> Dearest "sister" in Nursing:
>
> SHAME ON YOU. When I went through 3 years of Nursing and another 2
> years of specialty training I was taught that pain is a SUBJECTIVE
> symptom but that most everyone who complains of pain has a reason to
> complain.
> Even back then, in the early 70's we were taught to administer pain meds
> in a "timely and appropriate manner, respecting the patient's
> suffering."
> I remember we had exactly 15 minutes grace period after the appointed
> hour that the pain meds were to be given and if the patient waited
> longer than 15 minutes our Director of Nursing was called in and we
> received a thrashing and demerits against our performance!!
>
> Six years ago A "nurse" like you formed her own opinion of my pain and
> complaints of my adhesions. She relayed her feelings to a young surgeon
> in the local ER. She told the surgeon,
> "I feel this woman is simply seeking narcotics. Her vital signs are
> normal and her x-rays are negative."
> After that, not a single nurse or doctor returned to my cubicle to see
> how I was. A cluster of nurses stood within hearing distance of me and
> made rude comments about "bored housewives looking for a shot of
> Morphine to kill the boredom."
>
> I was discharged without further examination or pain meds.
> I ended up in a major medical center 5 days later with gangrene of the
> transcending colon (hidden behind a kink in the bowel)
> I had 10 hours of emergency surgery and spent 31 days in ICU and step
> down units, suffered post op infections and sepsis.
> I lost 21 pounds. I lost $26,000. in wages for missed work.
> I lost 4 months of quality time with my family.
> All because some overtly opinionated nurse felt it was her
> responsibility to look good in front of her peers and cost me 5 precious
> days when I might have been treated aggressively earlier and been fine
> sooner.
>
> Please find another site and post your opinions there. Perhaps you can
> log onto CANCER.COM and tell those patients to stop crowding your ER
> with complaints of weight loss, tarry stools and severe abdominal pain.
> After all, I suspect you'll need them to crap blood all over you first,
> to PROVE they aren't simply taking up valuable space.
>
> Ginny Halpern, RN
> ARD sufferer for 15 yrs.
>
> At Tue, 19 Jun 2001, anonymous wrote:
> >
> >I found this site by accident and have read so many stories of
> >"mistreatment" by nurses and doctors in ERs when you come to us in pain.
> >I want you to think of it in our terms.
> >
> >You wander in day and night, most of you walking on your own, in no
> >apparent acute distress.
> >You register and wait, telling everyone in the busy waiting area that
> >you MUST be seen immediately, "because you hurt so badly."
> >You take up valuable space in busy trauma and emergency medicine
> >departments complaining of terrible pain in your abdomen, and you tell
> >us you must get pain meds for the pain.
> >
> >One a pain assessment scale of 1-10, virtually all of you cite between
> >an 8 and a ten. But you aren't perspiring, crying, vomiting, bloated,
> >or acting like you are acutely ill.
> >
> >Many of you refuse to have x-rays, scans and other diagnostic studies
> >because you say "all those tests have been done a million times and they
> >are always negative" but you demand pain medication!!
> >You tell us you have adhesions but adhesions are nothing more than
> >layers of scarring that have no nerve endings. How can this cause pain?
> >
> >I am told "I need 100 mg of Demerol, IM " by someone who refuses to
> >allow us to examine them, and when we refuse to give you narcotics you
> >become upset.
> >
> >What do you want from us? If every drug addict walked into my ER and did
> >what many of you do, they'd be booted out by Security but for some
> >reason, you feel we are treating you unfairly??
> >
> >Maybe instead of asking for pain medication, you might benefit from
> >talking to a therapist who can help you deal with your "pain"?
> >
> >If we do an MRI or flat plate and see something suspicious., of course
> >you'll be treated aggressively, and receive sympathy and medication.
> >Otherwise, please understand, we are not a narcotic dispensing
> >department for everyone with indigestion or cramps.
>