Morphine dose in the hospital and mean nurse!

I was recently admitted into the hospital last week with a hernia and gastritis.  I had abdominal pain and kidney pain.  While running tests they also found out that I had a kidney stone.  My question is the 1st day I was there the doctor wrote 2 to 4mg of morphine every two hours.  The nurse came in originally at noon and gave me a 4mg shot of morphine.  At 3:30pm (3 1/2 hours later) I called back and asked for another shot.  The nurse then lectured me for about ten minutes telling me that I needed to hold off for as long as I could having the morphine shot because it was so strong.  I replied to the nurse that I felt that over three hours was more than adequate time to receive another shot.  I then asked her what the doctor had written and she told me 2 to 4mg every two hours.  I then told her that I had  waited as long as I could to contact her and that if she was declining to give me medication she needed to let me know.  The reason the doctor admitted me was because the tramadol and the vicodin was not relieving the pain (and that was how the hospital order was written the nurse then stated that.)  I told her that if she felt that giving me morphine every three and a half hours was too long (the doctor did not write for anything else like torodol, just morphine) then she needed to try to send me home because the reason why I was there was for pain control and to see the general surgeon.  The nurse even got angrier at that point and made the direct comment that if she was going to be in my room every two hours then she needed to see about getting me a pca pump instead of having to personally come in every couple of hours and give me medication. She then gave me the medication, had me in tears because she made me feel that I was "seeking" medication when I had all those things going on.  She did not however get me a pca monitor, I waited for over four hours (they work in twelve hour shifts) and then got another shot from the night nurse.  By then I was in horrible shape.

My question is that has this ever happened to anyone else?  I have never seen the nurse before, so it wasn't something that she had a bad experience with me before.  I was thinking about at least telling my primary doctor or even reporting her to the hospital.  Basically her comment was that she didn't feel like coming in my room every couple of hours and give me medication.  Isn't that her job?  Or am I confused?  I'm just wondering if I should report this to the hospital.  I'm wondering how many other patients she has guilted because she doesn't like giving narcotic medication out.  

Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

[namnam46]

SunnyKitty,

Thank you for the kind words about Jean. He was remarkable!! And you are right I was there with him all the time. Our Dr. knew what it took to get Jean thru all of these stays at the hospital and he always arranged a private room with a sofa bed so that I could be ther with him at all times. Otherwise, Jean had it in his mind that he wouldn't make it if I wasn't there and his panic made his blood pressure go off the charts and it also greatly affected the amounts of insulin that we had to give to him. He had congestive heart failure and kidney disease from the Diabetes.

I GUARANTEE you that she was punishing you for DARING to intrude upon her time and for having the audacity to ASK her to bring you ANYTHING!!! It is truly unacceptable for you to have gone thru that!!! I'm so glad that you also saw the compassionate side of the Nursing world. The last Nurse that took the time to sit with you and be sure that you were alright is EXACTLY what Nursing is supposed to be about. I know that the Nurses these days are so overworked and understaffed, however after saying that, there is NO REASON IN THIS WORLD for you to have been treated as you were.

I had one other bad experience with an entire group of nurses. I was 20 years old, I'm 63 now, and my Dad had bleeding ulcers and was in the Hospital. He had been to the Dr. that day as he was sick from them and the Dr. sent him home. I was taking care of him when he hemorrhaged and passed out in the bathroom. I called 911 and he was immediately admitted to the hospital. The Dr. told me to stay with him and to get the Nurse if ANYTHING happened!! My Dad started to feel as if he was going to faint (loss of a lot of blood internally) and I called the Nurse, NO ANSWER FROM ANY OF THEM ON THE FLOOR). I went down to find them and they were ALL ON A BREAK AT THE NURSING STATION AND WOULDN'T ANSWER ANY OF THE CALL BUTTONS!!!
I mustered up ALL my courage (I'd always been taught that you NEVER talk rudely to ANY adult) and I told her that she needed to get down there NOW!! That my Dad was going to pass out!!! She waited ANOTHER 5 minutes before coming!!! I went to the PAY PHONE on the floor and CALLED THE DOCTOR!!! He was there in 5 minutes from his office and reprimanded EVERY nurse on that floor. My Dad was rushed to ICU and spen 2 1/2 weeks in ICU and we thought he wouldn't make it for 2 days!!! (We were told NOT to leave the hospital.because they thought that it would be ANYTIME.) It took 13 pts. of blood to save his life, before they could get the hemorrhaging under control.

Those were the only 2 times that I've had to deal with poor nurses ( oh lets face it they were TERRIBLE nurses I just hate to use that word for nurses but there really isn't ANY excuse for that type of behavior).

So you be sure and report what happened to you!!! I'm just glad that you are back home now. Please take care and let us know what happens.....Sherry

[mkseym]

I would tell the hospital...No one Else should have to Deal with Her Treating them Like That!!!  The hospital can only fix the problems they know about.  I would also tell the admitting dr.  I am sure the hospital will be grateful to know about the issue as again if they don't know they can't fix it.  I am so sorry you had to go through that.  

It's funny but just shows you how much this stuff depends on the person...I was in hospital once for pain management for ruptured ovarian cyst and they had me on morphine...I am not sure dosage or how often but I tried to wait forever for another dose because I wanted to go home and not have to take the meds and the nurse lectured me for letting my pain get to far out of control and that I needed to request the meds and take them.  Weird huh!!

