Comments on: Why Can’t We Just Give Them a Beer?

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 08:52:39 +0000

There are those who abuse the system. Then there are those who fall in between. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to be dismissed by ER nurses as another pill head/alcoholic. I work three jobs and have no health insurance. Working 80-100 hours a week, I assure you I do not have the requisite time to be a drunk– and I’ll never take disability/welfare. I was written off as an addict because I disclosed I was previously prescribed xanax. When I demanded a cardiac workup, they realized I had suffered a heart attack (CPK=5300, elevated Troponin). I understand your contempt towards those who make no effort to better themselves. But please PLEASE know that the decisions you make can kill. I have been repeatedly blown off and finally got a doctor’s attention at the 4th hospital. I turned out to be right; no one knows my body like I do. If you’re going to make that judgment on the patient before you, you better darn sure be right! (S)he could just be poor, or lower middle class, but otherwise respectable.

By: ALLIE

ALLIE — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:07:29 +0000

A lot of these patients also have liver issues, so if we are giving them alcohol what happens to doing no harm? I hate taking care of ETOH pts for the usual reasons, but have to remind myself alcoholism is a disease, not something people are choosing (some days this is very difficult!!, especially after seeing the same people on a monthly basis being admitted for the same issues)

By: intern

intern — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:36:39 +0000

Our neuroicu uses vodka per feeding tube for our pts with heavy drinking history. Much better than CIWA protocol.

By: louise

louise — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:18:34 +0000

There was me thinking nursing was a caring profession. How wrong and got to say GEENA you are a disgrace to your profession.

You never know what life might bring, would you have the same sad attitude if one of them patients was your family.

By: de - rn

de - rn — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:26:42 +0000

We used to have Everclear and beer in our Omnicell but the md’s would never order it so pharmacy got rid of it. Ridiculous. As a charge nurse I had a gentleman with cancer I observed smoking weed. He was in a great deal of pain, it was pallative.. I just told him to not let security (who was also our police chief) see him. He wasn’t hurting anyone, it helped his pain better than any other meds we were giving him, and it improved his appetite. Yes it was illegal, was it immoral – absolutely not, neither is giving an alcoholic a drink to prevent DT

By: Beth

Beth — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:24:02 +0000

I know a couple of nurses who’ve said that it’s normal to have beer and wine in their floor fridges for this very reason. I don’t think it’s the hospital’s responsibility to withhold ETOH from a patient who had no intention of quitting and is there for some other reason. I, too, have to imagine that dispensing cheap beer/wine to keep the DTs at bay is a lot cheaper than keeping them drugged until they’re released from their true admission complaint being resolved.

However, if you have a patient who’s drinking a fifth a day, or more, are a couple of beers going to be enough to keep them from detoxing? (I honestly don’t know, since I’m not a nurse.)

The last time I was in the ER after passing out at the mall, the guy in the room next to me was telling his nurses, loudly, how much he’d had to drink. Four fifths of vodka over the course of the previous three days, with little else consumed in the way of food or beverage. He had no intention of stopping his addiction, as he told the nurse–basically, he said he knew it was bad for him and making him sick, but it was cheaper than other things he might be addicted to and it wasn’t a big deal to him. If he was going to die, he figured that was out of his hands. I’m pretty sure that keeping him drugged up wouldn’t have much of an effect other than wasting the money of whoever’s paying for his treatment.

For the hospital told that they’d need a liquor license (oh PLEASE!! What kind of silliness is that?), would it have been possible, if the doctor prescribed or suggested alcohol, to have family bring it in to get around that regulation?

By: MO

MO — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:43:19 +0000

My pharmacy intership in a county hospital in San Antonio included dispensing generic BEER to the floor for pts to keep from withdrawels. We had cases of white cans with black writing -truly generic no brand beer. I thought this was normal for most hospitals- have not worked in one since school so maybe things have changed. It made perfect economic sense to me.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:18:49 +0000

I’m tired of wasting my time detoxing those who really could care less. CIWA, ativan, pleeeeze! Give them a drink and send them on their way. Stop wasting my valuable time

By: BeccaRN

BeccaRN — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:03:16 +0000

I’m thankful there are those out there with the compassion to see alcoholics along their healthcare journey. I’m not one of them. I understand it’s a disease and most have little control over the grip it has on them, but being hit, slapped, cussed out, and having a long list of things too disgusting to type yelled at me, I’d just as soon someone else take care of them because they challenge my sense of compassion. This is the reason my resume will never go to a rehab center. And like Suzie, I’m irritated by the “vague abdominal pain” pt who my tax tax dollars escort in and out of my unit on a bi-weekly basis, and “could he please have some more prn IV dilaudid because surely you don’t expect the po dilaudid to work…” The “abdominal pain” is so intolerable he needs every diagnostic and opioid available, but has no problem eating the Big Mac his girlfriend brought him and snacking on popcorn and candy while he plays video games and watches DVDs. Medicaid pays for his stay at the Dilaudid Hotel, while meanwhile I’m picking up extra shifts so I can afford the deductible on my dental insurance…

By: Donna

Donna — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:59:37 +0000

We used to be able to order beer, wine or some hard liquor for our patient’s meal trays (with a MD order). These were for people that did not come in to be detox’d. Interestingly, this was also ordered for patients who were going to be hospitalized for more than 4 days and who are used to 1 or 2 glasses of wine every night with dinner for many years.
These folks can also go through withdrawal, even from such a small amount of liquor if they are used to it over significant amount of time.
Anyway, the city we are in told the administration that if we were to continue with the ETOH with meals we would have to get a liquor license!. So now, we are back to chemical detox. A liquor license? where does the insanity end?