I'm a nurse with sickle-cell disease, and I know what having a sickle-cell crisis is like. When I'm in pain, I lie down quietly with my eyes closed, just to take my mind off it. Just because you can't see someone's pain doesn't mean it's not there.
In my last job, I worked at a prison that had some patients with sickle-cell disease. The other nurses thought these people were seeking drugs for reasons other than pain relief until I educated them. I hope that nurses won't be judgmental about medicating patients who are in pain.
-GLORIA AMARTEY, LPN
Garner, N.C.
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