I have to say something in regards to a nurse who told me that when drug users come to the hospital for drugs or with a drug problem, she basically throws them to the side and treat patients who are non drug users. She says she hates it when they come in, and they just take up her time.
My view on this is...
Dont pass judgement on people you dont know. Im currently a nursing student and i feel that as a nurse it will be my duty to help these people and give them the same respect as i would anyone else. It will be my job to offer them the assistance they need and if they dont except it i will do anything in my power to convince them.
My aspect on a drug user....
People who use drugs are just like you and me. They come from all different families (good and bad). I dont think these people should be looked down on because they are drug users. for one... anybody (you, me, your brother etc..) can use a drug one time and be addicted. This a disease, yes its a big problem, but i think we as nurses should still treat them with the same respect. for example... Methamphetamine, which is growing rapidly, is a huge problem today. I have studied this drug over and over. I know that you can take a good person and give them Meth and they will turn into a totally different person. This drug alters the dopamine in their brain making them feel normal when its used (which you all probaly know) making it extremely hard to quit.
My point is...
I hate people who say "oh, there just trash" or "she's just a drug user". This makes me sooo mad
You cant judge somebody. what if there drug problem is because of something in there past (rape, abuse) that has put them where they are today (which is usually the case) how can you sit there and live with yourself being hateful to these people. Putting them down calling them names and saying "if they would just stop using drugs". This is NOT right. Put yourself in there shoes. HELP THEM!! dont turn them away. if you do your just making things worst. I know some of you have never done or even tried drugs and this exactly my point. you havent done it. you werent addicted and you have no clue what its like to be them.
I would like some of your views on this situation...
do you get mad when drug users come to the emergency room (either to get drugs or for drug problems)?
How do u view these people?
Im sorry for such a long post but i am just fired up right now.
Specializes in ICU, ED, Transport, Home Care, Mgmnt.
Ready,
You are (probably) young and very idealistic. It is a good way to be and in order to be a nurse, you have to have a lot of compassion for everyone.
That being said, some of us have spent a lot of time trying to get through to drug abusers and a lot of us have failed at changing their lives at all.
I am not an ER nurse, but I am sure they are the one group of nurses who spend a lot of time with drug abusers. they come in as drug seekers, or with open wounds or abscesses from using dirty needles.
I did not work in an ER, but I did marry an addict. I did not know it at the time, by the time I found out, he had sold many of my belongings, stolen from my checking account, and treated me and my children so horribly, I thought I was living in a nightmare. He bankrupted me with his tricks. He humiliated me in many ways. Being a nurse, I tried the compassionate route. I stood "by my man" and put him through rehab while I was pregnant with our child. For a time he worked the program, but things never got better, People who work the program are very self centered. Then they relapse and the nightmare starts all over again. He brings his so called "friends" to my nice clean house, they are addicts, drug dealers, dregs of society. These people wiill try anything and everything to separate you from your purse, your jewelry,any thing that can be sold for money.
I am in a pain clinic for chronic back problems. I have to hide my medications every day from my own husband. He sometimes tries to "bully" me into giving him some of my meds, which I refuse to do. One time he picked up my delivery for me and there were 5 pills missing. Some times if he finds my meds, and I come up short at the end of the month. He admits that he took some, but has no sympathy for me that I have to go through 2 or 3 days of pain because of his selfishness.
If I had known how selfish and self centered addicts are, I would never have tried to rehabilitate him. If I were working in an ER, I would have no sympathy for addicts, due to my personal experience with them.
I just wanted you to see another side of this. Most addicts are not going to be rehbilitated, because they don't want to be. They like their lilfe the way it is, and don't want to change. Nothing you say is going to turn on a switch in their head and make them want to be clean. They like this life they have, they like to get over on people. If I were working in an ER and had a choice, who do I care for first, I would not pick the addict and I would make sure my purse was in a safe place.
gr8rnpjt, it sounds like you are still with this man, you need to pull yourself out of this relationslhip for the your own sake as well as your child. I don't know your situation but it doesn't sound good. Do what you have to do to protect yourself and your child. It will be tough but you will be so much better off.
