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Also Norco/Vicodin and Lortab

Well, the defendant pled guilty -- on the first day of the trial. So I'm home free this time. Thanks again for all your help!

BillEDRN, Thank you so much for such a helpful response. I'm sure I'm not the only one who will benefit from it. I have reviewed the chart, and I think I will call the prosecuting attorney's office to get a bit more information. I appreciate you taking the time to give me such detailed advice. I will be rereading your reply in the days leading up to the trial. Hopefully I will not get called anyway. :)

Thanks to everyone that has given me advice so far. I am disappointed that an argument has developed in this thread. That is certainly not what I expected. I just wanted a little support and advice... I hope people will continue to respond and share their experiences and wisdom, it really does help.

The main issue for me is not that they are addicts or that they just want drugs or that they don't really look like they are in pain. What gets to me is how they behave and how they treat us. Someone who is behaving inappropriately (coming up to the nurses station every 2 minutes to ask for more meds or complain, walking all over the department, trying to chat up patients in the bed next to them, going outside to smoke without talking to us first) or someone who is rude and really manipulative (arguing angrily, insulting us, forging letters from their doctors, being excessively dramatic) are just some examples. Those are things that get in the way of how much I feel like helping them and give them the meds they want. Many of the patients that I see, that seem to be coming in just for the drugs, still manage to behave appropriately enough that I don't have much of a problem with it.

Wow. That is really good advice, thanks. I would never have thought of that. Like even my regular purse items, wallet, etc? Thank you, that is very good advice too. You're right about it being their job. I just hope it doesn't really make me feel personally insulted or attacked. I tend to either get flustered or defensive in those types of situations. I hate being put on the spot! Also maybe the defense would realize that trying to insult a nurse is not something a jury might look upon too fondly. That sounds pretty traumatic. And I'm sorry to hear you've been through other more difficult situations. I have been deposed before, which I would prefer in this case because you don't have to be on the stand in front of the jury and the judge and everything. Of course I'm picturing something like a scene from "Law & Order" when I know it is not going to be anything like that.

That's what one of my coworkers told me. Have you ever ended up actually having to testify?

Actually, since I am a witness in a case of The People vs the patient, the hospital is not involved and I don't have representation. So when my risk manager found out she didn't really have anything to say about it. Yes, I think that is the situation. I'm just afraid I'm going to get nervous and end up looking stupid, or maybe the defendant's attorney is going to try to press me and try to make me seem incompetent or something.

I just got my first subpoena! It's for a patient who was brought in by law enforcement for a blood draw. I'm kind of nervous. Any advice?

The worst and most uncomfortable call I've gotten was a man that asked if there was a way that he could find out if his daughter is still a virgin. I guess the answer I gave him wasn't acceptable, because he then clarified that what he meant was could he tell by looking "inside" her if she had had sex or not! it was a long time ago and it still makes me feel icky

The only book that stands out in my mind is Carpenito. I don't know if that would be good for the UK though.

Don't worry -- I remember saying that I learned more during my first few months on the job, than I did during all of nursing school! Once you start working, that's when things start to "click." We've all been there -- stick with it and you will do great!

Actually our staff are supposed to refer the "advice" calls to a nurse, which is a waste of time but occasionally we have gotten calls in which the person did need actual basic emergency advice -- such as "my friend swallowed a whole bunch of pills and drank ETOH and now she won't wake up" (call 911 right now, duh) or "my baby is 2 weeks old and he has a fever" (newborn w/ fever needs to be seen ASAP). Apparently the unlicensed personnel in our dept who got these 2 calls provided the generic "we can't give advice" response. The manager overheard and now all requests for advice are supposed to go to a nurse, unless none of us can come to the phone. So more fun for us RNs.

I just realized something based on your helpful replies - something small and obvious but might make a difference: We are told to tell callers that we can't give medical advice over the phone. But if I change it and say that we can't give medical information then that might work better.

Thanks so much for your replies. They are helpful. Those are the ones I'm asking about. I have no trouble telling people that we can't give advice, I just lately have gotten stuck in some conversations that last way too long w/ people badgering me with "I don't understand why you can't answer my question, I'm not asking for advice" etc. That's when I don't really know what to say. Sometimes I feel like a broken record and end up basically telling them (after explaining multiple times that they can call their MD, come in and be seen, etc.) that I've answered their question in the best way that I can but that I am taking care of patients in the ER and am going to have to get off the phone. The last time this happened the lady actually said, "Well can you look up the information for me when you have time and I'll call you back later?" I guess some people just don't get it. Part of the problem is probably caused by the fact that I have heard some of my fellow nurses give phone advice, so we are inconsistent. Sometimes they say, "Well, I am not able to give you medical advice, but if I were you I would..." Talk about

I was hoping for some advice from my fellow ED nurses... In my ER the policy is that nurses do not give out medical advice over the phone. However, we get a lot of calls from people who claim to be asking for medical information, not advice. Sometimes instead of calling on the phone people actually just come in and ask questions of the triage nurse. For example, "What are the symptoms of . . . ?"(fill in the blank with the disease du jour) or "Does this medication interact with this medication?" or "What are the side effects of this medication?" (we do not have a 24-hour pharmacy in my community, and I'm not talking about meds we prescribed them) Do any of you have a good way of handling these types of questions? Some people are very manipulative and persistent.

You're welcome! It's good to know you can always put it on your resume, right?

I worked with a nurse a couple of times, who used to work as a nurse at San Quentin. I never got to talk to her about it, but let me just say she was one of those people that look like they're really tough and they won't take crap from anyone. I would think if you're not already that way when you start working there, you would be after a while! She was also really nice and funny. I always thought it would be really interesting to be a prison nurse. Could give you a really different perspective on life. And maybe a chance to care for people that not many people care for. Good money too, right? Hope you get the job if you decide you want it!

I think a smile, or a caring expression (or lack thereof) is the most important part of any nurse's appearance. It goes a lot further to affect a patient's comfort level than any hair color, piercing, or tattoo.

Hi there and congratulations! From the STT website: "How long will I be considered a member of Sigma Theta Tau International? You are a member for life after you have been inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International. You must pay annual membership fees to receive most member benefits and publications. " So once you're in, you're in. And you don't have to pay your dues to be a member. You only have to pay your dues if you want to be an "active" member, which gets you the magazine and other benefits. Hope that answers your question!

I think it's the same for us. I know we are allowed to give take-home meds because our hospital has a written policy for it. This must be the explanation.

food critic travel writer art restorer/conservationist microbiologist tv host mathematician back-up singer nutritionist fashion designer don't you wish life had a rewind button? then we could go back and try some of these things out. if we didn't like it, we could go back again. of course I would also like a pause and fast-forward button too

Even if we send them home with a couple of percs, don't we still need to put them in a bag/container, labeled w/ instructions? And either way there needs to be appropriate patient teaching, right? I don't really see the difference in the example between the percs and the amoxicillin.

There are not any 24 hour pharmacies in my city, and my hospital pharmacy is not staffed at night. The closest 24 hour pharmacy is over 30 minutes away by car. We dispense meds when it is too late for the patient to get a Rx filled. I think we technically can only use the prepared packs made up by pharmacy, but we also occasionally make up our own pack of other meds to get a patient through the night.

Kits vary. The straight cath kit we use for males has a red rubber cath that is attached to a bag, along w/ betadine swabs, lube, and sterile gloves.