To legalize or not?: The Marijuana Dilemma

To legalize or not?
To legalize or not?

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

To legalize or not?: The Marijuana Dilemma

The debate for and against the legalization of marijuana remains highly contested and may be around in the long run. The federal government, for instance, champions the view that seeks to criminalize marijuana as the basis for increased criminal offenses (Bakalar et al. 1995). On the contrary, the proponents of marijuana usage allege that the positive effects outweigh the negatives.

Thus far, the two extremes have been so passionate in supporting their perspectives with concrete arguments.  Despite the heated debate surrounding marijuana, it is only fair to support the school of thought that seeks to decriminalize the use of marijuana for health reasons. In this paper, I will support the argument that marijuana should be made legal on medical grounds.                                                                                                                                            

By August 1999, states such as Alaska, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington have passed statutes to decriminalize marijuana use for medical reasons. This has seen more than 20 states pass laws that legitimize marijuana usage for medical therapy. Terminally ill patients have benefited widely from these passages. Nonetheless, many people in states that stand opposed to the marijuana use have been dying in their numbers. Ironically, does it, therefore, mean that states in which marijuana has been made legal are mindful of people’s welfare than those that criminalize the substance?

To legalize or not?: The Marijuana Dilemma

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

One of the leading factors, why marijuana should be legalized, is due to endorsement by medical experts. In a previous survey conducted by American Society of Clinical Oncology, for instance, 1,035 members provided extraordinary views. About a half of the physicians indicated that they would prescribe marijuana only if it were legalized while 40% reported that they have already prescribed to patients.

If doctors are prescribing marijuana, then it is evident that it is effective when it comes to treatment of certain illnesses. Furthermore, the majority of physicians believe that marijuana is an appropriate anti-emetic. This is of great importance due to severe dehydration associated with emesis or commonly known as vomiting. Medical experts are permitted to recommend narcotics as pain relievers like ephedrine widely known to lead to death in the case of an overdose; nonetheless, they are not allowed to prescribe marijuana even it has not proved to cause death (Kassirer, 1997).                                                                      

Scientists have demonstrated that marijuana is effective in treating terminally ill patients as a result of its active ingredient or THC chemical. Cancer Patients have learned that marijuana is considerably effective in reducing adverse effects of chemotherapy. Again, multiple sclerosis that is associated with painful muscle spasms, and vertigo that make life unbearable.

Some patients allege that marijuana is effective in reducing this pain (Gorodetzky, 1997). Although, there are medications for relieving multiple sclerosis pain, the majority prefer marijuana to reduce their suffering. This is because such medications lead to severe adverse effects, which are not evident with marijuana. 

While science has provided a way of making synthetic THC, promoted as Marinol, it’s very costly and seems to lead to significant levels of anxiety and depression (Kassirer, 1997). Other adverse effects of synthetic THC include severe dizziness and unstable gait. Much as these negative effects can be challenging to handle, doctors should prescribe a pill for relieving such effects.                                                                                                                                                                                         The application of marijuana for medical reasons is a highly debated topic fueled by divergent opinions. These different views stem from the controversy concerning the utilization of an illegal drug for medical reasons. While many people oppose the medical use of marijuana, the other side of the divide has strong proponents who support the use of marijuana for curing chronic diseases. 

For hundreds of years, marijuana has been used to ease the pain. With this in mind, modern doctors and scientist think that those opposed to the use of marijuana, are either ignorant or blatantly overlooking the value it presents to the medical world.  People suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, and AIDS acknowledge the fact that marijuana drug offers them the much-needed therapy (Gorodetzky, 1997).

