Went into a patient's room today - the son(patient) is a pleasant man in his 40's with mental retardation. The MD's removed his epidural today and he still has a chest tube. I tell him, "Ask for your pain medication when you need it. If you don't need it, it would be better not to take it."
Right before this - Mom had told me she was going to go home at 10 pm. But after I said this, she became irate.....she said the following.
"New nurse's don't know anything. I have been a nurse for a long time. A nurse kills 2.5 patients in her career - that's a statistic. Nurse's don't have the corner on dealing with pain and doctors don't overperscribe what patients can have. I am glad that when I am old, I won't have to worry about being in a nursing home because you young nurses will take care of me to where I don't leave the hospital."
I really tried not to be baited by what she said. I commented that she had a dim view of her professions future, that I WILL give her son pain meds when he asks for them and needs them.
She demanded to know my last name, and when I asked why, she said, " I only take down the full names of people I don't think are going to give good care to my son. His father died 6 years ago and he's all I have left."
I was stunned that someone would have such a dun view of our profession! And after I was just trying to give the patient some options!
So I had the doctor talk to her and I wrote a note detailing all this and put it in the chart. The intern said that she said she was just tired andgrumpy and she knew she was out of line.
So There you have an older nurse's view of where our profession is going.
Have any of you ever seen research data to collaborate her claims that a nurse "kills 2.5 people in their career." ?
Was she kidding?????? Most of the pain management cases I have on my load today are a direct result of physicians overprescribing pain medications. I think you just got hold of a cranky mom who was being defensive. What you describe is normal behavior for the parent of many retarded patients. Too bad she had to bring nursing into it. Haven't heard the the 2.5 patient kill stat. If this is true, all of us must wonder who they were.....
They do over-prescribe - I totally agree. Anytime they give 2 vicodin every 4 hours, that equals 6 gm tylenol is 24 hours and 4 gms is the recommended upper limit. I am not opposed to taking pain meds when you are in pain. But there are a lot of people who are addicted - take Anna Nicole Smith and her son - they were both overmedicated and died as a result of it......
Pointing no fingers, just saying, that it is possible to be overmedicated for a variety of reasons.
I think she is only lashing out because she is distraught.
Yes, but you know what?
Try "lashing out" in a similar manner at your MD, bank teller, accountant, store clerk, wait staff, travel agent, etc. See how that goes. Let us know. In most cases you'll find yourself escorted out of the building.
I have been "on the other side" as the family member of a patient. I've grieved openly at the bedside of a loved one. I've observed care and have seen things for which I was grateful and things that irritated me.
The socialization skills we learn as children (or should learn), i.e. self-control and some time delay between thought process and open mouth do not stop at the door of the hospital.
I am tired of excusing inexcusable behavior on the part of alert & oriented adults.
From what you've said here, she didn't "reference" that statistic at all.
Since each of us individually cannot kill 1/2 a patient, that little tidbit, even if based on data of some kind, is the kind of pseudo-statistic hyperbole commonly presented by the media.
Too bad she, a nurse herself, believes it. How terrible to carry around low-self esteem like that.
And thinks so poorly of the future of our profession!
Yup! I kept thinking she must have had a bad experience with a newer nurse at some point......either professionally or with the care of her son who has been sick a lot......
I hope the OP's comment referred to pain meds that were written prn. If the pain meds are written for scheduled doses, then they need to be given as scheduled. Very frustrating to get those 3am calls for pain or withdrawl, only to find out that the last two scheduled "contins" weren't given.
I find it very hard to go with all the people who are responding "she has had some hard times, let her vent, listen to her, and maybe it will get better." I really don't care how hard someone's life has been, no one has the right to light into me for no good reason. I fully believe that people behave during stressful times the same way they behave during the easy times. The correct response in this situation, for me, would have been one raised eyebrow, respond "I'll be back in a moment" and a walk out of the room directly into my supervisor's office to let her deal with this hateful person.
In those situations it's probably best to focus on the feelings behind the verbal abuse, not the content. Sounds like she was afraid her son was going to experience intense pain, and her perception was that you were encouraging him to not take meds. It might serve you better to see her as a protective mother instead of a bitter old abusive *****.
As far as the 2.5 statistic, I think that is part of the content we get lost in. Of course there is no research showing this! How would one conduct such research? Who would fund it? No, it is certainly a myth. However, I will drag it out if I accidently kill a patient - "See, I'm still above the average!"
"Ma'am, I understand that you're worried about your son and I assure that the he is receiving the best care we can provide. That includes getting his pain medication when necessary and as prescribed. Please calm down and refrain from insulting either myself or our profession or I will have to ask security to remove you from the premises until such time that you feel you are in control of your behavior enough to return."
Diary/Dairy, RN
1,785 Posts
They do over-prescribe - I totally agree. Anytime they give 2 vicodin every 4 hours, that equals 6 gm tylenol is 24 hours and 4 gms is the recommended upper limit. I am not opposed to taking pain meds when you are in pain. But there are a lot of people who are addicted - take Anna Nicole Smith and her son - they were both overmedicated and died as a result of it......
Pointing no fingers, just saying, that it is possible to be overmedicated for a variety of reasons.