Post-Holiday Special! 50% Off Admission for Addicts!

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

This last week has been the absolute PITS at my workplace.......seems like they must be having a half-off admission sale for every practicing alcoholic and drug addict in the county. I've given more Lactulose and Ativan, cleaned up more vomit and diarrhea, used more restraints, and transferred more patients to the ICU in the past few days than I have in the past six months. As of last night, we had ten patients (out of 33 total) on my med/surg floor who are in various stages of withdrawal; our nine-bed ICU had four, and another one was on the way there as I was leaving for the night.

What's up with that??! We're all wondering if the holidays had some kind of mass depressive effect on the county's heroin and meth users, not to mention the ETOH'ers.........or maybe it was our unaccustomed snow and ice storms that kept everyone cooped inside for over a week and gave them a bizarre sort of cabin fever.

At any rate, most of us have never seen this many addicts at one time in our little hospital, and it seems no matter how many staff we have on the floor, it's not enough to deal with them. I can't even imagine working exclusively with this population; it's enough to make you spitting mad, and break your heart at the same time.

I've been caring for one 51-year-old heroin/ETOH addict who developed abscesses on both arms from skin-popping, bled out after her I & D, and is now on comfort care due to liver failure; I watched as the three daughters she walked out on some years ago came to her bedside yesterday to say good-bye and to tell her they forgave her for abandoning them. I felt awful for all of them, and yet angry with the patient for having put her children through hell and thrown away her own life with both hands, all because of the damned drugs. Then I thought, as I always do, of how there but for the grace of God go I......yes, my drug of choice was the legal kind, but no less devastating to body and soul.

At any rate, I think we all will be glad when our patient population returns to the usual: confused elderly, surgical patients, diabetics, and COPD'ers.

Have any of you who work in hospitals experienced a rise in the number of drug-addicted patients on your floors since the holidays? How are you coping with it, and is your administration staffing accordingly? We're fortunate in that ours has consistently OVERstaffed us when we have these high-acuity patients, but there are times you could put 20 people out there and it wouldn't be enough.......they are an enormous challenge, and they drain our energies faster than even the combative, confused, ambulatory dementia patients.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I haven't noticed because our census in Florida is always higher in the winter months, especially after Xmas. But I understand that mix of compassion and anger.

[live4today, RN]

Must be some truth to it because my girlfriend called to share with me how crazy work was for her this past weekend with patients coming out of the woodwork like ants. :rotfl: She said it was absolutely crazyyyyyy! Glad I'm no longer there.

[fab4fan]

I don't think anyone chooses to become an addict. Really, do you think people get up one day and say, "Gee, I think I will get adicted to heroin"?

Sorry work has been so difficult.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

No, I don't believe anyone grows up wanting to become an addict, any more than I grew up aspiring to become an alcoholic. It's just sad to see so many broken lives, broken dreams, broken hearts in such a short time span, all because of drugs and/or ETOH and the incredibly bad decisions people make under their influence.

I am not unsympathetic towards addicts or their problems. It's just frustrating to see the same people brought in over and over again when they don't WANT to get clean/sober, and to spend so much time and energy taking care of them when they don't want our help. :stone

[mittels]

Just a question, Did you check out the moon last noc? It was the closest I've ever seen.:roll

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Nope.......too busy chasing my patient's so-called "friends" out of the room to even know the moon was out!

[SmilingBluEyes]

full moon = weirdos in the ER and OB units.

its proven.

sorry your worklife has sucked lately. i can relate.

[KMSRN]

.

I don't think anyone chooses to become an addict. Really, do you think people get up one day and say, "Gee, I think I will get adicted to heroin?

Yes people do decide to become heroin addicts (or alcoholics or cocaine addicts). They make that decision when they DECIDE to get the money together, then DECIDE to go find a dealer, then DECIDE to buy the heroin, then DECIDE to get a syringe and needles, then DECIDE to mix the heroin, then DECIDE to find a vein, and DECIDE to inject it into that vein. Then they DECIDE to do it all over again the next day. That's how they DECIDE to become addicts - one little decision at a time

[NYCRN16]

Originally posted by SmilingBluEyes

full moon = weirdos in the ER and OB units.

its proven.

You forgot about LTC!!!! It was always crazy there when there was a full moon...Lots of folks trying to climb out of bed!

[Anniekins]

Addiction is a DISEASE, NOT a DECISION. If they had the CHOICE, they would not be hurting their family by their using. They don't want to do this, but they cannot stop themselves.

This by no means excuses their behavior.

Getting sober, and remaining sober takes a STRONG EFFORT on a DAILY basis for the REST OF THEIR LIVES.

[Rapheal]

I do find it weird how certain diseases seem to rule at certain times. About 3 months ago it was ETOH abuse/Hep C patients and our floor had quite a few yellow people.

This month besides the COPD, pneumonia and influenza patients we have had a run of GI bleeds. Have hung alot of blood so far this month. Hope work gets better. I also agree that a full moon seems to bring out the strange in our patients.