Hi my name is....

[Mornique Dicey]

Heyoo my name is Mornique, I just recently packed and moved 2,000 miles exploring TX. 

My hobbies are arcades and karaoke.

 

[Guest Kimberly Griffin4804500565]

 Hi , my name is Kim...i guess I'm a bit late to this topic...and warn ahead of time, this may be a longer reply than the others, but...i love nursing because i like to help people solve problems that other people haven't been able to/unwilling to solve. That puts me at the front of the line for working the behavioral units. I am able to relate with those that life has labeled as "difficult, demanding, combative etc"  and the majority of the time I actually prefer these units due to smaller patient/nurse ratio.
 
Forgive me, but while I have the attention of my colleagues from across the nation...i offer this analogy:

 

As with the rest of our profession, my job includes popping pills and using them as the solution to various problems...it's obviously the easiest less time consuming goto...As everybody already knows, best practice and standard operating procedures dictate that the"magic 💊" be the last result in a long line of attempted non-pharmacological interventions we attempt.

 

"Pain has been defined as the
perceived and unpleasant response to actual or potential tissue damage."

https://journals.lww.com/nursing/Citation/2018/09000/Pain_control_and_nonpharmacologic_interventions.19.aspx

Throwing a pill or capsule at this "problem," has resulted in that prescription opioids are now recognized as a driving force in what
the CDC is calling an opioid overdose
epidemic. 

This journal article catcgorized pain as mild,
moderate, and severe.

 

Mild=Pain is annoying and nagging; it does not typically impact the activities of daily living,

 

Moderate= pain is irritating and can impair the
person's ability to perform activities

 

Severe= pain dominates one's senses, preventing performance of activities of daily living

....

 

It has always bewildered me that no matter what we think whether or not the person is in actual pain, we MUST accept the patient's report of the pain...we have to take their word for it and not question whether or not they are telling us the truth in order to just get the pill ...

 

Take a look back at what was defined as pain...it is the PERCEPTION of the response to actual or POTENTIAL tissue damage. That means in order to decrease and control pain, we need to address the person's PERCEPTION.

 

Perception is defined as 

"the state of being or process of becoming aware of something through the senses."

"the perception of pain" by Oxford languages.

 

Now, everybody has heard those ads on television of prescription medications...they are forced to read the laundry list of side effects of the newfound "solve your problems" pill ...sometimes they are even comical (anal seepage) and often times the list keeps going and going to include death as a side effect.

https://br.ifunny.co/picture/1-291-side-effects-pfizer-released-recently-the-side-effects-yuUx7mEa9?s=cl

 

1291 potential side  effects????? WTF!!!!

 

 

https://m.facebook.com/memes/photos/a.527860673898191/9246299912054180/?type=3&wtsid=rdr_0lTBiqvBa6fE4HRvD

 

With all these potential side effects, doesn't it just make sense to try something else first???
That's where non pharmacological interventions come into play.

Non-pharmacological interventions have the potential to complement pharmacological interventions and may offer alternative treatment options in the management of symptoms, including pain (Bausewein etal., 2009). Some researchers have divided non- pharmacological interventions into five categories (see Table1): (a)cognitive-behavioural, (b)physical, (c) emotional support, (d) helping with activities of daily living and (e) creating a comfortable environment, but point out that a given classification is not exclusive of the others (Po ̈ lkki et al., 2001)

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Caroline-Arbour/publication/258115617_Patients_and_ICU_nurses'_perspectives_of_non-pharmacological_interventions_for_pain_management/links/5b87bff792851c1e123b7ddb/Patients-and-ICU-nurses-perspectives-of-non-pharmacological-interventions-for-pain-management.pdf

https://scholarlyworks.lvhn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1865&context=patient-care-services-nursing

Are you understanding the MAGNITUDE of what is going on? As nurses, it is (legally) permissible to cause the death of someone entrusted in our care (by giving a pill) or at the very least be responsible for causing one or more of the negative side effects listed. No questions asked...doesn't it make more sense that we can cut those risks by 100% by not giving that pill. Simple things such as touching someone can be more effective. 

 

I'm hoping, if you are one of the ones to make to this point, you will reconsider pushing pills. Even if you don't have the time to. Stop what you are doing....listen to what is actually going on...can the pain be relieved by adjusting someone's position? Ask Jack Black who sat on a tack !!!

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41LJ5lYCzEL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg&tbnid=_AD0BOrDwnkhvM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https://www.amazon.com/Man-Sits-Tack-Chair-Original/dp/B09KYJ4CGT&docid=s9chr4JnzLvdpM&w=1000&h=636&hl=en&source=sh/x/im/5

 

I can't think of a dad joke ...but here's one my step dad told to me...

 

On the way to the burial, a coffin falls from the back of the herse. It rolls down the hill and tumbled around the corner until it finally came to rest inside a pharmacy. Right then, the man popps up and asked the pharmacist , "hey Doc....do you have anything to help stop this coffin?(coughing)

 

My name is Kim . Nice to meet you.

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by Kimberly Griffin4804500565
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