As for ED drug seekers, even they get sick sometimes. Every patient should be judged on the presenting complaint and triaged accordingly. The treatment of these patients depends on the usual standard of care you would give any patient with the same complaint. Even drug seekers all die, eventually. It is a frustrating waste of our time when they are only drug seeking but it isn't our job to fix the world. We can try to get them in for treatment but they have to want to first. Any nurse who pushes a group of patients aside because she thinks they don't deserve her attention needs to get help or needs to find a different place to work. If another nurses sees this going on she needs to have a conversation either with the nurse or with the department manager. Major risk factor for the hospital and for that nurse.
When you get some real world experience come talk to us. That nurse might have quite a bit of insight into these patients. The real world os quite a bit different than the make believe world of nursing texts and the NCLEX
I have to say something in regards to a nurse who told me that when drug users come to the hospital for drugs or with a drug problem, she basically throws them to the side and treat patients who are non drug users. She says she hates it when they come in, and they just take up her time.
My view on this is...
Dont pass judgement on people you dont know. Im currently a nursing student and i feel that as a nurse it will be my duty to help these people and give them the same respect as i would anyone else. It will be my job to offer them the assistance they need and if they dont except it i will do anything in my power to convince them.
My aspect on a drug user....
People who use drugs are just like you and me. They come from all different families (good and bad). I dont think these people should be looked down on because they are drug users. for one... anybody (you, me, your brother etc..) can use a drug one time and be addicted. This a disease, yes its a big problem, but i think we as nurses should still treat them with the same respect. for example... Methamphetamine, which is growing rapidly, is a huge problem today. I have studied this drug over and over. I know that you can take a good person and give them Meth and they will turn into a totally different person. This drug alters the dopamine in their brain making them feel normal when its used (which you all probaly know) making it extremely hard to quit.
My point is...
I hate people who say "oh, there just trash" or "she's just a drug user". This makes me sooo mad
You cant judge somebody. what if there drug problem is because of something in there past (rape, abuse) that has put them where they are today (which is usually the case) how can you sit there and live with yourself being hateful to these people. Putting them down calling them names and saying "if they would just stop using drugs". This is NOT right. Put yourself in there shoes. HELP THEM!! dont turn them away. if you do your just making things worst. I know some of you have never done or even tried drugs and this exactly my point. you havent done it. you werent addicted and you have no clue what its like to be them.
I would like some of your views on this situation...
do you get mad when drug users come to the emergency room (either to get drugs or for drug problems)?
How do u view these people?
Im sorry for such a long post but i am just fired up right now.
Even drug addicts get sick. In my practice, I saw one drug addict get his appendicitis overlooked and he nearly died from that. Then, he turned out to have Hodgkins Disease and really should have died from that. Very advanced by the time it was diagnosed. He got plenty of Morphine then.
He is still alive after about seven years. In prison for his abuse of his daughters.
In his case, I don't think he became an addict for any special reason -- like he was abused as a child. He was very spoiled. His mom did everything for him.
Spoiled or addicted, the man was still a patient with an acute appendicitis that was overlooked and Hodgkins lymphoma that was eating him alive. Finally found by a pain specialist.
I can think of other drug seekers I have known that have since died. None of them died of their addiction. They died from causes that were either never found or found far too late.
An addiction should not be fed but an addict should not be ignored.
Crazy people also get sick. It is very easy to overlook and miss disease conditions in crazy people and addicts.
I do not believe in placating crazies or addicts. But you do need to take a serious look at them beyond the obvious.
As I've posted before, I hurt my back once. I was sent home with a Rx for Percocet. It took the pain away. I realized one day that it made me just a little too happy.