Again I would inform the hospital!

[dame_wilbur]

I'm with mkseym, you need to inform the hospital's HR department about the nurse. Do you remember her name, by any chance? If so, don't hesitate to name names. If not, describe her to the best of your ability, and let them know what shift she was working. She needs to be reprimanded for her behavior.

I had a horrible exeprience in the ER once, where they gave me a medication I had listed as an allergy, and then completely disrespected my wishes. Fortuantely, the ER I went to always sends out a survey to let them know how they were doing. I gave them VERY low marks, and then attached a full page typed letter which was very polite, but very firm in tone.

I'm very sorry that you had to sufffer liek you did because of her.

~Dame

[Sarajmt]

That's just awful!  Yes, you should definitely report this.  She's there to help you and follow the doctor's orders.  If she had a problem with the orders, she should have contacted the doctor.  Her behavior was completely uncalled for.

I'd write a letter to the hospital administrator and cc the head of nursing and your doctor.  I'd be as factual and business like as I could and omit nothing.  This just shouldn't happen.

And yes, I've had a Nurse Ratched myself.  I had surgery, hemorrhaged,  back to surgery and then got a severe infection.  Mine acted pretty much the same as yours.  She definitely didn't want to give me my pain meds.  I did just what I told you to do.  I don't know what the hospital did but my doctor said mine wasn't the first but it was the last straw.  He requested that his patients not be under her care.

I am really sorry that this happened to you.  It shouldn't have.  But don't let one bad apple keep you from going into the hospital if you need pain control.  Most of the nurses I've ever had have been wonderful.  And I wrote letters for them as well, telling how wonderful they'd been.  I guess it takes all types.

I sincerely hope this never happens to you again.

Sara

[designgyrl]

Sara, Dame, and Mkseym,

I definitely know her name because she spent the time entering me into the hospital.  I just don't understand how the nurse has the right to be pissed at me (after 3 1/2 hours) of requesting another shot.  The doctor was the one who wrote the order.  She (Alli) started me off at 4mg of morphine at 12pm, and then it was almost 4pm when she came back in with another 4mg and started grilling me about not taking so many shots.  I totally don't understand why she even had the right to talk to me about it.  I'm under the impression that it's the dr. decision to write how often and how much they should administer and as long as I wasn't asking for it before 2 hours she really shouldn't have said anything to me.  That's what I think anyway, except ask me about my pain level.  I don't know what the normal amount of morphine is to give to someone in the hospital but I don't feel I was abusing it by any means.  I think it was very rude of her, at first I felt like she was accusing me of faking (even though I had the CT scan and the scope done to show what was wrong with me) and then when she kind of quieted down when I told her that I had to be admitted into the hospital because I was unable to control my pain at home.  When she made the comment about having to come in every couple of hours to give me a pain shot, I realized that she just didn't want to do her job.  That's how I took it anyway.  But the funny thing is, I noticed she didn't mind giving me my carafate, synthroid, estradial, but it was only the morphine that she made the crude comment.  

I definitely want to write up a note to the supervisor, because no one should be in pain and have to deal with a nurse that is basically refusing to follow the doctor orders.  

Do any of you feel getting a second shot of morphine at 3 1/2 hours after the first dose was too early?  I definitely did not feel that way.  I waited the next day for seven hours to get a shot.  It really was ridiculous.  

Thanks for all the good advice, let me know what you all think!

[Sarajmt]

You were absolutely NOT our of line.  She was.  If the doctor wrote the orders for 2-4mgs every 2 hours, that's exactly what he wanted you to have.  She was just one of the bad ones.  In fact, you had every right to ask for it every 2 hours.  She should have contacted the doctor if she felt there was a problem.

Sara

[dame_wilbur]

I don't think that doses 3 1/2 hours hours apart is excessive at all, especially if your doctor instructed that it be every 2 hours. It's not up to the nurse to decide what your PM protocol should be.

I understand why you waited 7 hours the next day, and I'm very sorry that you had to. It's really too bad, because there's a reason your doctor made your protocol for every two hours. The body has a much harder time healing when it's in pain. That's partly why the painkillers are used. It's not just for comfort, it's actually part of the medicinal treatment.

I'm very glad that you remember the nurse's name. Do please write a civil, but firm, letter to the head nurse, the HR director, your prescribing doc, l and anybody else you can think of. The admin need to know what is happening to their patients.

Good luck,

~Dame

[designgyrl]

Sara and Dame

Thanks for your thoughts!  I just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only person that thought it was weird that she was trying to taper my medication herself.  I'm not a person who gets hospitalized all the time, but had been hospitalized three months ago with kidney stones and she took care of me then.  I remember her balking at the pain medication back then, too.  I have another interesting story to tell you guys too:

The night nurse that I had, she was very nice, but she gave me ALOT of insight on what nurses think in the hospital.  She was my age and we got bonded pretty quickly (she was my nurse two days in a row) and told me basically that nurses think that patients that come in for pain control are all drug seekers. She stated she did not include me in that range.  She mentioned that the floor that I was on (womens health floor for kidney stones, hernia and gastritis) see all women around my age to age 50.  She stated that they see the same patients, that a lot of patients ask for their pain medications to be "pushed" fast into their iv.  She also told me that the nurses think most of the patients don't need to be there, and many of the patients ask for additional medications.  She was telling me how some patients demand additonal pain meds and require the nurse to contact the doctor for additional meds.  I felt strange about the whole hospitalization stay.  On one hand I was appreciative of her insight, but then again I thought of how they must be judging people somewhat, but then again I'm sure they do see everything.  I think my whole hospital stay was strange.  Have anyone of you had strange stuff like this happen.