References

Bakalar, James B., M.D., Grinspoon, Lester, M.D (1995). “Marijuana as Medicine: A Plea for Reconsideration”, Journal of the American Medical Association, 21 June: Vol.273 No 23

Gorodetzky, Charles (1997). “Marijuana”, Grolier Interactive Encyclopedia, CD-ROM, Gwynne, Peter, “Medical Marijuana Debate Moving Toward Closure”, The Scientist, 31 Mar. 1997: Vol.11 No 7

Kassirer, Jerome P., M.D. (1997). “Federal Foolishness and Marijuana”, the New England Journal of Medicine, 30 Jan. 1997: Vol.336 No 5

To legalize or not?: The Marijuana Dilemma

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Medical Malpractice – Wrong Medication

Medical Malpractice – Wrong Medication
Medical Malpractice – Wrong Medication

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Medical Malpractice – Wrong Medication

Introduction

Medical malpractice in nursing constitute professional negligence which maybe as a result of an act or omission intended, or unintended by a nurse or a care giver where the treatment received falls below the required or accepted standard of nursing practice in medical community and which may result in death or injury to the patient. The most common medical malpractice in nursing is medication errors.

                Approximately 1.3 million patients are injured in the US every year as a result of wrong medication (Conrad & Marks, 2016). Medical Error occurs when preventable events that cause or may lead to wrong or inappropriate medication in the control of a patient’s medical condition.

Medication errors make it mandatory for nurses to follow a defined pattern of administering drugs to patients. Following several incidences of nurses administering wrong medication some hospitals allow nurses to administer certain medical procedures and treatment under the supervision of doctors only (Caron, 2011).

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

             The scrutiny of academic qualification documents  and other professional qualification that are required for nursing practice in the US take a longer period to ensure thorough scrutiny of nurses papers and their backgrounds including the institution of training number of years and the experience gained  and the hospitals worked in.

                        The high rate of medication errors has made it very difficult for nurses to serve patients on their own except under supervision in large hospitals.

References

Conrad, M. S. & Marks, J.W. (ed) (2016) The Most Common Medication Errors retried March 21, 2016 from http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=55234

The website source from Conrad and Marks (2016) outlines the most common medication errors that are prevalent in the medical spheres. The website defines a wide range of medical malpractices some that originate from the drugs manufacturing companies while others from negligent medical practitioners and care givers including nurses. The source also provides preventive measures that can be applied to reduce medication errors.

Caron, C. (2011) Nurse Gives Patient Paralytic Instead of Antacid, abc news, retrieved March 21, 2016 from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/nurse-patient-paralytic-antacid/story?id=14997244

The article provides the details of medical malpractice concerning a nurse who mistakenly administered a drug to a patient who later died as a result of the drugs complications from and which later turned out to be that are related to other conditions that 

Croke et al (2003) Nurses, Negligence and Malpractice, Uppincott Nursing Center eNews, American Journal of Nursing, AJN, September, Volume: 103, Number (Page 54 -57) retrieved March 21, 2016 from http://www.nursingcenter.com/journalarticle?article_id=423284

The article that first appeared on the American Journal of Nursing details and tracks malpractice in Healthcare Organizations. The article defines malpractice as unethical or improper conduct or unexplained lack of skill among professionals which border on negligence or gross incompetency. The article outlines the different kinds of malpractices that nurses experiences in the normal cause of duty.

Aiken, L.H., Clarke, S.P.,  Sloane, D.M.,  Sochalski, D.M. and Silber, J.H. (2002)Hospital nurse staffing and patient mortality, nurse burn out, and job dissatisfaction. Journal of the American Medical Association 288(16):1987–93.

The article suggests that the high mortality rates that have been recorded in US health Institution are mostly related to understaffing among the nurses, burnouts and job dissatisfaction.

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (2005) AACN Standards for Establishing and sustaining healthy work environments.www.aacn.org. American Nurses Association Code of Ethics Project Task Force .A New Code of Ethics for Nurses. American Journal of Nursing 100 (7):69–72.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

This article that was published by AACN outlines the ethics that guide nurses in their stations of work. The malpractices are having a negative effect on Americans.

Treadwell, H.M., and M.R. O. (2003) Poverty, race, and the invisible men, American Journal of Public Health 93:705–7.Veatch, R.M.2003. The Basics of Bioethics, Seconded. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

The journal describes the challenges faced by the poor and their quests for treatment and the basis for Bioethnics which refers to the treatment of such issues like abortion and euthanasia.

