Recovery Room Horror!

[z's playa]

I'm at a fork in the road and don't know where to go. I recently had an emergency D&C to stop the excessive bleeding due to miscarriage in late august. I woke up in the recovery room 20 minutes after I was put under for surgery. Short surgery. I was approached by two nurses and administered O2. I was in pain and one of the nurses looks at me and says with obvious exasperation "What's wrong?" She guessed and came back with Fentanyl. I was surprisingly aware and lucid. Well I started to feel nauseated and not inclined to "bug" them again so I pulled a large metal trash can over towards me (it was only in arms reach away) so as not to make a huge mess for them to clean up. Well holy moly!!!!!!!! This nurses shouts from across the empty recovery room (2:45 AM)....."What do you think you're doing?".... and storms across the room and KICKS the can away from me and it falls with a huge resounding bang to the floor! We were both a little shocked and I just gaped at her. She goes on to say "Just what the heck do you think you're doing, you can't do that!" I'm saying sorry at this point but she stands there with both hands on her hips GLARING at me! Right about then I was wishing I was still in surgery. The shock wore off and I just looked at her shaking my head and whispered "I don't believe you!" I don't understand why I was so awake but I was, and I think she realized it too because she continued to stand there just looking at me. I speculated it was to anticipate just how much I'd remember but who knows. right?

At that point the loss of my baby and the incident just tore through my resolve and I burst into tears. I refused to look at her but I knew she was standing there a while looking at me before she put her hand on mine and said in a gentler tone "It's ok" She stayed there the rest of the time I was there fussing with my sheets and tucking me in(10 min) and as I was wheeled up to my room by a porter who was there the whole time, he said that she never worked nights before. I'm thinking who cares...its quieter in the Recovery room at night. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Now my problem. I decided not to make a formal complaint but I can't get the incident out of my head. I've tried but I feel a little traumatized for lack of a better word. Should I go to the hospital and say something? No doubt in my mind she felt bad but is that enough? I've run into a few bad incidents but chose to say nothing but I can't shake this one.I know the danger of falling in hindsight but I didn't even have to move much the can was THAT BIG! Will a complaint have an effect on my clinical rotation if I go through with it? Thanks for listening guys.

[jennyanydot]

This last story makes me remember working a general surg floor and how horrible it was. Pain control was nearly always inadequate. No one took it seriously. Another reason why I wouldn't go back to med-surg. I don't know what to tell you (not an OR nurse), except maybe ask for recommendations for a good anesthesiologist or CRNA and schedule a preop appt with them, with enough time to discuss your concerns and explain why you're so terrified. Really find someone you connect with and get them involved, so they have something invested in you having a good experience. I think you really will have to be proactive to make this work. Your doc is being an idiot - Percocet will make it all better? Yeah, it'll be real useful in the emesis basin when you puke it up in PACU. And I hate it when they say/imply patients are "wimps." Pain is pain. People have differing nervous systems. People experience pain differently. I'm assuming you don't have a history of drug abuse, so why should anyone doubt your perception of pain?

I certainly appreciate your input. If I only listened to the ortho doc I would think what happened should be something I just 'click my heel' and wish it away. At work today I called the billing department for the anesthesiologist that work at the surgical center and one of the girls gave me the name of

one that she said is nice. I am going to call the surgeon's office tomorrow and tell them I will sign another consent form for just the CT procedure (which I hear is nothing) and they will have the other consent for both procedures in case something can be worked out with the anesthesiologist for the second procedure being done with a Axillary block or Interscalene block for post op.

Otherwise, just the CT procedure and I'm out of there. A friend at work said

her husband had just the external fixator on and had the Interscalene block

(I'm guessing it was that one because it was in the middle of his upper chest)

didn't feel anything for days and the anesthesiologist was great - said, "call me Ted and here is my cell phone number if you have a problem." Can you

believe that? I had the ext fix put on in April so I know it is only a 20 to

30 minute procedure and I had the BEST PACU nurse in the entire 550 bed hospital. She pumped in 2 mg of Morphine until I said, "that feels better".

And that is what she noted!!! Love to be able to thank that angel and let

her know how often I think about her even though wouldn't know her if

I knocked into her at some store.

No, never took any drugs - BIG chicken. Always thought they would work

well for me if I didn't take anything. Well... I'm ready to throw that theory

in the trash.

Please, please do not give up on going for the CRNA. I had a great experience the one time I got one. This is such a growing field and one where really good people are needed.

I don't know if earning 3 contact hours on peripheral nerve blocks for post op

is beneficial to you but it is a Home Study by AORN Journal that is on the

Internet (sorry no url to give you).

Thanks once again. I'll let you know if I went through with both procedures

or saved one for 'TED'. :rotfl:

P.S. Loved the Percocet comment. If I am offered Percocet, I'll probably think of what you said and laugh!

[apaisRN, RN, CRNA]

Glad the Percs made you laugh, I wasn't even trying to be funny!

Good job pursuing a good anesthesia provider. Very proactive, something that is hard to be as a patient. Can you imagine what health care is like for the uninformed? Yikes. I promised my mom that if she is admitted anywhere in my facility except ICU and she is not A&O, I will sit with her or have someone else there. I trust my fellow critical care nurses, but I remember conditions on the floor too well. Scary stuff happens, never mind the body odor and foul breath because there's no help with ADLs.

I have 4 apps in for anesthesia school, but may need to get another year of experience and some more resume-builders under my belt. I'm looking on this year as a trial run. One of the attractions of CRNA is being able to treat pain and be independent with the drugs. I get so frustrated now, not being able to treat pain better or talk the docs into doing it. I love it when you give a post-op pt their morphine and they visibly relax within five minutes. Really makes you feel like you did something worthwhile that day.