The hospital that I was admitted in all my doctors, urologist, endocrinologist, primary care physician, obgyn, general surgeon, all work out of.  My pain management doctor does not work out of this hospital; so the problem is I'll continually be hospitalized for my kidney stones, etc... that I tend to have.  I'm at the point where now I don't want to go to that hospital because I can't wait 7 hours for a pain shot because I'm afraid of what the nurses will say.  Maybe next time I should talk to my doctor about a pca pump, I don't know?

[namnam46]

I'm so very sorry that this has happened to you!! Nurse Alli had NO RIGHT to lecture you or decide when or if you should have your meds!! Unless within the time frame of when she took all of your info. and when you needed your 2nd shot she managed to get her MD!!  And I doubt that she was able to pull that off!!  :)

You definitely should tell the hospital immediately and your Dr. as she was basically OVERRIDING his written instructions!! I wish that you had spoken up that day when it happened.

I went thru that same experience with a nurse after my Husband had surgery. He was quite ill and was nauseous and neede a shot for the nausea. He couldn't stand to throw up and so I called the nurses station to ask for the shot. (We were in this Hospital constantly for 10 years before my Husband lost his battle with Diabetes.) The nurse came in so FURIOUS that we had dared to bother her and she took the needle in her hand, not like you normally would, but like you would hold it to JAB it in to something VERY hard and jammed it into his buttocks as HARD AND VIOLENTLY as she could. Itold her right then, that she was NOT to come near my husband again and immediately called their Social Services and Complaint Department and someone came up within 15 minutes. In the meantime my Husband was STILL in tears because it had hurt so much. (These shots for this are so potene that they only give them in the buttocks and they are VERY painful even when given the proper way.) It turned out that the lady in charge of the hospitals Department that handles these matters was an old family friend! It took my husband THREE DAYS before he could sit down it was so sore. One thing you need to understand is that my Husband was the sweetest and gentlest man you would EVER want to know. He would NEVER hurt a fly!! They documented the injury and the Nurse was immediately reprimanded and was put on disciplinary leave as she had numerous complaints against her before. She wound up being FIRED over the incident.

One other thing that you need to take into consideration is SOMETIMES there are nurses and aides and even Dr's  that are hooked on meds and IF they can get meds by keeping patients from takin all of their doses but REPORTING that they DID take them then they can walk away with the extra meds. The reason that I even mentioned that is because we had something like that happen at a DIFFERENT hospital in Tulsa many years ago. You might study your Hospital Bill printout VERY carefully to be sure that it states the exact amount of meds that you received and that it coincides with what you actually received. I truly DON'T mean to be cynical about this BUT this DOES happen more often than you would think.

So please don't let this go unreported!! I would bet that they have had other complaints against this same Nurse. Just as in any walk of life there are "poor" nurses and Dr.'s also and if you don't report them then they will continue to abuse there patients. Not every Nurse had the temperament to be a Nurse. It takes someone extremely empathetic to do this very special job!!

As Sara said above, because we were in the Hospital so frequently we ALWAYS made sure that the Nurses that were ALWAYS so kind an caring got WONDERFUL letters of praise from us. (I wrote MANY of them. :) ) If it was a long hospital stay as so many of ours were, such as this one was, I would always take a big can of Popcorn or something similar up to the Nursing station on the day that my husband, Jean (French spelling for Gene), was to be released. When this had happened he was in for over 3 weeks as he had his leg amputated and had NUMEROUS problems because of the diabetes.

Sorry for the lengthy post but this is something VERY dear to my heart as this nurse hurt the LOVE OF MY LIFE!!!

I hope that your pain is under control now and that this won't EVER happen to you again!!!  Please let us know how it goes....Sherry

[designgyrl]

Sherry,

First let me tell you how sorry I am to hear of your husband passing.  I've never met you but definitely can tell that your bond with him was incredible and it sounds as though you stood by him every minute of the day.  My mom left me when I was twelve and moved back to England (I'm in Kansas) and hadn't seen her in over 20 years.  It was the best thing for me to do was to fly over there and see her on her death bed (literally I flew over on the 14th of September, got to England on the 15th and she died on the 16th) and I was able to say goodbye and glad that I did.  That's the closest I can even imagine to losing someone.

Alli the nurse that was controlling my pain medication also screwed me over on my nausea medicine.  After the "lecture" of not taking pain medication and then her giving it to me I started to get nauseated about 4:30.  I started throwing up and at 4:45 I called the nurses station requesting some nausea medicine (hadn't had any since I was admitted) at 5:10pm I was still throwing up and almost fainted from standing up from continuously vomiting so much.  I called back the nurse at 5:15pm and started yelling that I needed help immediately and another nurse (not Alli) came in and provided nausea medicine and had to clean up two full bags of vomit.  She asked why I hadn't called earlier and I advised her of the situation about the pain medication and then about calling for nausea medication twenty five minutes earlier and the nurse told me it was unacceptable how I was being treated and sat in the room with me for about ten minutes to make sure I wasn't going to pass out.  I don't know that nurses name, but I feel that I was being punished from Alli at 3:30 when I called in for pain medication that she refused to help me at 4:45.  That really bothers me, probably more than the morphine dose.  I feel that she intentionally disregarded my call for assistance after telling her that if she wasn't going to provide me with medication that the doctor had written then I may as well try to go home because the reason why I was admitted was for pain control.  I feel she got very angry with me, I don't just feel it, I know she got angry because that was why she made the comment about coming in every couple of hours and about possibly getting a pca pump.  I know that I do not want her as my nurse again in the future and am hoping that I could refuse her as a nurse if I ever got her again?

