Medication Errors Essay

Approximately, 1.5 million people are injured in the United States due to medication related errors. Errors involving prescription medications kill up to 7,000 Americans per year, according to the Institute of Medicine, and that the financial costs of drug-related morbidity and mortality may run nearly $77 billion a year. FDA also reviews about 1,400 reports of medication errors per month. Before administering a medication, it is the responsibility of the nurse to ensure that the right patient is receiving the right medication, for the right reason/s, the right dosage and route, at the right time. Whoever administers the medication is ultimately responsible for any error that may occur. Therefore it is the nurse’s duty to report a medication error is accordance with facility protocol. The nurse is supposed to notify the physician and monitor the patient for any adverse reactions related to the error. An incident report is also done and is used by the hospital for reeducation t o avoid future occurrences. Failure to report or take appropriate action when a medication error occurs may lead to loss of employment, action by the state board of nurses, civil or criminal changes. It is the nurse’s responsibility to document appropriately, in a timely manner, and failure to do so is also considered a medication error. Students` Legal Role and Responsibility: Student nurses have the responsibility to acquire theoretical and clinical skills necessary to deliver the best of care to the public. It is a student’s responsibility to communicate with the assigned staff nurse constantly and their clinical instructors as well. Most errors occur with medications that a give during the non standard hours, including early morning. Students and staff nurses should use the same MAR and bring the patient’s MAR to the bedside and document drug administration immediately after the patient has taken the medications. Hence clear communication between student and staff nurse, as well as the instructor is of utmost importance in decreasing the risk of making medication omission errors. Anxiety makes a student prone to medication errors as well. Breathing  exercises have proven effective in relieving anxiety. Medication errors lead may lead to dismissal from a nursing program. Depending on the severity and frequency of medication errors by stud ents, the school may lose its privilege to practice in some facilities. Therefore it is important that student avoid making any medication errors. Medication errors and years of experience Administration errors reflect knowledge deficits, with errors declining in the first few years of clinical experience (C. G. Bailey, et al.). Each year of experience, up to 6 years, reduced the risk of error by 10.9% and serious error by 18.5% (J. Westbrook et al. 2013) These findings suggests that inexperienced nurses constantly require training and supervision with a focus on correct medication administration. Knowledge gained from this study I learnt that the nurse are the doctor’s eyes and ears; and they rely on them to identify errors, changes of condition, abnormal lab values etceteras so that they may prescribe the right medication appropriately. It is important to always have your reference material available such as, drug reference book, patho-physiology reference book etceteras; because medication administration goes beyond just following the doctor’s written order and giving the patient the medication. If a nurse does not know why the medication is being given, they are not be able to identify an error before administering, or know when to hold the medication and notifying a physician. Good clinical practice begins while a nurse is in school; therefore it is crucial to always comply with facility protocol. Hence knowledge deficit compromises the patient’s safety. Reference C. G. Bailey, B.S. Engel, J.N. Luescher, M.L.Taylor: (date unknown) Medication Errors In Relation To Education & Medication Errors In Relation To Years of Nursing J., Treiber L. When the 5 rights go wrong: medication errors from the nursing perspective. Journal of Nursing Care Qual 2010;25:240–7 Experience: retrieved July 31 2013 from http://www.lagrange.edu/resources/pdf/citations/nursing/Medication%20Errors.pdf J. I. Westbrook, A. Woods, Rob MI, et al. (2010) Association of

Health Promotion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health Promotion - Assignment Example Also, chronic diseases account for 75% of the national health budget. Prevention of chronic diseases, therefore, not only improves the health of the community but also reduces healthcare spending. There are a lot of health challenges associated with old age. Most degenerative and non-communicable diseases are prevalent among the elderly population, affecting mostly those living in low socioeconomic settings (Thakur, Banerjee & Nikumb, 2013). Furthermore, the authors note that health in old age is related to health earlier in life. For instance, intrauterine growth retardation has been shown to increase the risk of diabetes and diseases of the circulatory system later in life. Also, obese children are more likely to develop chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes among others. As a result, elderly people face a lot of health challenges that should be addressed to improve their quality of life. In the case of AK, the most easily identifiable health problem is unintentional weight loss, attributable to the recent appetite loss. He reports that he takes a glass of wine before going to bed and also smokes 0.25 packs of cigarette a day for the past six months. An analysis of his social history reveals that he has been having trouble sleeping, and experiences daytime somnolence. The patient also has several chronic diseases that are being treated, including hypertension (ICD-9 401-405), osteoarthritis (ICD-9 715.09) and cataracts (ICD-9 366). Several interventions can be made for AK’s condition, covering primary, secondary and tertiary levels of prevention. They include: At the primary prevention level, AK should incorporate certain behavior changes into his daily life. First, he needs to ensure that he is more physically active. He says that he enjoys gardening at home, which is a good form of exercise. However, his recent accident indicates that he should not do the gardening alone. High resistance physical

