Sorry! So each of those medications I listed with a q means every. So q2 means every 2 hours. Those medications were as needed or PRN. So she was calling frequently for whatever medication she could have next. I was in there all night even though I had another very critical patient. These drug seeking patients are all the same. They want more and more meds. She had Dilaudid which is an extremely strong IV pain medication. Normally in these drug abusers it barely touches her. She had a sternal incision but it was about 10 days after. Most people are at home taking minimal pain medication. She used it as a reason to get the doctors to keep prescribing meds. Oxycodone is an oral pain medication that is pretty strong and lasts longer than Dilaudid. She was getting oxycontin scheduled. This medication is oxycodone that just lasts 12 hours instead of 4. Ativan is for anxiety or delirium. It is one of the stronger meds we use. A small dose would cause a normal person to become drowsy and sleep. Valium is an anxiety med and muscle relaxer.
So basically she had a ton of medications that each create a buzz or high on there own that she was getting around the clock. In the middle of the night when she was out I went to check her oxygen monitor cause it had slipped off her finger. Basically asleep she whispered Ativan and fell back asleep. It's just that it's never enough for these drug seeking patient. She is half asleep and she is anxious?
A day later she left the floor which is not allowed. Her heart rate was in the 30s which is extremely low. The heart rate should be around 80. This is because the pacemaker of her heart was not working. The pacemaker of the heart is was sends electricity through the heart to initiate it to pump. Because hers was not working we have a small box that we connect the patient to that shocks the heart to 80 beats a minute. We had to implant a wire through a vessel in her neck down to her heart. It then connects externally to the box. There are multiple dials on the box. One controls how often the box shocks the heart. We had it set at 80. Another one controls the amount of electricity. If it is too small amount then it won't trigger a beat so her rate would be 30.
So she left the floor and first tried to rip it out. Rip out a wire tunneled through her neck to her heart. Then she started messing with dials. She could of set her heart rate to 200. Or turned the electricity down and her heart rate could of been 30 which could have caused many other complications.
The point of this story is these drug addicted patients are very difficult to deal with. They are constantly wanting the next high, the next drug. They treat nurses like we are dirt. They are extremely manipulative. They are very demanding and want everything immediately. They are emotionally immature and have a hard time dealing with any situations that arise. This is because they generally medicate with heroin emotionally. They don't have coping mechanisms to deal with difficult situations.
I truly feel bad for these patients. I imagine their lives are very difficult. But after being demeaned, berated, and waiting on them hand and foot for 12 hours, it can really test your patience.