[namnam46]

SunnyKitty,

Thank you for the kind words about Jean. He was remarkable!! And you are right I was there with him all the time. Our Dr. knew what it took to get Jean thru all of these stays at the hospital and he always arranged a private room with a sofa bed so that I could be ther with him at all times. Otherwise, Jean had it in his mind that he wouldn't make it if I wasn't there and his panic made his blood pressure go off the charts and it also greatly affected the amounts of insulin that we had to give to him. He had congestive heart failure and kidney disease from the Diabetes.

I GUARANTEE you that she was punishing you for DARING to intrude upon her time and for having the audacity to ASK her to bring you ANYTHING!!! It is truly unacceptable for you to have gone thru that!!! I'm so glad that you also saw the compassionate side of the Nursing world. The last Nurse that took the time to sit with you and be sure that you were alright is EXACTLY what Nursing is supposed to be about. I know that the Nurses these days are so overworked and understaffed, however after saying that, there is NO REASON IN THIS WORLD for you to have been treated as you were.

I had one other bad experience with an entire group of nurses. I was 20 years old, I'm 63 now, and my Dad had bleeding ulcers and was in the Hospital. He had been to the Dr. that day as he was sick from them and the Dr. sent him home. I was taking care of him when he hemorrhaged and passed out in the bathroom. I called 911 and he was immediately admitted to the hospital. The Dr. told me to stay with him and to get the Nurse if ANYTHING happened!! My Dad started to feel as if he was going to faint (loss of a lot of blood internally) and I called the Nurse, NO ANSWER FROM ANY OF THEM ON THE FLOOR). I went down to find them and they were ALL ON A BREAK AT THE NURSING STATION AND WOULDN'T ANSWER ANY OF THE CALL BUTTONS!!!
I mustered up ALL my courage (I'd always been taught that you NEVER talk rudely to ANY adult) and I told her that she needed to get down there NOW!! That my Dad was going to pass out!!! She waited ANOTHER 5 minutes before coming!!! I went to the PAY PHONE on the floor and CALLED THE DOCTOR!!! He was there in 5 minutes from his office and reprimanded EVERY nurse on that floor. My Dad was rushed to ICU and spen 2 1/2 weeks in ICU and we thought he wouldn't make it for 2 days!!! (We were told NOT to leave the hospital.because they thought that it would be ANYTIME.) It took 13 pts. of blood to save his life, before they could get the hemorrhaging under control.

Those were the only 2 times that I've had to deal with poor nurses ( oh lets face it they were TERRIBLE nurses I just hate to use that word for nurses but there really isn't ANY excuse for that type of behavior).

So you be sure and report what happened to you!!! I'm just glad that you are back home now. Please take care and let us know what happens.....Sherry

[Sarajmt]

The examples above just go to show that if you are admitted into the hospital, you really need an advocate.  A relative or friend to fight your battles for you.  When you're  a sick patient,  the last thing you want to do is argue with Nurse Ratched.   But you better be prepared to if  you don't have someone with you.

[namnam46]

Absolutely, Sara!! If you don't NO ONE ELSE WILL!!. You MUST have someone there to help you if possible. If not you better be ready to do it yourself!! They are so busy there that you also need to be sure WHAT MEDS GO INTO YOUR MOUTH!!!

ASK every single time when they bring you your meds and be sure what they are giving you. That is how accidental medical errors can occur!!! I saw somewhere the other day (wish I could remember) about the incredibly high number of medicating errors that occur EVERY DAY in the hospital!!

Just be aware and protect yourself.....Sherry

[designgyrl]

I think I'm definitely going to ask to see a copy of my bill.  In the three days I was there with the illness I only got 3 doses of 4mg morphine which I feel is pretty good considering I could have had it every two hours, but because of how the nurses reacted I was reluctant to ask for any more and instead just suffered in pain.  I will see what my bill says, I'll definitely let everyone know.

[namnam46]

Be sure that you check it closely!! They had the audacity to charge our insurance $8,000.00 for and artificial leg. The actual cost was $800.00. We immediately called and notified the Insurance company as well as the hospital about the charges. They had to re-bill every one because of the error. If we hadn't notified everyone the Insurance would have paid it as stands. They wouldn't have known the difference! They had charged for one of these really fancy prosthetic legs that can do everything. Jean's was just a plain artificial leg that didn't even bend at the ankle. He didn't walk on it much, he almost always was in his wheelchair. He was too weak to stand much. However, that leg made him fool whole when he was out!  :)

That's how we learned to check EVERY little detail. Especially the tests that were run while he was in. Also the different medication that he was given. Our Doctor let us bring a lot of his meds from home and I gave them to him. Our Dr. was very special and had taught me EVERYTHING that there is to know about Diabetes. Jean didn't ever react as most Diabetics do to insulin. The hospital almost killed him once at the start of all this by giving him the standard amount (sliding scale) that is given when your blood sugar level reaches a certain amount. I tried to tell them not to do it and while I was out calling the Doctor they gave it to him and his blood sugar level plummeted to 30 and he almost passed out on them. Then they had to get Orange Juice down him as quickly as we could. After that the nurses had standing instructions to CHECK WITH HIS WIFE before giving ANY insulin and I would tell them how much to give him. Unfortunately you DEFINITELY have to be your own advocates or have a family member to do it for you!!

