Nurses Frustrated by Pain Management Perception

“Good. Refusing that is insane. [re: After two medical situations requiring pain medications my viewpoint and practice as a clinician changed. What are your first hand experiences taking them or anything you want to share in regards to administration of them.]”

“Pain management should focus on function, not just a number. Expecting everyone to leave at zero pain was unrealistic. [re: How much, in your opinion, did the push for "patient satisfaction" contribute to the opioid epidemic?]”

“Pain is horrible. No one should sit in pain. But howwww can you not ever remember “the only medicine that works for me”? Why is it always “it starts with a D?” Maam, if I was in so much pain and finally found relief from ONE med after MANY tries, I’d be writing that shit down EVERYWHERE. How can you forget your only solution!? I have ZERO issues giving it to you. But help me help you!!! I’m gonna start asking if it’s Dilantin! submitted by /u/GeekyRN [link] [comments]”

“A lot of the replies has me worried. It feels like many are taking their own aspect of nursing and over generalising it, ignoring how complex pain relief is.”

“Respect is much appreciated. Its understood that the patient is having one of the most difficult times of their lives, and might be stressed almost beyond words, but when it IS possible, basic courtesy is appreciated. Am I hearing that right ? If basic respect happens, then the next piece is that scheduled meds will be given on schedule and their meds that aren't scheduled will need to be requested. Yes ? And that, if the patient knows they'll need their prn pain meds in advance because”

“That’s why when you first meet the patient you discuss their recent experience with pain and pain relief and find out how they feel about being woken up for a pain assessment. You should be assessing pain during rounds on your patients. If the patient asks to be woken up for pain assessments that’s not unreasonable or drug addict behavior. If you think that’s “difficult” it sounds like you have a time management or skill issue. 🤷‍♂️”

“When we have had patients whose pain we are struggling to manage and they are struggling with timings I write stuff down for them. In the past I have had nurses say I've made their lives harder doing this. I said a patient with uncontrolled pain is 100 times harder to manage and its our fucking jobs to help them. Now I train and manage nurses, pain control is something I get a bee in my bonnet about.”

“I’m a CNA in a hospital and I’ve noticed a lot of nurses labeling patients as “med seeking” in a bad way when talking about patients who know their pain med schedule. It definitely depends on the patient. I understand some ask for more meds than prescribed, or maybe have a history of seeking. However, i feel like if a patient is in pain, and know their scheduled meds, isn’t that valid? It’s prescribed that way for a reason. I know I’m a CNA and don’t know their in depth history but I’ve heard nu”

“You’re not gonna heal someone’s addiction in the span of a short hospital stay. Don’t be the pain police. Advocate for your patient. Don’t deny them pain meds because you’re on some morality trip.”

“This applies more so with patient asking for opiates for chronic pain (frequent flyer for recurrent abdominal pain usually). I usually can get past the first hurdle: Patient: i want dilaudid Me no, your condition does not warrant opiates and in fact can get worse with opiates. You can try XYZ instead A few hrs later nursing will call me saying pt tried XYZ and still in 10/10 pain and asking for dilaudid. Sometimes patients will even say "I'm allergic or have a bad reaction to XYZ so I c”

“Isn’t taking her off everything more of a “Jesus will take her when he’s ready” moment than us sustaining her in pain? I’ll never understand the “religious logic”some patients throw at us…”

submitted by /u/H_G_Bells [link] [comments]

Level 30 pain 🫩 submitted by /u/rowdymacaroons [link] [comments]

“Hospice: do not tell me not to give your loved one any medication for their pain, agitation or terminal restlessness because you don’t want them “knocked out” because you need them to be alert so they can talk to you. You had your whole life to talk to them! How dare you make your loved one suffer cause you want them to talk to you. FFS.”

“We used to have open drawers of tylenol and things like that. Figured it was work that provided the headache and they could also supply the relief. I didn't mind helping myself to that. If it were locked up or under someone's name, no, then I think it might be considered theft and the company could pursue it if they really wanted to. Definitely never under someone's name, oh no. Waste it, return or ?”

“Honestly that's all there is to it. I can't sleep until I'm almost about to pass out. I am so scared of sleeping because even though I am always in extreme pain, even while laying down it's extremely uncomfortable and the only moment I'm away from my phone or not awake and distracted from my pain is when I try to fall asleep.I'm completely in tune with how painful everything is and I try to delay sleeping as much as possible. I have the worst sleeping schedule, I go to sl”

“You are an angel for looping in palliative care early! I understand things happen on the floor, but waiting over an hour for pain meds when you're already in the hospital for a painful condition, then be expected to wait another 30-40 mins for an oral med to kick in over 5-10 mins with an IV med is ridiculous.”

“Hey all, I am going to be transitioning into pain management working with those who have chronic pain. Felt like I didn't get to touch the information too much during my previous roles. What are some of your best resources to review before starting the job? submitted by /u/No-Reception6808 [link] [comments]”

“Explain? They are obviously not concerned about vitals. They're taken once to twice a week. For me anyway, I can't say for any other patients. And I didn't ask for multiple narcotics at the same time. I asked for T half an hour before D would be available. By the time the nurse got to me, D was available. So she asked which I wanted. I chose D, as I really don't think the T is doing anything but I'm desperate and I'd take a placebo effect. All I did was ask when I COULD h”

“So, I do have chronic pain, but I would rate it 2/10 most days, which is very low? But like my pain is from subluxations and most people would rate that way higher, so I’m then I‘m confused since I think I might be rating it wrong, but I cry from the pain when I do blood draws? Like how does that add up? submitted by /u/mochimatchayum [link] [comments]”

“WOW! I gave 8 mg IV Dilaudid once and that's the most I've ever given at one time or heard of being given. Pretty much the same thing, except trauma pt but also had chronic pain prior to the traumatic injuries. He was sitting up in bed, picking at his lunch tray and talking to me about how he was trying to find something good on tv to take his mind off things...”

“So the pain wouldn’t have gotten any worse if I’d taken a chainsaw to your leg? Every single nerve in your body was activated 100% of the time? I wish people understood that they don’t need to rate their pain a 10 to get meds. You ask for meds, I’ll give them to you, I don’t care about the number, that’s arbitrary. Nobody has to “convince” me they’re “bad enough” to get the things that are ordered, they just have to tell me they want them.”

“Just wanted to challenge what you’re saying from lived experience - it is a myth that someone in 10/10 pain cannot sleep! I was in 10/10 pain and I have an extremely high pain tolerance so I truly don’t take it lightly. I mean pain that felt like I was being stabbed repeatedly. I was in and out of sleep at times. I slept badly don’t get me wrong but if I had the option to be on round the clock pain meds I would have absolutely been on top of it. Sure I could sleep for a few hours at a time (bein”