sweepthefloor
see jane nurse
- Joined
- May 25, 2010
- Posts
- 11,836
It's a great infection control practice. I know there are times when it is just not possible. What if there are more patients on isolation? It's hard to manage and we do a pretty good job with compliance. Some cases are more vulnerable than others-- but it should be standard practice.We have a rule that people taking care of the new post-ops can't also take care of patients with certain infections, so that's good. We have no post-ops right now though. By the end of the month we'll have three with brand new spinal fusions. I always feel bad for those kids - our PT and a few of our nurses have a big issue with not wanting them "addicted" to pain meds, so will start weaning them to plain Tylenol at 3 days post-op. 3 days?!? I had a pretty minor wrist surgery and took Vicodin for a week!
I can't stand it when health care workers decide to manage pain based on addiction fears. It's not right, it's not good practice, and it doesn't make any sense. Everyone knows that unmanaged pain leads to poor recovery. A person in pain will not move. Our PTs will even ask the nurse to medicate for pain prior to working with the patient. We even medicate our sedated and ventilated patients utilizing a pain assessment tool for that population based on: rigidity, guarding, moaning, facial expression, etc.
Grrrrrrr it makes me mad. If you think there is pain-- I am sure you say something.