At work a lot of the palliative patients are in pain. Sometimes it gets very busy when seven patients need pain meds every four hours. I.V. meds take up a lot of time. I'm not complaining about that at all. Every now and then we get a patient on the unit that needs 100mg of Demerol every four hours with Gravol. Then wheelchairs himself downstairs to have a cigarette. It's weird. It's also in the ER notes that "patient is known to ER as drug seeker". I don't want to be mean because I know what it's feels like to have pain. Excrutiating pain. But if all the labs check out okay and diagnostic tests come back alright, and there is just no known cause for the abdominal pain.... and they've been there long enough to need the same dosage of morphine.... I just don't get it. Then the doc just walks into their room and tells them everything is clear and they are discharged. They jump out of bed and walk home. What's that all about?
Specializes in Gerontological Nursing, Acute Rehab.
And a few take it out on some pts. by treating everyone in pain like they're a drug seeker (trust me, i learned this first hand a couple of months ago, and let me tell you it was horrible to be in such pain, and be treated like you're faking it).
I completely agree with you, Marie. I have a history of migraines, and obviously when I was pregnant and now that I'm breastfeeding, I'm not taking my usual meds (Neurontin/Relpax). No one wants to prescribe anything, either because I'm breastfeeding or because they don't want to write a script for narcs (Percocet works well for my migraines, but it's not something I'd want to take at work, for obvious reasons). When you ask for pain medication and you don't have a terminal disease, you almost always get treated suspiciously.
And to the OP, I think this is a direct side effect of ER docs and nurses (or any doc/nurse) routinely having to care for the growing number of drug addicts in society. Yes, they still deserve help and care, but too often it's at the expense of other patients. That will burn anyone out. We're only human, too, just like the addicts.
Unless you work in a drug rehab center or unit, it is not your job(or mine) to diagnose or cure a person of their addiction. I do not have enough time in my day to do these things, nor do I want to. I give them the max amount they want and can have. I the docs don't write for enough, I call them and ask for more until they do. I am NOT here to save the world. I am a nurse, and human, and have a job to do. I can't waste time passing judgement on patients(or co-workers who do). As fo why they are an addict, who cares? It is more important to do things correctly and be objective as possible. I have seen my share of drug addicts and alcoholics who have almost been sent home instead of to the OR for emergency conditions because the "drug seeker" mindset of the ER doctors, WHICH I DO understand so please don't tell me to work in the ER before passing judgement. I am well aware of people who clog up the system for crap and steal time away from true emergencies.
Unless you work in a drug rehab center or unit, it is not your job(or mine) to diagnose or cure a person of their addiction. I do not have enough time in my day to do these things, nor do I want to. I give them the max amount they want and can have. I the docs don't write for enough, I call them and ask for more until they do. I am NOT here to save the world. I am a nurse, and human, and have a job to do. I can't waste time passing judgement on patients(or co-workers who do). As fo why they are an addict, who cares? It is more important to do things correctly and be objective as possible. I have seen my share of drug addicts and alcoholics who have almost been sent home instead of to the OR for emergency conditions because the "drug seeker" mindset of the ER doctors, WHICH I DO understand so please don't tell me to work in the ER before passing judgement. I am well aware of people who clog up the system for crap and steal time away from true emergencies.
It's dangerous business to pass judgement and write off drug addicted patients in any health care setting. Many with legitimate health care issues will avoid hospitalization because of the stigma issues. Additionally, many health care providers do not know that current or long "clean" ex- addicts brains are forever altered and they really DO need more pain medication when ill or injured than individuals without that history. No human being presenting in any setting should be ignored or given less than others due to the fact that they have violated the collective "our" belief systems. Its prejudice, like any other form of prejudice. We dont judge, we assess carefully and fairly.
No, I do not believe in passing judgement on people in a harsh and bitter way. Addiction itself is a sickness. I have compassion for addicts.
Coincidentally, our first patient today was a chronic pain patient I have known for years. He was actually bringing someone else to be seen. He had broken her foot when he fell on her. He had a very hard time getting out of the car. Staggering and reeling. Walking with his eyes closed.
