On the wards:
Control of Ms. Green’s pain requires titration to higher doses of IV morphine coordinated through close collaboration and communication between her nursing and medical team.
When her primary nurse enters the room to exam her the morning after admission, her daughter looks upset and jumps up from her chair at the bedside, saying:
Daughter: “I didn’t know she was on morphine? Why are you giving her morphine? I do not want her on morphine. Morphine is for people that are dying and my mother is not dying. She is getting chemo and we’re all praying for a miracle so she can get cured.”
Nurse: “The morphine has been controlling her pain pretty well. What are your concerns about her being on morphine?”
Daughter: “I don’t want her to be a drug addict. And anyway, morphine is for people who are dying.”
Nurse: “I see. We should talk about both those things. Ms. Green, how do you feel about the pain medication? Do you have any concerns?”
Ms. Green: “My pain is so much better, that’s true. But I am worried about getting addicted. And when my brother died last year in the hospice, he was on the morphine.”
Common misconceptions about opioid used