Volbrecht, R.M. (2002) Nursing Ethics: Communities in Dialogue. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Weston,

 The book outlines the new nursing standards in the year and compares them to the current changes in medical fraternity including in such areas as bioethical isssues,

Weston, A. (2002) A Practical Companion to Ethics, 2nded. New York: Oxford University Press.

Weston (2002) describes the various practical ways of ensuring that all interdisciplinary ethical standards are all followed and put into practice to the letter.

Mercy, J.A., Krug, E.G.  Dahlberg, L.L. and Zwi. A.B. (2003) Violence and health: The United States in a global perspective, American Journal of Public Health 92:256–61.

The Public health journal traces the sources of violence in health care industry and relates the rate of violence in hospitals as associated with inadequate training, lack of dedication and discipline.

Milio, N. (2002) Where policy hits the pavement: Contemporary issues in Communities, In Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care, 4th ed., pp. 659–68.St.Louis, MO: Saunders.

The article describes the difficult situations that the nursing industry has been exposed to and the current challenges facing the situation.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Polypharmacy: Health Journal

Polypharmacy
Polypharmacy

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Polypharmacy: Health Journal

In my practicum setting a patient visited for a follow up check on several complex medical conditions. During the process, patient history was conducted whereby a variety of clinical and statistical data was captured. The history examined the past medical account of the patient whereby a review was conducted on the conditions that the patient was suffering from.

The history was also geared towards determining the past surgical history of the patient, his family history, current medication, possible allergies, and the systems review. Murphy et al., (2014) highlights that follow ups are vital since they enable practitioners to assess patient’s needs and implement proper interventions to avoid readmitting of patients. 

Researchers have well-established that polypharmacy is associated with an increase in the risk of adverse reactions, such as falls, poor vision, memory and hearing loss, decline in renal function, cognitive, functional impairment, as well as changes in metabolic rates (Maher et al., 2014; Jeffery & Kruse, 2014). However, from this patient it can be deduced that the adverse effects commonly linked to polypharmacy do not usually occur in all patients.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

This evidenced through the findings obtained in the patient history especially under the review of systems section whereby the patient denies having any adverse effects in most of her body system except for musculoskeletal system where the patient reports of experiencing back pain, joint pain, and shoulder pain.

For this patient, my plan will be to carry out diagnostic tests to identify the potential causes of the musculoskeletal signs and symptoms that the patient reports about. Moreover, examine the whether the patient is experiencing any progress from the treatment plan that she is undertaking.

My goal will be to ensure that the musculoskeletal signs and symptoms that the patient is complaining about are well controlled. Health care providers are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that patients receive the quality care delivery at all times (Martin-Misener & Bryant-Lukosius, 2014). Therefore, it will be my responsibility to ensure that the patient receives quality care delivery with improved outcomes.

References

Jeffery, L., & Kruse, M. G. (2014). CP-084 Pharmacist identification of potential side effects in patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy. European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy: Science and Practice21(Suppl 1), A34-A34.

Maher, R. L., Hanlon, J., & Hajjar, E. R. (2014). Clinical consequences of polypharmacy in elderly. Expert opinion on drug safety13(1), 57-65.

Martin-Misener, R., & Bryant-Lukosius, D. (2014). Optimizing the Role of Nurses in Primary Care in Canada. Consulté sur http://www.cfpna.ca/cms-assets/documents/184147-364851.cna-report-2014.pdf.

