Word: pains
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...would you please choose a number from one to 10 describing your pain - one being almost no pain and 10 the worst pain imaginable." The ER nurse's voice seemed to trail off as she got to the end of the mandated recitation...
...patient look at a graphic on her clipboard as he answered. The graphic was a 10cm line with numbers like a ruler, as well as upside down smiley faces depicting progressively greater discomfort - the VAS (visual analog pain scale). Patients are supposed to tell our nurses how much pain they feel by pointing to a spot along the line...
...just started a large-bore IV in the other. And while her big fat needle pierced him three or four times before it found blood, this stolid 60-year-old Eastern European block of a man had made not a sound. His face hadn't registered a flicker of pain, his arm stayed still, even his hand remained limp. No reaction to this needle torture promised an unsatisfying go at the VAS. But dutifully she administered. Protocol...
...That meant she was not even supposed to offer him a pain med; the purpose of the VAS is, among other things, to decide "scientifically" when to give pain drugs...
...Thank you doctor" came out as the cast hardened. I gave him his instructions. He did everything perfectly - including taking the pain prescription the way I told him to - every six hours for the first 24. And his arm healed and he went back to work...