Keep us posted on what you find out. It might be really interesting. Good Luck....Sherry

[jamlws]

I would also say report her, this wasn't right at all and it is HER DARN JOB to come in your room every 2 hours if that is what the dr said. she really needs a wake up call and needs a kick in the butt to go with it. I would of reported her before I left the hospital. Sorry but this really makes me mad when someone gets treated like this.
Best of luck to you,
Jamie

[Jaybay]

Same kind of thing happened to me a couple times.  The worst was in recovery after an open hysterectomy.  I had already told the doc and anesthesiologist and OR nurses NOT to use morphine.  It just vacuums my brain but doesn't touch pain.  Either fentanyl (I'm on the patch anyway) dilaudid or demorol is fine.  Nurse Rached kept dosing me with morphine in recovery and I knew something wasn't right.  When I asked her what it was, I managed to tell her the problem and boy did she ever get P*SSED!  At ME!  Won't go into the gory details, but her behavior had me in tears and I'm one tough cookie not prone to meltdowns.

My husband witnessed the whole thing and was afraid to say anything for fear Rached would treat me even worse.  When the patient advocate came by the next morning, he told her about it.  Next thing you now, nurse Rached is on disciplinary leave.  Turns out she had worked at that hospital for years and had nothing but complaints.  I also turned her in to the state nurse licensing board.  Sure would like to know if she's still licensed.

If ANY nurse treats you badly for whatever reason, the first thing you do is ask for the Charge Nurse.  If that gets no action, ask for the Director of Nursing and the hospital's patient advocate (usually part of social services).  If you really want to make a Rached shake in her shoes, ask for her nursing license number.  I think most hospitals now have that number printed on nurse IDs so it's not like she'd have to go look it up.  

The sad thing is that if you're alone in the hospital and these things happen, you're sick and hardly in any shape to be your own advocate.  That's why it's so important nowadays to have someone with you to act as both a witness and your advocate.

Definitely write those letters to your state's licensing board, the hospital administration, the director of nursing and the charge nurse of the unit you were on.  Copy your doctors too.  Her behavior won't stop unless the right people know about it.  

The one thing the beotch did right was offer a pca, but I'll bet you anything she wasn't about to call the doctor to get the orders for one.  Be up front with your doc next time you're admitted and just ask for it - it's certainly not unreasonable, particularly for a patient admitted for pain management.

It's so odd.  I know nursing schools have slowly begun to change their attitudes where pain is concerned, meaning that "pain is what the patient says it is. Period."  And pain must be treated.  Period.  A nurse is supposed to be a patient advocate - not a doctor, not a shrink, and certainly not a DEA cop.  

I've gotten the fish-eyed looks after surgeries when nurses look at my daily pain med intake.  "Just WHO is your prescribing doctor?"  Uh... the same one who just wrote the orders in the chart you hold in your hands and just walked out of the room you eejit.  Some nurses think it's their God-given duty to get patients off narcotics no matter what.  Nothing we do is ever going to change them, but we can certainly make their lives as miserable as they make ours if they want to go there. You - need to go there.:-)

[Tuckamore]

What you experienced is totally unacceptable. This nurse does not represent the majority of the men and woman in the caring, hard working and professional field of nursing. I am very sorry that his happened to you. Her bedside manner is nil and unacceptable.

Unfortunately many facilities are short staffed. Even with a full staff the nurses are often over loaded and busy beyond imagination, frequently dealing with life threatening conditions. This does not excuse this nurses rude and uncaring manner. There were many other ways she could have addressed your uncontrolled pain. I just always feel sad when their are uncaring, inept nurses that give the dedicated and caring nursing profession a bad name.

Please report her to the DON (Director of Nursing), Unit Manager and Administrator. Do so by phone and letter. They will take the matter to the board of nursing if warranted. None of us know the trials she may have faced that day or in her personal life. We have no way of knowing if she has been an exceptional nurse prior to this incident and due to the loss of a loved on or other personal tragedy's she responded to you in the unacceptable manner. Again I am not making excuses for her. What happened to you should not happen to anyone.

Please let us know how this the outcome of your complaints. I will look forward to your updates on this situation. I hope your pain is better controlled. And I certainly hope that you never have to encounter this nurse again.

Take Care,
~Tuck
  

[designgyrl]

Thanks everyone for their comments and I'll see what I can do with the nurse at the hospital.

[mum2four]

I would have made an offical complaint about her. I was recently in hospitial for tachycardia and the first cargiologist was very rude to me said I basily fat and lazy and need to get real about what I eat and go watch a concentration camp movie and half what they eat. I made an offical complaint to the hospital and was allowed to stay in one more night to wait for the other cardiologist to come see me the next day. I wanted to just go home and die or starve my self. Glad they kepted me in the next cardologist was very nice and I was diagnoised and that felt great. I was given med's watch for a fue hour and started feeling alot better so I went home and have been feeling better every day since.

