>----- Original Message -----
From: "anonymous" <anonymous@medispecialty.com>
To: "Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS"
<adhesions@mail.medispecialty.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 4:05 PM
Subject: adhesion pain in the ER: a nurse's opinion
> I found this site by accident and have read so many stories of
> "mistreatment" by nurses and doctors in ERs when you come to us in pain.
> I want you to think of it in our terms.
>
> You wander in day and night, most of you walking on your own, in no
> apparent acute distress.
> You register and wait, telling everyone in the busy waiting area that
> you MUST be seen immediately, "because you hurt so badly."
> You take up valuable space in busy trauma and emergency medicine
> departments complaining of terrible pain in your abdomen, and you tell
> us you must get pain meds for the pain.
>
> One a pain assessment scale of 1-10, virtually all of you cite between
> an 8 and a ten. But you aren't perspiring, crying, vomiting, bloated,
> or acting like you are acutely ill.
>
> Many of you refuse to have x-rays, scans and other diagnostic studies
> because you say "all those tests have been done a million times and they
> are always negative" but you demand pain medication!!
> You tell us you have adhesions but adhesions are nothing more than
> layers of scarring that have no nerve endings. How can this cause pain?
>
> I am told "I need 100 mg of Demerol, IM " by someone who refuses to
> allow us to examine them, and when we refuse to give you narcotics you
> become upset.
>
> What do you want from us? If every drug addict walked into my ER and did
> what many of you do, they'd be booted out by Security but for some
> reason, you feel we are treating you unfairly??
>
> Maybe instead of asking for pain medication, you might benefit from
> talking to a therapist who can help you deal with your "pain"?
>
> If we do an MRI or flat plate and see something suspicious., of course
> you'll be treated aggressively, and receive sympathy and medication.
> Otherwise, please understand, we are not a narcotic dispensing
> department for everyone with indigestion or cramps.
>