get too much morphine? Originally Posted by Fiona59 Nobody on our floor does IV push meds. That skill is restricted to ICU, ER and dialysis.
My God.
I'm hyperventilating just thinking about managing a postop patient with those restrictions on the floor nurses.
| | No. 49 |
Apr 17, 2008, 08:32 PM
Re: Did he get too much morphine? First off, I want to thank everyone who has responded to my thread!!!  I knew that I would get some awesome opinions on here...that's why I love this web site soooo much!!!  My brother did not have any ill effects (and I figured he wouldn't) of the amount of morphine that was given. I was just curious as to what you all thought since I'm a new nurse. I think if he had been my pt I would have started off with 2-4mg. This post was in no way of searching for medical advice. I am a nurse and can usually figure things out for myself or find the answer out in other ways rather than the internet. However, I do totally value the very experienced opinions of the nurses on here and was asking for such. No "medical" advice needed.  Originally Posted by Blee O'Myacin OP - I have a question about one of your additional posts - in every facility I've worked at, IV potassium is a two-nurse drug. We need two RN's to be present when the drug is given in order to sign off on it. We manage to do this in a busy ER, so please no "real world/ideal world comparisons" please. Was this student alone in the room when hanging the rider? Did your brother see a nurse that day other than the student? Was the instructor present at all? Just curious because as a previous poster mentioned, we can't assume that the student came in alone, but another person was never mentioned.
Thanks!
Blee At the hospital that I worked at as an NA and the one I presently work at as a nurse, a nurse can hang K+ by her/himself. Yes, the student was by herself. I'm assuming that the hospital nurse did an initial assessment on my brother and then left the student to take care of his basic needs. At least that is the way it happened when I was a student and did clinicals at that hospital. Originally Posted by RazorbackRN My question is this: If you were concerned about it, why didn't you speak up PRIOR to her giving the med? From the way it sounds, you were right beside of him, you even knew his exact VS from the moment this occurred.
I firmly believe that an A & O pt or family member should question what is happening whenever someone comes to your bedside with syringe in hand. This should be done PRIOR to the intervention.
If your brother is not a medical person, this would have been the perfect opportunity to educate him on the importance of being knowledgable about what is going on with his care, but first and foremost, you should've questioned it for him. First off I didn't realize she was a student, otherwise I would have questioned her right then and there. Secondly, I can't stand it when a visitor is a nurse and totally butts her nose into the situation. Once I noticed his s/s I questioned the student about the amount give. Then I stayed with him for several hours until I was sure he was ok. I do educate my family members on medical issues as much as they will listen. Originally Posted by natania Did the OP say this medication was pushed IV? I've given MS as an IM injection, and 8 mg is within the safe range. Students are allowed to give IM injections independently where I live. It was an IV push.  I don't think my brother would have allowed it if it was IM.  He had a fit with getting the lovenox injections.  |
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