A hospice patient is taking rather strong narcotics with good pain con

A hospice patient is taking rather strong narcotics with good pain control, but today the patient’s family tells the nurse that the client does not want to become addicted. Which of the following is the best response by the nurse?

a. “But you’re dying, what difference will it make if you become addicted?”
b. “You can try not to take so much so frequently if you are concerned.”
c. “You may develop tolerance but you can’t be addicted when you’re using the medication for pain control.”
d. “You need strong narcotics to control your pain; we want to keep you comfortable.”
e. “We’ll keep you comfortable using some nonnarcotic drugs if that is what you prefer.”

ESSAYBID ANSWER

ANS: C
The key to successful pain control for the terminally ill is to convince patients to take their medications on a regular basis. Many patients, especially the elderly, are afraid of becoming “junkies” or “druggies” and want to delay using pain medication until they “get really bad.” Many people believe that using these medications signals “the end of the line,” and they are amazed to learn that patients do well while receiving this drug for months, even years, before death occurs. Almost every family must learn that addiction is not the same as tolerance and that their physicians will not “cut off their supply if they take too much.”