Deteriorating Patient Reflection Paper

A song that truly inspires me is one by Dierks Bentley called “Riser”. Dierks Bentley is a country music artist who was more popular in the early 2000’s, but recently has become popular again. He is one of my favorite artists. I was actually supposed to see him in concert this summer, however found out in June that I would have to have surgery two days before he was to arrive in concert in Virginia.

As I read the “Team STEPPS makes strides for better communication”, some of the tools like; (SBARQ) is used in many organizations, especially during patient hand-offs. It provides a systematic way to convey patient information, which is essential during high-stress situations. In a stress situation, taking responsibility to prevent human errors. As ANA code of

Availability of opioids puts more and more people at risk for addiction. A simple prescription from the doctor for a migraine or back pain can turn into an addiction. Doctors are faced daily with patients who complain of pain, acute and chronic. It has become a simple solution for them to write out a prescription for pain medication to help their patient. In turn, not helping them at all.

Both internal and external conflict can take an emotional toll on a patient who is dealing with the psychological and physiological effects of addiction. Also, these patients lose their able to function normally, and some healthcare personnel perceive their behaviors as deliberately preformed causing an excessive amount of stigma. Addiction leaves patients having to manage the pain and suffering of not being in control of their own bodies without much guidance of healthcare personnel. However, patients would not have to persevere through addition consequences of addiction if professionals – especially pharmacists – had enhanced education of addiction which would possibly alleviate

In the past, opioids have been used to treat moderate to severe pain such as cancer or post surgery, and on a short term basis. Now they are prescribed to anyone who is experiencing chronic pain and on a long term basis. Opioids being taken for chronic pain allows everyone to have the ability to carry out their daily life easily and without pain. In light of opioids helping people manage their pain, the problem lies with what they are being prescribed for now, how long, and how much. Opioids are now being prescribed for back pain, migraines, and other small instances.

Opioid pain medications are some of the most commonly abused prescription drugs. Between 1991 and 2010, opioid prescriptions rose from about 75.5 million to 209.5 million. Americans account for 4.6% of the world’s population but consume approximately 80% of the world’s opioid supply. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 12 million people used prescription painkillers for nonmedical reasons in 2010. Opioid abuse has led to increases in emergency-department visits, hospitalizations, and admissions to substance-abuse treatment centers at a time when our healthcare system is already strained.

I think that doctors should give patients more information when prescribing opioids to patients. Many people that just had a painful surgery take opioids to stop their pain and then shortly get addicted after from taking the pills, I believe people would not get as tempted, and feel like it is ok to take opioids, if they knew they were highly addictive. Allen, a recovering addict, had to research her symptom to find out why she was having this temptation to take these pain killing pills when she was not even in pain. Allen’s doctor never told her about the danger of these “painkillers” but once Allen found out, she was concerned about herself, and knew she was addicted and in

Hi Noshaba, Thank you for your presentation. You have a very profound question as to the role of physical therapists in opioid addiction. It reminded me of the very inspiring words of the APTA president, Dr. Sharon Dunn (American Physical Therapy Association [APTA], 2015). I would like to quote what she said: “Physical therapists can help individuals manage pain, and greater use of physical therapy could make a real impact on the tragic levels of drug abuse in this country- abuse that often begins with a prescription for pain medication. Efforts like these are at the heart of what we mean when we talk about the transformative power of physical therapy.”

According to a recent study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2016), approximately one individual out of five patients established with a pain-related conditions, is recommended to use opioids for their pain. This practice has continued with time increasing the levels of opioid use among different patients. Medical practitioners have contributed largely to the increase of opioid usage because they are the ones who prescribe these drugs mostly to the patients. However, they have established a major challenge facing them on the prescription of these drugs, as there is a confluence of pain control versus the danger of misuse of such prescriptions. These facts have increased the need to curb this situation before it becomes impossible to deal

Based on your readings from this section and the videos respond to the following questions and to 2 of your classmates. Describe a challenging, diversity-related situation that you have faced, and likely will continue to face in your nursing career. A challenging, diversity-related situation that I have faced, and likely will continue to face in my nursing career is caring post-operative patients with various pain and treatment beliefs. As a Med-Surg nurse, I often care for patients with countless diagnoses/surgeries and of various cultural beliefs and practices regarding pain and treatment beliefs.

Dependence on prescription opioids can stem from treatment of chronic pain and in recent years is the cause of the increased number of opioid overdoses. Opioids are very addictive substances, having serious life threatening consequences in case of intentional or accidental overdose. The euphoria attracts recreational use, and frequent,

Sam Quinones’ Dreamland is a commentary about the opioid problem in America. Quinones draws attention to how in the twentieth century opioids were seen as addictive: “[D]octers treating the terminally ill faced attitudes that seemed medieval when it came to opiates” (184). In the 1970s, Purdue Pharma stated that opioids such as morphine were not addictive substances. After this study was released, many doctors began to view opioids as a viable option for pain relief. Throughout the rest of the book, Quinones explains the shift from doctors never prescribing opiates to prescription opiates being used to treat any sort of pain: chronic back pain, arthritis, severe headaches, etc.

What do you do next? When I was assessing my patient, she had no problem with that. All the time I was assessing her, she was telling me about her life.

Additionally, this experience helped me to develop effective therapeutic communication techniques and enforce skills to provide enhanced care for the resident. An improvement that I would make for next semester is to improve my execution and time management while performing tasks. I intend to perform skills with greater confidence and improve my overall interactions with the patients, families, and health care workers. Improving these interactions will benefit in the overall comfort of the patient and improve the care that I will provide to them. Overall, this Long Term Care experience provided me with the necessary fundamental skills practice and critical thinking development that will be utilized in the following semesters and throughout my nursing

Although it may seem easier to the family to push the analgesia for the patient, they must be reminded that the patient is the only one who can truly determine the type and feeling of pain they are experiencing and then have the authority to decide if they need additional medication or