Placebo effect

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2014

My first RN position was on a floor that took big ENT postop pts. When I mean "big" I mean trach or laryngectomy, glossectomy, removal of parts of mandible/nose, creation of flaps for future reconstruction...really big surgeries. Well a lot of these pts were chronic alcoholics and in a lot of cases had no plans to quit drinking.

So instead of ordering a Valium protocol to manage the DTs, our ENT surgeons would prescribe: Beer, 1 can per GT TID. We hung them just like a bolus feed. :)

We also gave shots of liquor for a night cap...and we had far fewer detox issues.

Karou · Sep 17, 2014

Exactly what The Commuter said. The placebo effect is well documented and very real. The real issue is ethics in administering them.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Sep 17, 2014

Also, the reverse placebo effect is also true. A patient who doesn't believe their meds will help, is almost guaranteed for it not to help. Except Propofol, can't fight that stuff. I've had patients tell me dilaudid wasn't touching their pain, they need something stronger. These were people with genuine pain, not drug seekers. And sometimes, opiate nieve patients. When I tell them dilaudid is a very strong pain killer, they're like, "Oh, okay" and relax.

allnurses Guide · Sep 17, 2014

Read some of Kaptchuk's publications if you are interested in the placebo effect topic; they are amazingly interesting.

Sent from my iPhone.

toomuchbaloney · Sep 17, 2014

We no longer use placebos but we use the placebo affect to influence our patient emotional response to the treatment and situation.

suanna · Sep 19, 2014

I'm not sure if it is "placebo effect" or not, but I think it is just best practice to get your patients to "buy into" how much relief they are going to get from medication XY or Z. My patients do much better if I let them know-"since you are in this unit(recovery room), I'm allowed to use VERY STRONG medication to get your pain under control. It'll hit you in 5-10 minutes but it will peak in your system in 15-20 minutes. We can monitor you very closely in here so when we use medications this strong we can be sure we aren't putting you too far under".... I have never understood nurses who tell patients- "You are going to be in pain-that is just the way it is after surgery". You can bet if I tell a patient there is nothing I am going to do that is going to stop thier pain- sure enough I don't stop thier pain. If I tell a patient it is very important to me to get thier pain controled and we are going to do whatever it takes to make that happen, 99 times out of 100 the pain gets much better.

emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Sep 19, 2014

Methinks this is homework. OP, what do YOU think and why?

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Sep 19, 2014

You might need a nap! Lol!