Murphy, R., Bartlett, L., Pace, D., Boone, D., Smith, C., Lester, K., & Twells, L. (2015). Providing Obesity Treatment Information, Assessment and Follow-up: Improving Patient Access through Technology in One Province of Canada. Canadian Journal of Diabetes39, S50.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Medication Errors in Nursing Essay Paper

Medication Errors
Medication Errors

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Medication Errors

Introduction

 This study basically analyzes the perception of nurses with regards to errors in medication. It has been pointed out that different nurses have diverse perceptions in relation to the causes of medication errors. Some of the major causes include indecipherable handwritings by physicians, distractions, exhaustion, and tiredness. A few nurses believe that many cases of medication errors have been reported and those that have not been reported are often as a result of peer pressure or fear of the managers. The results of this study can be essential in the programs intended to encourage detection of medication errors and the elimination of the obstacles that prevent people from reporting such incidences.

Medication Error among Nurses

Medication errors can be described as failure to follow the physicians’ prescription. Medication errors in hospitals are extremely common and are realized almost each and every day. The most common sources of these errors include provision errors, calculation errors, administration errors, and monitoring errors (Feleke, Mulatu, & Yesmaw, 2015). All the staff in the medication department including pharmacists, nurses, unit clerks and physicians can cause the occurrence of a medication error.

When it comes to drug administration errors, nurses are ranked at the fore front since they are responsible for administering those drugs to the patients. These errors have adverse negative impacts on the nurses such that they are often victims of psychological effects since most nurses who get involved in medication errors face trauma while others end up being devastated.

First and foremost, nurses care about their patients; hence, those errors can cause guilt and some of them feel extremely terrified and upset (Oshikoya, Oreagba, Ogunleye, Senbanjo, MacEbong, & Olayemi, 2013).In addition, they lose confidence in their professional abilities. Also, they get angry at themselves and end up criticizing their own selves. Any nurse is capable of committing medication errors regardless of their years of practice, education or age.

Application of Evidence-Based Literature

Most medical institutions rely on the nurses to identify and report any medication errors regardless of the cause of the errors. Researchers have pointed out that most nurses do not report such incidences (Feleke, Mulatu, & Yesmaw, 2015).In order for the prevalence medication errors to be reduced, the nurses have to take the initiative of accurately reporting such cases so as to help in establishing appropriate remedies that would help to deal with the crisis. In case an incident of medication error is not reported, it conceals the defective systems which can lead to more damages.

It is important to consider the fact that the medical institutions that rely on reports of such incidences to provide information often tend to overlook issues to do with date errors. Reports are provided by the nurses who recognize the errors which are then forwarded to the administration, department of risk management, or quality department. The systems of reporting primarily depends on the conviction of the nurse that he or she has committed the mistake, ability to identify the occurrence of an error, accepting that there is a probability that the nurse in question might be dismissed , and the belief that the error needs to be reported (Russo, Buonocore, & Ferrara, 2015). 

The most underreported incidences in medical institutions concern administration of medicine.  This occurs mainly because the nurses believe that this does not have adverse effects on the patient’s health. On the other hand, the most often reported cases involve overmedication. Nurses intentionally choose not to report medication errors due to fear of punishment that may often lead to termination of their services. They also fear that they might be mistaken to have committed the medication errors intentionally.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Analysis of Literature

In healthcare institutions, drug interventions are intended to accomplish positive results for different patients as well as preventing the occurrence of undesirable drug reactions. It has been pointed out that most cases of deaths occur due to medication errors hence creating a significant need to research more on these errors; thus,  placing high attention on the nurses (Russo, Buonocore, & Ferrara, 2015). The management of medication is acknowledged as an elemental aspect of the role of nurses since it is mostly connected with extensive risks.

Continuous observation should be maintained so as to evade the possibility for medication errors. Nurses have been assigned with the task of administering medicines to all the patients; hence, they should be at a position to report any incident of medication errors.  Medication errors can be stated as failure of completing planned action or using a wrong method to achieve a medical based objective (Ammouri et al, 2015). Most events that have been realized are often as a result of dispensing, distribution, errors in professional practices and wrong prescription. Hospitals which lack disciplinary actions are likely to report a rise in the occurrence of medication errors amongst their staff especially the nurses.