The nurses caring for me had smiles on their faces when they heard I was making a complaint. The cardiologist was not just rude to me but to all the nurses as well. He also had a go the cardiologist that was still training for allowing me to be admitted to hospital and stay as an ECG was aparently stuffed up(leads reversed) which was I origenly was admitted because of. The cardiologist that admitted me was also concerned about my tachycardia I had been dealing with.

I say never be affraid to stand up and say some thing or make a complaint nothing can change if you never speak up. People in powerfull postion will continue to treat people bad if you other people dont speak up.

It almost sounds like she stepped over her bondries as a nurse. She had a personal oppinion and was trying to force it on you despite the Dr's advice.

[designgyrl]

I felt that the nurse was trying to act like the doctor.  What did make me happy was that I was first admitted in for abdominal pain and kidney stone.  I totally felt like she was over stepping her boundaries, but I've felt that a lot at this hospital.  It feels like the nurses act like they know more about what is wrong with me than my primary care doctor who I see at least twice a month for a variety of things.  I know that I did tell the nurse the next day what happened, and she told me she was reporting it.  She gave me the dose of morphine, and I told her I was afraid to take it and why.  She wasn't too happy at all with what happened.  Then I had my scope and they found out that I have gastritis and a hernia.  The nurse Alli that I had came in the next day (just to say hello) and I was able to say to her did you see my chart and what's wrong with me.  She said she saw and I made the comment about that was probably why my pain was so high, and she said yes.  She left after that and I didn't have her as my nurse for the last day, but it was good to at least be able to defend myself on my last day.  My primary doctor gave me vicodin to take home, and then decided to admit me because the pain was too unbearable and I have no doubt it was the right place for me to be at.  Definitely.  So, I did get one time to defend myself.  But, I'm going to write a letter and ask to see a copy of my bill to make sure they didn't charge me for anything that I didn't receive.  

It just seems that the nurses get mad when they have to give morphine.  I was given zofran, carafate, protonix, synthroid, estradial, and she didn't say anything about having to come in and personally give me those medications.  It was only when she had to give me the shot of morphine that she got upset.  That defniitely shows they are judging people.  I can't understand because I was on the woman's ward where they deliver babies, etc... and they had a ct scan that said I had a kidney stone, and if anyone knows on this board, kidney stones are about as painful as giving birth (so they say) so I REALLY don't get her being mad at having to give one pain shot in 3 1/2 hours.  

[darzie]

I hope there is an answer for her inability to follow doctors orders but I have so many had so many experiences with nurses like that or much, much worse.
I hope this isn't the reason, but once I heard of a nurse that acted like that and she had an ulterior motive.
This particular nurse either refused to give the medication on time or didn't give it at all, especially to the older patients who didn't even realize pain meds had been ordered for them by their doctor.
Later, when some of their families had started to complain to the doctor for not allowing medication for them, the hospital staff had someone watching her without her being aware.
She was using the medication herself, or pocketing what she could for later at home and leaving her patients to suffer.
Of course she was fired immediately and her RN license were taken away from her, as it should have been, with no possible chance for her to work in any type of position that had anything to do with medicine.
What a dirty rotten shame, but it happens everyday, for either the meanness of it, or simply being to lazy to make more than one trip to your room per day.
If you don't complain, no one will ever be aware of it. If she isn't called on it, she will continue her wonderful bedside manner and probably get ever worse as time passes.
Why did she decide to be a nurse if she had no desire to work with and help her patients?
Once I was in an ICU unit, on a ventilator, and had been in a medically induced sleep for eleven days. I had already coded twice and was not expected to live very much longer, when they woke me up.
I became aware of so much pain, as soon as I was fully awake, that I thought I would surely die from it.
The guy from respiratory assured me as soon as he finished running his adjustments etc. that I would go back to sleep. Didn't happen.
When the nurse finally came in, I told her, as best as I could, that my bladder was killing me. I was crying great big tears, trying not to seem like a baby, but it hurt so much. The minutes seemed like hours and no matter how hard I begged her just to readjust my cathader she would do nothing for me.
She only had two patients. Me, who'd been asleep for days, and an elderly gentleman who slept most all the time, ( I found out later ).
When I saw another nurse pass by my room, I motioned for her to come in. She did and asked me what was wrong. I rubbed my lower abdomen which she first thought I was sick. When she realized it was my bladder, she looked toward my urine bag and said, "Oh my goodness, this bag is nothing but blood. Let me go get your nurse".
I started shaking my head no, oh please don't go get that woman. Once again the tears ran like water, for I knew this was worthless.
The kind nurse came back and said, "honey, your nurse said that someone had probably stepped on the tubeing today and caused some irritation inside your bladder.
Yeap, exactly what she'd told me, exactly what I expected. "My nurse", if you could call her that, didn't even show me the dignity of a visit.
I saw her one more time that day. When meds were due she did at least put something in my feeding tube. Time seemed to stand still. I would see her from time to time through the viewing window for the nurses.
Finally I began to notice a bit more movement, and realized it was probably time to change shifts.
To my surprise, an RN that I had met one night on the floor, before I was sent to ICU came to "MY" window and sat down with the "WICKED ONE".
They began the routine change of info and I could hear nearly every word they were saying.
When it came my turn to be gladly given over, she talked about me like a dog. She said I had complained all day and nothing she did was right.
"I tried everything I could think of, but that womanhad the buzzer going about every ten minutes".
The nurse, whom I'd dubbed, "the singing nurse," because she sang allot while she worked and I'd loved it, said that she had met me on the floor one night when it was slow in ICU and couldn't understand what had happened, because I had been so nice, but that she was sure she could figure it out.
She looked through the window toward me and winked. That was the happiest moment I'd had all day.
She came in, bent right down and gave me a big hug and said lets put our heads together and fix this.
There was so much she told me to help me that night that it was like going to a support group meeting. One thing that stood out in my mind was that she had gone out to gather up our "feel better stuff". She also brought in my pain meds and gave me that immediately.
I was shocked. All that long dy, since 9:00am and it was now 8:30pm or so. All that long day and I had no idea there were pain meds ordered every four hours.
Of course it didn't cure the pain but it did numb it quite a bit and knowing I had a nurse that cared meant so much more.
I was supposed to die and she still didn't care if I said I hurt. Grit them teeth honey and hang on, I guess were her thoughts.
I hope if either of these two ever find themselves at the mercy of a nurse, I hope them a much better one than they were for us.
The very next morning, in came Satan's grandma, but that was the day I got my vent out the first time, and also the second time I coded and had she been with me, helping me adjust, she'd have seen it coming and I might not have actually died. Needless to say, that was the very last time I had her for my nurse, but I would have refused if she'd ever even looked my way.
This lady was probably in her late fifties or early sixties. She didn't have the excuse of inexperience because I'd heard her say she'd been a nurse for many, many years. Its not right. I hope you never have anything like that to go through again, but the good ones always outnumber the bad ones, and that keeps us going.

