Syringe driver terror

[milly]

Hello

I know that there will be allot of people disagree with me here

Am I only nurse that is quite simply terrified of syringe drivers?

I just feel like I'm helping someone die. I didn't want to be a nurse to help someone die.. I wanted to be able to provide comfort and health..

Are they really agents of death?

How can you make peace with it all ?

Please help me.. If got to get involved with it all tomorrow and I can't sleep..and I'm on the verge of a panic attack already..

Milly

[LovingLife123]

It's our job to keep them comfortable. Our job. It's cruel and inhumane to let a dying person lay there in excruciating pain and gasping for air.

I wish we would use drips or PCAs for terminal weans. We do IV pushes every few minutes and it's so much work for the nurse to constantly be going back and forth. It's cruel for the family to watch their loved one struggling when dying.

Your posts make it sound like we are committing assisted suicide or even murder and that's not the case. It has been determined by physicians that treatment is no longer warranted in these cases and the patient has decided that nothing else can be done and they want to die NATURALLY. Yes, naturally. The only thing we are doing is making them comfortable. Vital signs don't matter at this point as they are going to decline regardless.

These aren't cases where a person is maybe going to die in 6-8 months. These are actively dying people. Let me state again, they are in the actively dying phase. The only decent thing to do is to help them die with dignity and peace.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Duplicate

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

The problem comes when it is mixed up with palliative care. Thing being is the vast majority of people who end up with them for that purpose dies.[/Quote]

Yes, palliative care patients die. They wouldn't BE a palliative care patient unless they are terminally ill. Should they be denied pain relief so that a misguided nurse can feel better about her misconception?

If anything, I would think suicides or euthanasia would INCREASE if the pt is denied pain relief.

[3ringnursing, BSN]

I agree with everyone else - we don't euthanize humans in this country, and I assume you do not work on death row administering lethal injections.

That being said, why would providing comfort to a dying patient induce such hysteria? Take a deep breath. Now another ...

If you don't feel comfortable working with dying patient's there must be other nursing options better suited to your preferences and comfort level.

I've seen some mighty uncomfortable patient's attempting to transition from the mortal plane to the spiritual one - it is sometimes painful and anxiety provoking. Those people deserve comfort and a calm level of caring.

Maybe it's death itself that frightens you so much - which I do have to admit sucks. But we all do it eventually.

Might I recommend a wonderful book about death? It was written to help children understand death, but it's so simply amazing for people of all ages that I bought it for my husband a few weeks ago when we had to euthanize our beloved chocolate lab. It's called: Cry Heart, But Never Break. I highly recommend everyone of all ages read it.

It's a story about 4 children who live with their grandmother who has become sick. One night Death comes for a visit, but not wanting to scare the children he leaves his scythe outside. The children know the visitor's identity, and quickly hatch a plan to keep Death distracted by serving him coffee all night - if they succeed when the sun comes up he will have no choice but to leave empty handed.

Death is on to their plan, but is happy to sit for a while and just relax. Death is not cruel, and he has a very loving heart. When Death finally signals no more coffee the youngest asks why he must take their beloved grandma? Death tells the children a story about grief and joy, sorrow and delight to try to make them understand death is every bit a part of living as life is.

Death then goes upstairs, opens the window and tells the soul to fly and be free. The children all run upstairs to their grandma's room, but she is already gone. It is at this point Death tells the children they will have many joys and losses in life, and it's here he says the title of the story: Cry Heart, But Never Break.

Of course I shed tears after reading it, but I wasn't crying - I just had a picture book in my eye!

[luvmyc]

Palliative care (and then hospice care) was a godsend to me. My beautiful 3 year old son died next to me in bed at home. And everything was peaceful. I had watched him have a horrific code (30 minutes long and then ECMO) 16 months prior, so I decided I was going to choose a peaceful (and inevitable) death for him. The last part of his life, I didn't want him to struggle or feel pain! And thanks to palliative care (and hospice) it was very minimized. I wasn't stupid, I knew he was going to die. I'm thankful palliative care guided me through that process.