Conclusion

All the staff in the medication sector including nurses, pharmacists, unit clerks and physicians can lead to the occurrence of a medication error. Whenever medication error is identified, and no action is taken, this can lead to an increase in costs. It is essential to note that any nurse is capable of committing medication errors regardless oftheir years of practice, education or age. In medical institutions where disciplinary action is not considered important as such, there is a likelihood of an increase in the number of incidences to do with medication errors.

References

Ammouri, A.,et al  (2015). Patient safety culture among nurses. International Nursing Review, 62(1), 102-110. doi:10.1111/inr.12159. Available From: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=101004061&site=ehost-live

Feleke, S. A., et al (2015). Medication administration error: magnitude and associated factors among nurses in Ethiopia. BMC Nursing, 141-8. doi:10.1186/s12912-015-0099-1. Available From: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=110594788&site=ehost-live

Oshikoya, K., et al. (2013). Medication administration errors among paediatric nurses in Lagos public hospitals: An opinion survey. International Journal of Risk & Safety In Medicine, 25(2), 67-78. doi:10.3233/JRS-130585. Available From: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=88365311&site=ehost-live

Russo, M., et al (2015). Motivational mechanisms influencing error reporting among nurses. Journal Of Managerial Psychology, 30(2), 118-132. doi:10.1108/JMP-02-2013-0060. Available From: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=101076797&site=ehost-live

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Stroke can occur at any age

Stroke
Stroke

Stroke can occur at any age

In recent times, it has become essential for the RN and other medical practitioners to understand the need for stroke patients in different age groups to adopt the best strategies for continuing care to them. Despite some identified similarities, there exists different needs and experiences of the young and old stroke patients. The differences are attributed to stroke effects on self-image, age normative activities, roles and the stage in the life cycle.

Some of the needs for younger patients include work disruptions, family plans, childcare responsibilities and overall disturbances of family routines (Kee et al, 2015).  There is a hidden disrupted sense of self, cognitive impairment of suffering an older person’s disease among the young patients. In this case, the young patients have more unmet needs compared to their old counterparts.

The older people are at a higher risk of suffering from the stroke as compared to the young ones. Such reasons make the young patients have more specific needs both psychological and practical in nature (Kee et al, 2015). The added psychological need involves reconciling their perceived incongruity concerning suffering a disease for the old. 

The old patients fail to receive constant high-intensity neurorehabilitation as compared to the young patients thus the old survivors need less therapy intensive settings (Kee et al, 2015). Compared to the old, young patients feel different about their stroke experience due to their early life stage and the effects caused by the disease.

Different psychological therapies and practices are adopted in correspondence to needs of either the old or young patients. There is a similarity between the needs of the young and old patients since both receive high amounts of therapy and specialized inpatient neurorehabilitation during their care period (Kee et al, 2015).

 The therapist is an important member of the interprofessional healthcare team that would assist the RN in the provision of quality care to the stroke patient. One of the roles performed by the therapist involves promoting and teaching healthy lifestyle routines and habits to the patients to minimize the risks of secondary stroke.

Assistive technology training for the patient and home modifications requiring interventions made by the therapist are vital roles performed enhancing an effective collaboration with the RN (Kee et al, 2015). In a nutshell, adoption of the right strategies while providing care to stroke patients results to the positive and desired outcomes.

Reference

Kee, J., Hayes, E., & McCuistion, L. (2015). Pharmacology: A patient-centered nursing process approach (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here

Error Management Reflection

Error Management
Error Management

Error Management

Types of prescriptions, roles of intra and interprofessional teams, and medicine storage and disposal

            This error management reflection covers what I have learnt from the hospital placement by considering Borton’s model. Specifically, I have explored the error reporting process in the hospital and how it has helped me to understand the principles of clinical governance. Furthermore, this error management reflection describes the difference in error reporting processes in community pharmacy compared to hospital pharmacy.

During my placement, I have discovered that the main types of prescriptions in the pharmacy are outpatient prescriptions, cleansing preparation prescriptions, and ward order prescriptions. The pharmacy rarely uses hospital charts and it does not use TPN requests at all. Furthermore, I have learnt that the pharmacy team members perform roles, which are complementary to one another.

