The Negative Impact of Narcotic Regulations on Long Term Care Patients

Every human has their own personal beliefs and own values which forms over their lifetime by analysis of their own observation. Nursing as a profession symbolizes many values such as honesty, responsibility, providing care to patients equally and with dignity (Gokenbach, 2012). The obligation every nurse has in the society and their patient is to provide the care they are entitled and respect their wishes to the best of their ability. Patients give their trust to their caregiver that they are receiving proper care, safe treatments and correct medications. This author believes that nurses have a moral obligation to be impartial with every patient that they encounter and to provide the same courtesy even with a difficult patient. For instance, when there is a patient who complains of pain at all times and the reports from other nurses states that the patient is a pain medication seeker, this author will not disqualify the patient’s complaints and still provide the proper care and treatments needed and ordered by the physician. But this is a dilemma that can also place a nurse in a difficult situation since nurses are obligated to treat subjective pain complaints but finds this to be unsafe as it may lead to pain addiction. According to

5. Zwakhalen, S., Hof, C., & Hamers, J. (2012). Systematic pain assessment using an observational scale in nursing home residents with dementia: exploring feasibility and applied interventions. Journal Of Clinical Nursing, 21(21/22), 3009-3017. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2012.04313.x

Pain not only involves the physical reaction to damaged tissue, but also involves an emotional and cognitive response by the person experiencing the pain (Backer, 1994). A person's prior experience will influence how pain is managed. Pain is a signal that something is not

First pain is an everyday experiences that is expressed through the use of language and is then legitimized (Waddie, 1996). If a patient as a history of depression or chronic pain they have pain every day and the concept is used to help explain their pain. As nurse we use the concept of pain to find a base line of the pain and to assess new pain. In surgical patients they may have multiple types of pain from the incision, emotional, and history. The concept educates the nurse of the different form that pain can present itself. Pain can also guide how we treat the patient. Emotional pain would not be treated with the “so know pain pills”, but with talking or listening to patient. Concept of pain also address the different form of patient and how the nurse and patient response to it. If a patient is having somatic pain from an incision the nurse could react by applying heat or ice. Pain is what the patient says it is.

“Pain is much more than a physical sensation caused by a specific stimulus. An individual's perception of pain has important affective (emotional), cognitive, behavioral, and sensory components that are shaped by past experience, culture, and situational factors. The nature of the stimulus for pain can be physical, psychological, or a combination of both.” (Potter, Perry, Stockert, Hall, & Peterson, 2014 p. 141) As stated by Potter et al, the different natures of pain are dealt with differently depending on many factors. Knowing this, treating pain can be very difficult as there is no single or clear cut way of measuring it; “Even though the assessment and treatment of pain is a universally important health care issue,

To most people, pain is a nuisance, but to others pain controls their life. The feeling discomforts us in ways that can sometimes seem almost imaginable. These feelings can lead to many different side effects if not dealt with or diagnosed. These effects can include depression, anxiety, and incredible amount of stress. The truth about pain is that it is vital to our existence. Without the nervous system responding to pain, we would have no idea if we were touching a hot stove, being stuck by a porcupine’s needles, or something else that could leave a lasting effect upon our bodies without us even knowing anything about it.

According to Burchum and Rosenthal (2016), “The nurse is obligated to administer opioids with discretion in an effort to minimize abuse” (p. 275-276). This can be difficult if the nurse does not use objective data and instead uses past experiences or their own judgement of the pain the patient is experiencing.

Unfortunately, many clinicians and older adults wrongfully assume that pain should be expected in aging, which leads to less aggressive treatment. Older adults have additional fears about becoming dependent, undergoing invasive procedures, taking pain medications, and having a financial burden. The most common pain-producing conditions for aging adults include

According to Ruoff, (2002); Brown, Kirkpatrick, Swanson & McKenzie, (2011), “Between 80% and 85% of the elderly living in nursing homes suffer from chronic pain disorders” ( As cited in Lombard, et al., 2015, p.1140). OM is a part of this percentage of elderly that has been living in pain for over ten years. In the first section of this paper, this author will be questioning OM about his perception of pain, and in the second part of this paper, personal reflections about the answers received will be given. This author will also do a detailed assessment of OM living condition and educate him on how to prevent fall by keeping his environment safe.

This essay will discuss the professional, legal and ethical implications of a nurse’s role when administering medication. To the extent of establishing a formal therapeutic relationship between nurses and service users, by preserving and promoting safety to the general public considering their physical, mental and to some extent spiritual approach of each individual preference choices of accepting or declining treatment.

Pain is the last vital sign but it important because it reveals a lot about a person’s health. It not only affects a person’s physical health but their mental health as well. Things like mood, activity, sleep, hygiene, appetite, and the ability to focus and concentrate. Experiencing pain varies between everyone because what may be excruciating to someone may seem moderate to the other. Doctors may ask questions like Where is the pain? What kind of pain is it: sharp, dull, aching, throbbing, shooting burning, etc.? When did it start? What makes it worse? What helps ease it?, and How does it affect your life?

20 out of 48 nurses described their frustration and distress they experience while managing unrelieved pain. These nurses related their moral distress to being powerless that build and continue over time. The barriers noted was difficulty communicating with or obtaining the necessary orders from the physician, nurse/physician hierarchy issues, and lack of pain management education. The study suggested that nurses who had pain management education suffer the most distress as they knew what could potentially help the patients, yet felt powerless to act on what they knew. In addition, doctor with out specialize pain education were more hesitant to order the amount of medication needed due to the myths and biases that the patient may be drug

Uncontrolled pain can have a major impact on a patient’s quality of life and the ability to obtain successful operative outcome. (Crisp et. al 2012) The importance of pain management in postoperative care is emphasised in this essay, to provide the understanding that effective postoperative care includes providing the patients with maximum comfort, satisfaction and encourage the healing process for early discharge from hospital. Inadequate pain control in postoperative care can also enable the patient to feel hopelessness, develop depression and other effects that can lead to detrimental consequences. (Human Rights Watch 2009) Therefore, the effects of uncontrolled pain is also discussed in this essay, to highlight the significance of appropriate

The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage” (1979). Pain is actually the culprit behind warranting a visit to a physician office for many people (Besson, 1999). Notoriously unpleasant, pain could also pose a threat as both a psychological and economic burden (Phillips, 2006). Sometimes pain does happen without any damage of tissue or any likely diseased state. The reasons for such pain are poorly understood and the term used to describe such type of pain is “psychogenic pain”. Also, the loss of productivity and daily activity due to pain is also significant. Pain engulfs a trillion dollars of GDP for lost work time and disability payments (Melnikova, 2010). Untreated pain not only impacts a person suffering from pain but also impacts their whole family. A person’s quality of life is negatively impacted by pain and it diminishes their ability to concentrate, work, exercise, socialize, perform daily routines, and sleep. All of these negative impacts ultimately lead to much more severe behavioral effects such as depression, aggression, mood alterations, isolation, and loss of self-esteem, which pose a great threat to human society.

Pain is a basic mechanism in life that helps the body identify that something is wrong or dangerous. Without pain, the body would be severely damaged without realizing it. Pain can become an inconvenience when it spirals out of control; chronic pain, for example, leaves many miserable and unable to enjoy life to its fullest extent even with traditional medical intervention. Around 80% of people report chronic pain in their lifetime (Holtzman & Beggs, 2013). People afflicted by chronic back pain turn to modern medicine for relief, but even these alternatives are not always 100% effective.