A sickle cell client who was admitted was placed on a Patient Controlled Analgesic (PCA) pump. The suspected that the client had tampered with the pump and had received more medication than was ordered by the physician. The tampering could lead to an opioid overdose and would have legal ramification for the hospital. Once it was determined that the patient was tampering with the pump, it was removed and sent to engineering for analysis. The client was in need of pain management and oral medications were not strong enough to cover his pain. A replacement pump was placed in the patient’s room and a guard was assigned to make sure the patient did not tamper any further with the machine.
The Joint Commission (2012), recommends that a patient should be made aware of the potential risks of tolerance, addiction, physical dependency, and withdrawal symptoms associated with opioid therapy. This becomes a problem with the sickle cell patients because they are prescribed …show more content…
Some of the safe practice recommendation to avoid pump tampering according to Grissinger (2009), include: (1) When programming a pump, the staff should always block the view of patients and visitors. They should use the scroll-up or scroll-down keys, if available, to prevent patients from counting how many times the keys are pressed. (2) Know when to probe the patient about possible tampering. This should be done when the volume administered does not match the amount left in the cassette. (3) The nurse educators should emphasize ways to minimize the chance that patients or visitors will be able to learn the programming codes. (4) All new pumps should be secure, functioning correctly and reliable. (5) Patients should be screened to assure they are suitable candidates for PCA pumps and they need to be made aware that their behavior is being
The Joint Commission (2012), recommends that a patient should be made aware of the potential risks of tolerance, addiction, physical dependency, and withdrawal symptoms associated with opioid therapy. This becomes a problem with the sickle cell patients because they are prescribed …show more content…
Some of the safe practice recommendation to avoid pump tampering according to Grissinger (2009), include: (1) When programming a pump, the staff should always block the view of patients and visitors. They should use the scroll-up or scroll-down keys, if available, to prevent patients from counting how many times the keys are pressed. (2) Know when to probe the patient about possible tampering. This should be done when the volume administered does not match the amount left in the cassette. (3) The nurse educators should emphasize ways to minimize the chance that patients or visitors will be able to learn the programming codes. (4) All new pumps should be secure, functioning correctly and reliable. (5) Patients should be screened to assure they are suitable candidates for PCA pumps and they need to be made aware that their behavior is being