Personal Narrative: Medical-Surgical Nursing

I work on a medical-surgical floor (Ortho/Neuro). Medical-surgical nursing involves the care of patients with a wide variety of medical and surgical diagnosis and in some cases, assisting patients through a comfortable death is part of the nursing care. As a new nurse, my dilemma is when I have to provide comfort care by relieving pain to unresponsive, terminally ill patients that usually are on our floor waiting for hospice placement. I get concerned about the possibility of inducing respiratory depression and further deterioration to my patient by administering opioids. Studies show that pain is a highly prevalent symptom among dying hospitalized patients, which remains undertreated and morphine is the most frequently administered analgesic