It was very bad. Very, very bad. He was driving. He could barely walk or talk.
We hated to do it but we actually notified the police because we figured someone in that shape might kill himself or other people on the road.
The cops never came, even though the station is very close to the office. When they left, the woman had to fight her way behind the wheel to keep him from driving.
But he was driving this evening -- to get crutches for the woman. I called the cell phone and he answered. Sounded bad. Very bad.
I just hate to see someone in that shape. The woman asked for stronger pain med than Motrin. Wanted Percocet. We gave her Darvocet.
Just a bad situation.
I had a very good friend die from an overdose of Oxycontin a few years ago. Chronic pain patient. Good guy. He kept his medicine out in his shed and that is where his eight year old daughter found him -- dead in the shed -- just like that. He was lying on the trampoline. She thought he was asleep even though he had foam at his mouth. She was a kid. She had no idea.
He had taken oxycontin for years -- never exceeded his allotment but he could not function without it. Without it, all he did was lie on the sofa. With it, he could work on computers and do things with his kids.
Then, he stopped taking his Prozac and blood pressure meds and started hoarding the oxycontin. My son went with him out to the creek the day that he died. Buster said he was acting weird -- picking up snakes and stuff.
At midnight, he had his daughters outside playing frizbee.
He was dead in the shed about twelve hours before his daughter went looking for her bike and found him on the trampoline.
It is wonderful that there are available miraculous drugs for pain relief. I thank God that I do not have the power to prescribe them. I would not want that responsibility.
I don't think that I would ever prescribe oxycontin or morphine or Percocet for anyone who did not have certain kinds of terminal cancer.
My husband died from cancer and his doctor denied his refill of Percocet. He took Tylenol.
My first husband had horrible Systemic Lupus and endured excruciating pain from aceptic necrosis in his hips. Never had any pain med.
Pain is a difficult topic because pain is relative and subjective. I would hate to be a chronic pain doctor or a physiatrist. I would rather be a proctologist.
Much easier to look into butts all day than to try to decipher what a person requires for pain and to weigh the consequences of the treatment of that pain; non-cancerous pain. Most chronic pain patients have orthodpedic or neurosurgical problems.
Personally, I have zero tolerance for narcotic pain meds. I also have a very high pain tolerance. Two childbirths were not painful to me. I have had extensive dental work done without novacaine. The reason I dread the thought of a colonoscopy is not because I fear the procedure. I fear the drugs.
I have had very little physical pain in my life and I know that I am fortunate.
Pain management is a very difficult thing. I have ample empathy for those who experience a lot of pain. Yet, the consequences of the drugs required to treat pain are enormous.
If only there was an absolute blood or other clinical test to measure pain. Maybe then, it could be understood and separated from depression.
If they are admitted to the hospital and under my care, I don't dismiss them and medicate per orders. I have a license and a standard of care that I adhere to regardless if your a drug addict prostitute or the Pope.
They can be frustrating, manipulative and time consuming for sure.
kat911
243 Posts
gr8rnpjt, it sounds like you are still with this man, you need to pull yourself out of this relationslhip for the your own sake as well as your child. I don't know your situation but it doesn't sound good. Do what you have to do to protect yourself and your child. It will be tough but you will be so much better off.
As for ED drug seekers, even they get sick sometimes. Every patient should be judged on the presenting complaint and triaged accordingly. The treatment of these patients depends on the usual standard of care you would give any patient with the same complaint. Even drug seekers all die, eventually. It is a frustrating waste of our time when they are only drug seeking but it isn't our job to fix the world. We can try to get them in for treatment but they have to want to first. Any nurse who pushes a group of patients aside because she thinks they don't deserve her attention needs to get help or needs to find a different place to work. If another nurses sees this going on she needs to have a conversation either with the nurse or with the department manager. Major risk factor for the hospital and for that nurse.