WORKPLACE CONFLICT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

WORKPLACE CONFLICT - Essay Example The inconsistency emanating from the relationship between him and the head of department may seem obvious and an easy task to resolve. However, the issue may run out of control and hurt the whole organization. Therefore, establishing the different concepts as honorable approaches to resolving the rivalry could serve to save the company from animosity, with an advantageous outline of handling relevant future problems. Adapting to the concept of avoidance can serve as a vital tool to resolving the problems prevailing between the head of department and the employee. The concept asserts that the individuals could differ from direct confrontations (Cooper). For instance, George could undertake his tasks towards achieving the organizational set goals without hindrances, and in accordance with the set of rules and regulations. The head of department may resent to the issue of job performance with the aim of completion targeting to improve the quality of output. The concept may serve to adequately restrict the H.O.D from interfering with employee performances so long as they are up to the set rules and regulations. Avoidance concept could further restrict the manager from meddling into George’s undertakings as he remains naà ¯ve of the dealings till the point of delivery. In the event that the H.O.D enforces inapplicable regulations causing strenuous relationship between him and George, the concept is relevant to competitive conflict style. In this concept, the high ranked individual seems to express an unchallenged authority over his subordinates in order to feel satisfied. For instance, the H.O.D exerts pressure to George to work towards achieving his solely set objectives despite the fact that they are set to benefit the organization. The concept depicts an understanding that the approach may restrain the subject to quit all his duties entirely. Competitive rivalry between the manager and the employee,

Security as a management or technological issue Essay

Security as a management or technological issue - Essay Example This study looks into information system security that is becoming a dominant and challenging factor for organizations, as it leverages many risks that are constantly changing. Every now and then, there are new security breaches resulting in massive losses in terms of customer confidence, as well as revenue. As information technology is now considered as the fundamental function, every organization acquires information systems for business automation. Moreover, electronic commerce has also introduced many businesses that are only virtually present. For instance, Amazon that is an online store for selling books generates revenue from the Internet. Customers pay via credit cards for the purchased books that are delivered to them. In this scenario, any sort of security breach may inject an SQL injection or cross site scripting attack on the website can affect the business as well as customer confidence. Therefore, securing the systems as well as data communication on the web is essentia l to protect. This also implies to personal or customer data that is maintained and managed by the organization. For instance, E- commerce based organizations stores information of their customer related to credit card numbers, telephone numbers, address, bank details etc. It is the responsibility of the organization to protect and secure data privacy. However, there is not a single law that states how to handle customer information. For this reason, organizations sell or trade customer information with business partners and even to third parties. Likewise, sometimes the sole purpose of this personal data exchange is funds. Although, every online organization has a privacy policy which states how they will handle and secure customer data but at the same time there is no verification criteria. In the following sections, we will discuss the technical as well as the managerial aspect of these three domains i.e. Information system security, privacy and data protection. Likewise, we will also discuss our main thesis i.e. is it a technical issue or a managerial issue for effectively handling and managing these issues in an organization. The first section will emphasize on all the technical aspects followed by all the managerial aspects and lastly comparing these two aspects for conclusion. 2 Information System Types and Coordination Organizing information systems is defined as the series of activities that are associated with information handling. Organizations expand their business gradually. For instance, strategic plan for any financial institution is to open a branch on every quarter of the year depending on stable revenue and defined achieved objectives. Similarly, the expansion of the organization create more risks and increase the workload for handling information because the maintenance, storage and exchange of information has now become more than ever before. Information handling takes place on three levels i.e. formal level, informal level and technical le vel (Dhillon 2007). The formal information system is associated with communication from third parties, suppliers, contractors, clients, regulatory authorities and financial sectors. As the word formal says for itself, it is a process in which rules are followed for making standardization of business practices and following standards is important for any organization. However, it terms of non-compliance, it may become a

