A patient made me cry.....

[shoegalRN]

I usually work ER, but last night I worked the floor due to short staffing. I got this patient as a new admit that literally broke my heart.

She was in her late 70's, was admitted with a femur fracture. She also has cancer and is currently receiving chemo.

When she was transferred to the floor, she came in Buck's traction and was moaning in pain. She gripped my hands so tight I just choked up looking at her. She was BEGGING me to make the pain go away. She comes up to the floor with NO ORDERS and only received Morphine 5 mg in the ER prior to transferring.

She could barely speak above a whisper and she had tears in her eyes. All of my co-workers on the floor as well as the my co-worker in the ER refused to transfer her from that ER cart until there was an order for pain meds. I called the doctor STAT and told her I need an order NOW for pain meds. She put the order in and I medicated the patient and we all transferred her to the bed.

We tried to be as gentle as we could but this woman's moans got the best of me. She begged me not to leave her and she held my hands for what seemed like forever. My co-workers worked on getting everything else together for her and I just stayed with her.

She reminded me so much of my great granny who died of cancer when I was 19. I remember holding her hand as she gripped my hand when she took her last breath. She was moaning in pain. This patient so much reminded me of this and I had to excuse myself and cried in the break room.

I then gathered myself and went to bat for this patient. I called the doctor and got her pain medicine changed to something more stronger to better control her pain. I also got it ordered more frequently. When I left this morning, the patient was sound asleep and stated she was still in pain, but not as bad as when she first came to the floor. Then she takes my hand and says "thank you for everything baby". I had to leave before I started crying again.

I left feeling some kinda way. Just glad to make a difference in one patient's life.

Thanks for listening.

[gr8rnpjt, RN]

afrocentricRN,

You did a great job advocating for your patient. I know how it affected you. I too was at my grandmothers side when she left this earth. Her pain was very well controlled in the end, so I did feel good about her passing.

I also wanted to commend you for what you do every day in the ER. It's a difficult job, and its good to know that there are empathetic nurses on the front lines.

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

Good job!

[bsyrn, ASN, RN]

Well, You just made me cry...what you did is what nursing is all about!!! Awesome job

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Trust me, I was upset with the way the ER handled this. But I also work down there so I kinda understand the hussle and bussle to turn beds. However, this lady should have been medicated and sent up to the floor with orders before the transfer.

I told my ER co-worker I know you are in a rush, but you know we can't transfer her without pain meds so you are gonna stay until we medicate her. He had no issue with that.

I see so many drug seekers in the ER that get so much more pain meds that this lady and not ONCE did this lady call out on the call light for her next "pain shot". She just wanted the pain to go away as quickly as possible.

Sometimes, it's refreshing to work the floor once in a while to see the other side of it.

Well said......from one er nurse to another take this and return to the ED and share your experience all will ben ifit especially the patient!

[MikeyMul]

I usually work ER, but last night I worked the floor due to short staffing. I got this patient as a new admit that literally broke my heart.

She was in her late 70's, was admitted with a femur fracture. She also has cancer and is currently receiving chemo.

When she was transferred to the floor, she came in Buck's traction and was moaning in pain. She gripped my hands so tight I just choked up looking at her. She was BEGGING me to make the pain go away. She comes up to the floor with NO ORDERS and only received Morphine 5 mg in the ER prior to transferring.

She could barely speak above a whisper and she had tears in her eyes. All of my co-workers on the floor as well as the my co-worker in the ER refused to transfer her from that ER cart until there was an order for pain meds. I called the doctor STAT and told her I need an order NOW for pain meds. She put the order in and I medicated the patient and we all transferred her to the bed.

We tried to be as gentle as we could but this woman's moans got the best of me. She begged me not to leave her and she held my hands for what seemed like forever. My co-workers worked on getting everything else together for her and I just stayed with her.

She reminded me so much of my great granny who died of cancer when I was 19. I remember holding her hand as she gripped my hand when she took her last breath. She was moaning in pain. This patient so much reminded me of this and I had to excuse myself and cried in the break room.

I then gathered myself and went to bat for this patient. I called the doctor and got her pain medicine changed to something more stronger to better control her pain. I also got it ordered more frequently. When I left this morning, the patient was sound asleep and stated she was still in pain, but not as bad as when she first came to the floor. Then she takes my hand and says "thank you for everything baby". I had to leave before I started crying again.

I left feeling some kinda way. Just glad to make a difference in one patient's life.

Thanks for listening.

You did an awesome job, thanks for sharing!

[nuangel1, BSN, RN]

you did an awesome job for your pt .thank you .this is why we became nurses.i too am a er nurse ,she should have been medicated better in the ed .treating a patients pain should be a priority .the nurse transferring this pt should have medicated her before she left the ed .especially knowing that the pt had to be moved to a new bed once on the floor .i would talk with my coworker .bring back what you learned back to your ed.

[leslie :-D]

sorry i'm so late in reading this thread.

my first thought/feeling, was pure rage...

thinking about how that lady's pain (r/t fracture AND ca?) was so unattended.

i agree with the others...

thank God for nurses like you and me and many, many others.

it makes me/us proud.:redpinkhe

leslie