Thursday, September 27, 2012

Guilt

Dr. Grumpy: "Have you tried any pain medications for this?"

Ms. Nurse: "Well... Yeah..."

Dr. Grumpy: "What's wrong?"

Ms. Nurse: "I'm really scared to talk about it... I took something that a friend gave me. I don't have my own prescription, so I'm worried about losing my nursing license if people find out."

Dr. Grumpy: "Well, I'm not looking to get you in trouble, and to help you I need to know what you've already tried."

Ms. Nurse: "It was" (looks down) "Ibuprofen."

(pause)

Dr. Grumpy: "Did you say Ibuprofen?"

Ms. Nurse: "Yes. Oh, God, please don't report me. I know it was wrong."

Dr. Grumpy: "Um, it's over-the-counter."

Ms. Nurse: "You don't understand! This was the prescription-only 800mg! It wasn't even my prescription! I'm sorry, I can't believe I did something like that. I'm really not that kind of person!"

Dr. Grumpy: "I wouldn't worry about it."

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you tel her that next time she *could* take two 400mg over-the-counter pills for the same dose?

It's kind of scary that a nurse doesn't know this...

arzt4empfaenger said...

Aww, how sweet! :-) no, really, if all patients were like that, we wouldn't have so many problems.

Anonymous said...

Only your liver knows for sure.....;)

murgatr
Pharm.Tech. RDC '06

Anonymous said...

Ahahahah... poor thing.

Anonymous said...

Hahaha

Officer Cynical said...

I hope you know you're just facilitating all the Ibuprofen traffickers that are destroying our country.

Amanda said...

Oh the poor dear. She should probably also have something for anxiety. :(

Life in vet school said...

Oh, god. I feel bad for her, but I also would NOT want a nurse who couldn't think through that situation herself taking care of me!!!

Alex Dreamz said...

Wow. Just. Wow.

Packer said...

It wasn't the medication, it was the violation of the prescription. She knew the medication was not in issue, it was the idea that a prescription carries a legal consequence for misuse. And Dr. Diogenes I think you have finally found what you have been looking for , a morally upright person. I have a RX for when I over do stuff and the arthritis kicks back, gave some to wife, worked so good she got her own RX, now I take hers when I run low.

bobbie said...

More than a little scary ~~~ I sure as heck wouldn't want to work with her!

brent said...

If only all of our patients were that honest.

Li'l Azathoth said...

"Oh, good, because if I lose my nursing license, I'll have to go back to standing on a street corner slinging loperamide."

Anonymous said...

A friend's teenage daughter was sent to alternative school for possesion of prescrition ibuprofen. Gotta love zero tolerance.

Anonymous said...

Must be Catholic...

HD M0 1B said...

Health Professionals Recovery Program, in most states, is nothing to take lightly. I've heard horror stories from colleagues concerning seemingly mild transgressions that resulted in long contracts for monitoring. Smart nurse, imo.

Anonymous said...

Okay, dearie. Was it really the ibuprofen that was the problem, or your friend's lifeless body left discovered near a jug of Maalox?

Steeny Lou said...

For whatever it's worth, I traditionally refer to ibuprofen as "I-be-hurtin".

Anonymous said...

I think the psychological placebo effect of a "prescription strength" anything is worth something. If they made a prescription-only imodium that was just double dose loperamide and gave it a cool name like Cementicolon, people would be begging for it.
-DME
medexaminer.wordpress.com

RSDS said...

About 8 years ago I had a prescription for Ibuprofen oral suspension 100mg/5ml (I am unable to swallow pills), to treat pain in my foot and neck. The dosing instruction were to "Take 4-6 teaspoonfuls by mouth three times daily".

One of the advantages of liquid meds, is that the dosage is more readily adjusted for the individual's needs, than is possible with solid pills.

The Ibuprofen did absolutely nothing towards reducing the pains in my foot or neck. What it did do, though, was give me rebound headaches.

Anonymous said...

Well....as long as she knows that the use of Ibuprophen can lead to other drug use and abuse...
Hope I never have her for a nurse! Kind of feel a little sorry for her though. Sheesh!

Crazy RxMan said...

One of my patients that's a nurse could turn her to the dark side in no time flat...

I'm pretty sure this patient is not only taking her Soma, Oxycontin, and Percocet... but her husband's as well.

SillyMoose said...

Oh no...NOT....800 MILLIGRAMS?!?! :O

Ms. Donna said...

Poor thing. I am sure she thought of the two 400 mg pills, but the 800 mg Rx pills were ... available.

This does not surprise me. My Mom, the former RN, has great respect for things the doctor Rx's. Over-the-counter, not so much. Even when I point out to her that the OTC pills are exactly the same or can be made to be the same strength as the Rx, she scoffs.

I hope you have been able to get her out of pain.

Cal said...

The other day I did have to explain in detail to the pharmacy tech why I was not needing the 1g acetominophen prescription the doctor wrote, since I had a large container of 500mg pills at home.

GB, RN said...

Sounds like a new grad. They can be so cute.

OMDG said...

What LIVS said.

Anonymous said...

Definitely report her to your state's Board of Nursing. She's too dumb to be a nurse.

Anonymous said...

Packer's comments is the best one. All prescription bottles carry a statement about being only for the patient whose name is printed in the label, whether it is alprazolam, ibuprofen or misoprostol. Thus, she DID do something wrong. Had she taken the OTC version, but at the 800 mg dose, she would violate the warning label on the OTC bottle, just like OTC omeprazole is clearly labeled for short term use, although we all know patients who have been on it via RX for YEARS without re-assesment.

 
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