For instance, the pharmacist checks medicine history, the technician reviews medicine history and dispenses drugs, and ATO checks stock of drugs and delivers medicines to the wards. Again the pharmacy has well documented standard operating procedures related to storage and disposal of medicines. In the pharmacy, drugs are stored in shelves and they are categorized based on their functions. Moreover, medicines must be checked and reviewed before they are disposed.

Error management: How error reporting improves clinical governance

            Error reporting plays a significant role in improving clinical governance. According to Freedman (2006), NHS institutions rely on clinical governance to deliver quality care to patients by allowing parents to get involved in their treatment process. Since the patient is the first priority in clinical governance, there is always great need for hospitals to ensure that their error reporting systems are working well in order to improve clinical governance.

Medication errors are avoidable mistakes that are made by health care practitioners during prescription, dispensation, and administration of drugs. Such errors negatively impact on patient safety and outcomes. As MRA (2014) explains, error reporting is one of the ways through which health care practitioners learn their mistakes and it therefore plays a big role in improving patient safety.

During my placement, I have discovered that the main source of medication errors in the facility is incorrect drug labelling, and that error reporting greatly improves clinical governance. Specifically, I have discovered that the hospital has a stable system for detecting and reporting medication errors. In addition, I have learnt that, since it is possible to detect medication errors, the facility should have a plan of how such errors can be prevented.

According to Polnariev (2016), through error reporting, healthcare organizations can easily identify and mitigate risks early enough. Therefore, the facility should employ appropriate measures to prevent recurrence of medication errors in future in order to improve clinical governance.

Difference in error reporting in community and hospital pharmacies

            Error reporting in community pharmacy differs significantly from that of a hospital. During my placement, I have been able to identify two major differences in error reporting between a community pharmacy and a hospital pharmacy during my placement. First, while delegated authorities are charged with the responsibility of overseeing medication errors in the hospital, the board of directors is directly involved in error reporting process in the community pharmacy (Brunsveld-Reinders, Arbous, Vos, and Jonge, 2016).

Second, community pharmacy mainly relies on voluntary reporting while hospital pharmacy utilizes voluntary, confidential, non-confidential, and mandatory reporting processes. Voluntary reporting process that is mainly used by community pharmacy is not very effective because it leaves some errors unreported. However, mandatory reporting by hospitals ensures maximum error reporting and it helps healthcare practitioners to avoid lawsuit.

In this regard, community pharmacies should use mandatory reporting instead of voluntary reporting in order to improve error reporting (Brunsveld-Reinders et al., 2016).

            In conclusion, the most enjoyable parts of my placement were getting to learn the role played by error reporting in clinical governance, and the difference between error reporting process in a community pharmacy and a hospital pharmacy. Through error reporting, hospitals can greatly maximize patient safety and improve their health outcomes.

Unfortunately, effective identification of errors cannot be achieved because some errors go unreported. In order to prevent recurrence of medication errors in future, health care organizations should introduce strict measures of reporting such incidents. However, the least enjoyable part of my placement was retrieving information related to medication errors and error reporting process from employees at the pharmacy.

In order to facilitate easy interaction between the student and the hospital’s workers in future, learners should be allowed to choose facilities which they feel would be comfortable for them to undertake the placement.

Reference List

Brunsveld-Reinders, A. H., Arbous, M. S., Vos, R. V. & Jonge, E. D. (2016). Incident and error reporting systems in intensive care: a systematic review of the literature. International Journal for Quality in Health Care28(1), 2-13. https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzv100

Freedman, D. B. (2006). Involvement of patients in clinical governance. Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, 44(6): 699-703.

MHRA. (2014). Patient Safety Alert.  Retrieved from https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/psa-sup-info-med-error.pdf

Polnariev, A. (2016). Using the medication error prioritization system to improve patient safety. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 41(1): 54-59.

Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here.