[KittyKat23_78]

Unfortunately this happens all too often. It's really sad. I was discriminated against when I was in the hospital with my pregnancy the last time. I'll tell you my story:

I was admitted with pre-eclampsia. I had severe edema and swelling of my joints. The nurse who did my "admission" is the one who ended up being the mean one. She asked me the health history questions when she admitted me and included in those were social questions. When asked if I used illicet drugs I admitted to socially smoking pot in the past. She made a big deal out of it and asked me exactly WHEN I smoked last. I should of known then that things were going to be a problem. I answered, "I don't know...sometime last summer, before I got pregnant at a concert? I just told you occasionally and not since I was pregnant!" Anyhow, my OB had me on Percocet for pain while I was there for three weeks. Whenever I had this particular nurse she would always roll her eyes when I asked for my pain meds and suggest a "bath", or make comments when I was on the baby moniter like "your baby isn't moving very much today...it must be drugged up from the narcotics you are on."

I talked to my OB at nauseum about being on meds and she assured me that it was safe and that we needed to keep me comfortable because my BP readings were extremely high and pain was a factor in that. I also became friends with another nurse there...a kind of hippie lady that worked the evening shift. She was really cool and we talked a lot.

Fast forward to the baby being born. I had to have a c-section because they had to take the baby early due to the pre-eclampsia. I was on morphine until it had me deathly ill and they switched me back to Percocet. I had been taking 5mg pre-op and they had me on 10mg post op...which makes sense since I had become somewhat tollerent to it and my pain was more severe from the surgery. Well ofcourse nurse Wratchet is taking care of me, and I ask for my pain meds. I take my pain meds. I call her in...two hours later...in excrutiating pain. I don't know what is going on....but I HURT. Worse then ever in my life. The ***** (pardon my french) orders me a heat pad and says she can't give me anything for 2 more hours. I call her back and am crying and begging for the doctor. I seriously think I'm dying. She then declares that she thinks I'm having a panic attack and calls my OB to ask for an RX for Xanax. I told her I didn't want the Xanax...I wanted to SEE A DOCTOR. Finally I did - I had an ultrasound. A) I found out that she decided to only give me 5mg of Percocet because (2 days after a c-section) she thought it was time I start tapering down on my pain meds and B) the reason I was having so much pain is because there was an air pocket in my abdomen near my pancreas from the surgery.

TO TOP IT OFF - I talk to my hippie nurse friend about it later that night, who "off the record" is the one that tells me that the nurse had cut my pain med dose in half herself, AND that right after my baby was born was telling everyone to "make sure they drug test my baby" because she is sure that I'm a junkie. I. Could. Not. Believe. It. I may be on PM, I may have tatoos, I go to concerts....but I have a good job for a VERY well respected dentist in our community, live in a nice house, my daughter goes to a very nice school, and have a well functioning family life. This ***** (pardon my frech) didn't know me from jack in a hospital gown and needs to go to hell for putting me through what she did!!

I filed an official complaint with the hospital and had a long talk with her manager, who was extremely nice. I had to be very careful about what I said because my nurse friend had told me a lot in confidence, but I mainly told her manager how she made me feel and how I was undermedicated even though my orders from my doctor clearly stated what I was to be given after surgery.