Debate Preparation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Debate Preparation - Essay Example Moreover, it may also send confusing messages to girls that premarital sex is acceptable. Consequent high risk behavior in young girls may ultimately lead to fatal carelessness by acquiring HIV infection. Another concern which remains is that Gardasil is only protective against HPV strains 16, 18, 6 and 11, which account for 70% of all cervical cancers. As there are more than 80 serotypes, with several serotypes associated with high and intermediate risk of developing cervical cancer, protection against all of them remains elusive. Moreover, different HPV serotypes may be linked with cervical cancer in different regions of the world, resulting in marked differences in the protective efficacy of the vaccine. The highest risk relates to the safety of the vaccine, which has not been proven yet. Majority of the subjects who received Gardasil had side effects within 15 days, which included fatigue, muscle pain and inflammation at injection site (Merck's Gardasil vaccine not proven safe). The current vaccines containing synthetic/ recombinant antigens are less immunogenic than the older versions of vaccines derived from live attenuated or killed organisms.

Banking concept of education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Banking concept of education - Essay Example Banking concept of education Particularly, I would like to describe the manner in which the tutor conducted the lesson from the beginning to the end in relation to the arguments by Freire that related to the banking concept of education. The most specific and outstanding thing is that in the class duration, the tutor’s mode of teaching appeared to have been more inclined towards inquiry-based education or problem-solving education. However, there are instances when the tutor’s teaching methods could have been perceived as focusing on ‘depositing and withdrawing’ aspects of banking; except that in this case, it was in the contextualization of education. It was on a Friday morning Philosophy class in which the tutor introduced the concept of critical thinking. In analyzing his thoughts on the same, it dawned on me that the best approach to education should be that which seeks in solving problems through offering of solutions to the same. Critical thinking as a subject area is a diverse f ield and in most cases, students just take down notes and only revise on them when the exams period are approaching. Actually, for some students, the passing of the exams is more essential than the knowledge itself. Applying the Freire’s argument of libertarian process of education, would have greatly led to the demystification of the teaching concepts that were espoused by the tutor. For instance, in beginning the class, the tutor asked each student to theorize, and then apply in immediate contexts the instances in which we had to engage critical thinking skills in making rational decisions. The attainment of this was through the provision of a sit-in-test that lasted for 30 minutes. While this was opposed by a section of other students, I noticed that the tutor wanted each one of us to be more of problem-solvers than bankers of education. Consequently, the tutor’s selection and use of language and practical illustrations for the topic indicated his intention for the adoption of the problem-posing and solving strategies to education. From the point of view of Freire, I perceive this distinguishing and objective learning style adopted by the tutor as useful and can be further applied in admonishing creativity among the students. However, on the other hand, I perceived the tutor’s ways of teaching as those that were inclined to the banking systems of education. According to Freire, the banking concept of education mostly perceives students as just but, recipients of what their teachers tell them irrespective of their content or the factual truth behind them. In support of this, I noticed that there were instances when the tutor just mentioned concepts or recited them without proper explanations on the same. This in my opinion assumes students to be but, receiving and withdrawing machines that just re-cycle concepts as stated by the teachers. I noticed that this was a dangerous situation, despite having been used by most teachers to refill t heir narrations on students. In assessing this position, I would also agree with Freire in this line since, it only makes students to be storage devices who only store that which has been

The Frst Genuine System of Federal Government Essay

The Frst Genuine System of Federal Government - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that  grandfather Franklin was more reserved, though with prodding he too became excited and animated.   Grandfather Jefferson would call him a Deist, a man of science, and argue that he favored an elimination of religious faith from American governance rather than a mere separation of church and state.   This always served to start Grandfather Franklin talking.   He told us that religious faith was an essential part of our philosophical heritage, that while it led to oppression when abused, it also functioned as an integral aspect of our culture.   He told us that he favored religion, so long as it was adequately shielded from politics and from state affairs.This paper highlights that  the reporter's grandfathers adhered to the same basic story of the Founding Fathers, and they themselves admired the founding philosophies.   They agreed that America was correct to decide that natural laws ought to govern our roles as individual citizens and that government ought to be designed to respect the individual.   They agreed that powerful governments were dangerous, a threat to these natural laws, and that is was necessary to implement a series of checks and balances in order for these ideals to persist.   They both agreed on the separation of church and state, and they both agreed that religious values nevertheless remained valuable.   They both sought to separate the government into separate branches.