The Night of the Whiners

What I Notice on My Home Floor, the

Young male patients are whiners. Surgical Telemetry Floor

1. The male patients there under age 65 call for the nurse more often than any other patients.
2. They ask for pain meds more often.
3. Their pain seems harder to control.
4. They complain more.

In short, young male patients are whiners. OK, may be not all of them but I notice this a lot on my floor. In the contrary, older male patients are more of the stoic kind. Sometimes, I tell these older patients, "Well, I'm not giving you any award for not taking any pain medication, you know, even if you need the medication."

Anyway, going back to the whiners. Guess what kind of patients I had last night when I floated to the ortho floor? Six male patients from ages 15 to 55 right off the bat, that's what! Each of them called, complained, and whined about everything and anything. I got called every half hour or so for pain meds, anti-nausea meds, this and that, even though I said to each of them I'd come back around in such a time to reassess them.

What happened to every-2-hour rounding? Well, last night was more like every half to one hour, which is a lot for a night shift.

Actually, I should not complain too much. I had a smooth night. My patients were all stable. Some of them just needed a little TLC and adjustments to their pain meds, that's all. Finally, at around 4 am, they all settled down and did not call for me as much. Even my patient on PCA dilaudid, methadone, and valium finally got comfortable. I gave him what he asked for on top of his PCA. I gave him his scheduled Methadone, and two doses of Valium prn. "Why did you do that? He is abusing the system . . ," an oncoming nurse asked. Well, I did that because he asked and I think he needs them. He was in pain, he was anxious, and restless . . .

I don't have a problem giving drugs to patients who, in my judgement, needs them. So what if Methadone 20 mg BID is such a big dose to anyone. If that's what he takes before admission and there's a doctor's order, that's what I give. He is not an abuser to the system. He is a victim of an accident at work, and suffered a crushed foot as a result. That has to be painful. If he drinks beer daily and is now displaying some alcohol withdrawal symptoms, should I just ignore it? Hell no. If I can serve beer, I may just do that, but since I can't and it's not available, I administer valium instead. With everything I gave him, he remained awake half of the night, and he woke up with every hint of my presence in the room. No, he wasn't snowed at all.

"My whiners," I called all of my six patients in the beginning until the end of my shift. Then, they all thanked me. Now, that is rare. I ended up loving my five men. Sometimes, I am lucky enough to hear from one grateful patient on a given shift. Hearing how greatful they were made up for all the whines I heard that night.

This morning, I left work with a smile on my face. I still love my job. Don't you love yours?