Without those pain meds, my very young heart would have been ripped out even more watching him struggle.

You are not killing anyone! When I started my son in palliative care, I already knew, their was no 'curing' or fixing what he was going to die from. It was about quality of life. And that is way more important than quantity. I was not in control, my son't doctors were not in control, and his nurses were certainly not in control.

[3ringnursing, BSN]

Palliative care (and then hospice care) was a godsend to me. My beautiful 3 year old son died next to me in bed at home. And everything was peaceful. I had watched him have a horrific code (30 minutes long and then ECMO) 16 months prior, so I decided I was going to choose a peaceful (and inevitable) death for him. The last part of his life, I didn't want him to struggle or feel pain! And thanks to palliative care (and hospice) it was very minimized. I wasn't stupid, I knew he was going to die. I'm thankful palliative care guided me through that process.

Without those pain meds, my very young heart would have been ripped out even more watching him struggle.

You are not killing anyone! When I started my son in palliative care, I already knew, their was no 'curing' or fixing what he was going to die from. It was about quality of life. And that is way more important than quantity. I was not in control, my son't doctors were not in control, and his nurses were certainly not in control.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your beautiful son. I'm happy he got to pass at home in your arms feeling comfortable, safe and immensely loved.

That is exactly how I want to go too when my time comes: to die at home surrounded by my loved one's - my husband, son, cats, and any additions we may have to the family.

What a beautiful, loving decision you made for your child.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

This is NOT about you, nor should it be - it should be about providing comfort to a person who is literally dying. Period. Get over yourself and either do what needs to be done for the patient or have yourself replaced with someone who can provide the care that patient deserves.

[JKL33]

Milly,

I've read through this whole thread and just wanted to say that it seems like you are actively processing this issue and thinking it through as you see the replies here. Personally, I respect that.

There's nothing wrong with feeling conflicted about something and taking some time to process it carefully. You seem to have acknowledged that perhaps your concerns have been mis-focused.

Just wanted to encourage you to continue learning/growing/gaining perspective. There is really a ton of helpful information in the replies here.

[Wuzzie]

Milly,

I've read through this whole thread and just wanted to say that it seems like you are actively processing this issue and thinking it through as you see the replies here. Personally, I respect that.

There's nothing wrong with feeling conflicted about something and taking some time to process it carefully. You seem to have acknowledged that perhaps your concerns have been mis-focused.

Just wanted to encourage you to continue learning/growing/gaining perspective. There is really a ton of helpful information in the replies here.

Thank you for this. I've been following this thread and my sense is the OP is processing through a crisis of conscience not making this about herself. She has taken both the positive and the critical comments pretty gracefully. Many, but not all nurses, will face a situation in their career which will cause them to examine their own moral and ethical compass. What better place to share it then with other nurses?

[JKL33]

Thank you for this. I've been following this thread and my sense is the OP is processing through a crisis of conscience not making this about herself. She has taken both the positive and the critical comments pretty gracefully. Many, but not all nurses, will face a situation in their career which will cause them to examine their own moral and ethical compass. What better place to share it then with other nurses?

I could not agree more.

[SouthpawRN]

How do you achieve that mindset? Without being terrified of killing someone?

You realize and understand you are giving them opioid or other medications to relieve their suffering and that you and the patient understand the adverse effect of the medication can be severe respiratory depression. But you are not giving it to depress respiration, you are giving it to relieve pain and suffering. If you believe or state that you are giving it for it's respiratory effects, then your are engaging in assisted suicide etc. That's how it as explained to me from a legal perspective.

If you have it in a non-palliative/hospice patient and did not address respiration less than 12 or 10 or whatever with appropriate nursing interventions, then that would be a whole different topic.

BEING MORTAL is a good read that I think will benefit you. The.video is quite different but you get the idea. The author is a physician. Being Mortal |

FRONTLINE |

PBS

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

I've never heard of a syringe driver ...

Read the thread. You will see pictures of some of them.