lakotasu

Ray Garza is NOT helpful. I had a similar problem and finally had to hire a lawyer who *knew* Ray Garza and we were successful in altering the stipulations somewhat. However, Garza has put a *permanent* probation note on my license at mich.gov instead of having it go away after the program is completed. I did not have a substance abuse problem and was not on any medications. I will now have to re-hire the lawyer to fight that. BTW, this lawyer specializes in this area and is excellent. If anyone wants his name feel free to contact me. Good luck with your issue.

Thank you for your response based on your own experiences.

Hi 2BSure, Sorry you had such a bad experience. That was one of the reasons I suggested having everything documented before approaching anyone. As you so well pointed out, "anonymous" routes are hardly ever anonymous. When done properly, reporting anyone for anything within an institution of learning or employment very rarely has the consequence of "retaliation". In instances of obvious retaliation such as you described, this too, should be documented and if witnesses can be had, included in a report to the Dean of the school. There is no place in education for such behavior. When I was in an ADN program we had an instructor who made it very clear she did not like having males in class. She was also very unpleasant to any student who appeard afraid of her. (Her nickname was "The Weedeater", lol). She took every advantage to intimidate to the fullest any student she took a dislike to for whatever reason. She went so far as to give a pt to one of the male students in our clinical that had only one lung. (The pt, not the student:smokin:). As most of you may know, a person w/ one lung can still evidence breath sounds on both sides due to "echo" effect, depending on the anatomy within. When this male student reported he heard "bilateral breath sounds" on this pt she then tried to have him expelled from the program for "falsifying a medical record". When we all heard about this we dug up as much documentation as we could on breath sounds and presented it to the Dean along with our observations of this teachers behavior. She was put on suspendsion for the rest of the term and did not attempt retaliation when she returned. She had been "outed" and it was made clear her unprofessional behavior would not be tolerated. As long as one follows the proper procedures and chain of command and does things in a professional, adult way...leaving all emotion out of the issue...using documentation and clear presentation of facts, then it is very unlikely that the issue will go uncorrected and/or there will be retaliation. Yes...there are always exceptions. Anyway, thanks for your response and I wish you the best in your career!

No matter what you decide, *get a tutor* for chemistry. I did this and it made all the difference in the world! Does your school have learning labs with computer tutorials? These can be very helpful as well. Also, most schools have student tutors who do this for free and are pretty good at helping their fellow-students. What ever you decide to do, good luck! "I feel your pain", as Clinton used to say, LOL!! Hang in there!

*IF* you decide to take this matter to an administrative level, you *must* have documentation. It would also be advisable for the other people you said have noticed this to document their observations as well and present your facts as a group. Another thing you might also consider is taking a tape recorder into the classroom with you so that when these things are said you have absolute proof. Do not however, just go into someone's office and start making accusations. You could get suspended or worse, expelled. As for the comment someone made about letting it go and ignoring it, if indeed, she is making things up and in general not giving factual evidence in her teaching, then who *will* stop it? Just some thoughts. lakotsu

I'm an RN who has been in the pain management field for several years. I've also worked ER so have seen many drug abuse patients. The unfortunate statements I have just read here are indicative of the judgemental attitudes and misinformation that still permeates our profession to this day. First of all, Dilaudid is a synthetic version of Morphine. They are basically the same drug except for a couple of molecules difference. 1mg of morphine is the same as 0.1mg of Dilaudid. One reason some people request Dilaudid over Morphine is that Dilaudid, being a synthetic, has fewer "dirty" metabolites and is less likely to cause the usual side effects related to Morphine such as nausea and vomiting. Another reason relates to one's genetic makeup. We all have cytochromes that assist us in processing medications. But we all don't have the same genetic makeup. We are different! That's why medications don't always work the same in EVERY person! That's why some people have unusual reactions to medications. That's why it takes some people a lot longer to wake up from anesthesia than others. The cytochrome P450-2B4 regulates how one metabolizes opioid/narcotic medications and anesthetics. There are cultural and genetic variations throughout the world populations. You can "Google" the cytochrome and find out more info. But please, my colleagues, do not think that everyone who requests Dilaudid is a drug seeker. As nurses, we are not supposed to allow our prejudices to influence our care. According to McCaffrey, who wrote the book on pain, "Pain is what the patient says it is." One cannot possibly experience what another person's pain is. Granted, there *are* those who would manipulate the system, but for the most part, those are people who's pain has not been treated appropriately. The actual condition of addiction does not occur very often. What people see are dependent patients who's pain needs are not being correctly addressed. This leads them to "seeking" behavior. I could go on, for the subject of pain, both acute and chronic and its managment is very complex, but I'll just leave it at this for now. Please don't be so quick to judge. That's not what we, as professionals, are about. Thank you.