Sociological Imagination

In my Intro to Nursing class this week, my professor asked us to find reports of nurses who lost their nursing licenses for various reasons. I searched all over the website she gave us and stumbled upon a few violations that interested me. However, one of them completely caught me off guard. The nurse was stealing the patients pain killers and taking them as her own. She would write on their charts that she had administered the drugs. However, she was using them for her personal use. (http://pr.mo.gov/nursing-publications.asp)

After reading this nurse's account with the law I began think about C. Wright Mills' sociological imagination. Sociological imagination is defined as an awareness of the relationship between and individual and the wider society, both today and in the past. Or, the ability to view society as an outsider might, rather that from the perspective of an insider.(Schaefer)

C. Wright Mills' sociological imagination made me think, "Did the nurse put herself in the patients of the hospitals shoes?" "Did she know how the patients felt when they did not receive their pain medications?"

As we read some of the stories to my professor she told us that many of these accounts have happened many times, and that they usually only get documented once. So, I sat there wondering how many patients this nurse had done this to and how many people on society had she effected?

The nurse obviously did not think of her patients when she stole their Morphine, Demerol, Vicodin, and other prescription pain medications. She not only hurt her patients who had to suffer through their medical problems without any pain medication, but she probably effected everyone around these patients. The patients probably complained to other nurses, doctors, surgeons, and family members about the pain that they were in. These people probably wanted to help the patients, but could do anything about it since the prescribed medication had already been administered to them. These people most likely began to grow worried about their patients or loved ones because they did not seem to be getting any better, and the probably complained more and more everyday about the pain their in.

I cannot help but wonder why this nurse would do this to her patients. Obviously she had some type of dependency on these prescription drugs. But why hurt the people around her to get her much needed fix? If only she took in the perspective of the sociological imagination and put herself in the patients, doctors, nurses, surgeons, and loved ones shoes, she could see how much of an impact she was having on society.