I am SO sorry this was so long, but it really made me feel good to type it out. It really affected me for a long time and I clearly still have feelings about it. People that don't have compassion for others shouldn't be working in the healthcare field. Period. It's bull-crap and makes me very angry to hear stories like this. I'm so sorry this happened to you. :(

[JadedSweetheart]

Thanks for sharing your story, KittyKat.  That is a HUGE fear of mine for when I have my baby and a big motivator in my tapering as low as possible with my medications.  I am also going to have a "medication plan" in effect when I go in for my scheduled C-section to make sure that the nurses are aware that I'm opiate tolerant, NOT a drug addict, that I will need stronger pain relievers than percoset 5 after the C-section, etc.  I have already resigned myself to the fact that I will probably not be able to breastfeed my daughter when she is born and that will be okay.  I know I will need my meds after the baby is born, especially with needing to hold and carry my baby and be able to funtion for her.  
I am hoping that if I can taper off completely when I have the baby, I won't have to get flack from nurses who try to make me feel bad for taking needed medication.  I'm sure they don't harrass the women who have to take insulin and BP meds.  I will also have a good amount of family for support and advocacy.  
I'm glad that you filed and official complaint.  I think most of us have had to deal with "Nurse Rachet" at one point or another.  Just some woman who feels morally superior to the patients she reluctantly "takes care of".  It's important to make sure the administration knows about these people.  They really need to have some sort of sensitivity training for the jerks-in-scrubs.  There are so many great nurses who are kind and compassionate, even when they are having the same stressful day as the mean ones.  I'm sure the mean nurses aren't very nice to work with, either.
PS.  It's not a big deal and I'm glad that you posted, I just wanted to point out that this thread is from May.  It's still relevant, though, as this happens to CP patients all the time and it's good to stick together on these things.

[KittyKat23_78]

May - oops. I just saw it up there and responded. It's been one of those weeks. Full moon and all ya know. :)

I hope I didn't add to your fear. Over the three weeks I was there, I met probably 25 nurses and she was the only one that was like that. There was one other that was a little weird about the meds, but the rest were very compassionate, awesome care-takers. I think you are very smart about your plan and it's great that you have a good support system around you! :)

[JadedSweetheart]

Oh, no.  You didn't add to my fear at all.  I have had my own experiences with nasty nurses and the ones in the L&D have been the worst to me.  I was very young when I had my son, 15 years old, just barely, and the nurse only gave me half the pain medication while I was in a 16 hour labor and made quite a few comments about "You young girls ought to have known better" and "Maybe you'll remember the pain and know not to do this again".  My mother almost came unglued on the woman and I had to calm her down between contractions.   I didn't even notice the nasty nurse's comments because I was so focused on the contractions and having a baby!  My mother did contact the hospital later and they took some sort of action against the nurse.  I was too focused on raising my son after that to care.  
I know they see babies who suffer from withdrawls and I have heard horror stories of deadbeat parents who would not even stay to hold their dying baby.   I know they see things horrible things and they can't always tell the good from the bad.  There are more good ones, but there are also bad ones.
They don't know that I am a good mother who takes pain medication to function because of severe pain.  For all they know I could be an addict who takes pain medication, while pregnant, to get high, with no concern for my baby.  All they have to go on is "Opiate Dependent", or the term for a baby who is going through withdrawls or might go through withdrawls.  Just like when I was young they didn't know that I was for the most part a very good girl who became pregnant one of the first times I had sex.  
It's just the ones that judge before even talking to the patient that annoy me.  I am prepared for it, though, as when I went to the hospital having pain that I thought was a UTI, the nurse who put on the baby monitor was telling me how awful it is to see babies going through withdrawls.  I didn't even bother talking to her about it because I am so used to people not understanding why a woman who is in pain needs to take medication for it when pregnant.  As if the pain goes away when one becomes pregnant or someone should just suffer through it when they have done research and made a decision to take meds based on solid facts.  
Anyway.  I went off on a tangent, there, but I am definetly prepared for the worst and hoping for the best.  I really appreciate you sharing your story, though, as it's really good for us to talk about these experiences to help others to heal from the hurt of mean nurses and to empower ourselves against any others.

[tr1960]

Does anyone know if theirs any legal action that can be taken? the same thing happened to me just last week.Im sicker now than i was before i went inthey found that i have ulcers,high blood pressure(never had highblood pressurebefore)and still in alot of pain,in places that i didnt have before.What the hell happened last week?Did i die and go to HELLand came back? Im very upset and belittled by this whole thing.T.R.

[sophiemr]

I have had two hellish experiences where I was under-medicated by two separate sadistic doctors...truely horrific nightmares

[jbirnel121]

I am a RN on a busy floor. We all have bad days. This nurse sounds a little on the rude side (were not allowed to be "rude" to pts regardless of how we feel about them) But you are your own advocate. An e-mail to the hospital or the customer service lines WILL find it's way to that nurse (I know from experience). Some nurses are afraid to over-medicate their pt's, so in effect they under medicate. It is so hard to gauge how a person will react to pain meds and those of us who have misjudged and been reprimanded (again by experience) that we would rather have you be mad at us then stop breathing. What she SHOULD have done was called the MD and asked for a break thru pain med or just given you the smaller dose more frequently (which is tricky to do on a busy floor without planning). Sorry you had a bad experience, most of us try our hardest to make sure this doesn't happen to people.

[TheMadMan]

Sorry to hear of your horrible experience. Please take the time to focus on what was done here because the nurse will put her words as a defense and the doctor who was not there can only go by what was being said. Definitely report this nurse, first to the charge nurse and then to the hospital director. If you are not getting the cooperation you need, threaten to go to the newspapers. That worked in my hospital and when the article hit the newspapers, all hell broke loose and then they investigated the matter. Don't let this go unreported. You are the patient and this should not happen to any patient. Just make sure you have your facts in order because they will use that against you so be prepared but definitely report this nurse or any staff member who abuses a patient like this.