One idea leads to another. I believe that nurses suffer "burnout" not from long shifts, or bad managers, or the burden of bureaucracy, but rather from being a recipient of "second-hand" pain. That is, being a partner with the endless suffering of humanity. This is what wears you down, in the long run. Post-traumatic stress............................
What the poem addresses, is a concept that people in severe, life-threatening pain, who require hellatious doses of narcotics, deserve to recieve those drugs. The idea that, "he might get addicted" should never even be considered. It is our moral and ethical duty to relieve suffering.


Unendurable Pain

I have an important question
To lay at the feet of my brother,
Where do we draw the line on suffering
That we inflict upon another.

Do we superimpose our own values
When the pain is not ours to endure,
Do we propagate horrible treatments
When there is slim hope for a cure.

Is unendurable pain
Treated with compassion and kindness,
Or do we succumb to narcotic hysteria
In our tunnel vision blindness.

These are questions that demand our attention
Beyond the simplicity of denying,
We must comfort our brothers and sisters
To ease the course of their dying.

Fibril-late; 2/94