Management of Cancer Pain. When pain is chronic and poorly controlled it produces anxiety and emotional distress, interferes with functional capacity, and can affect a patients social, family and professional life. I have chosen this aspect of nursing
MANAGEMENT OF CANCER PAIN The experience of pain can have a negative effect on nearly every aspect of life, including mood and capacity to function in daily activities. According to the World Health Organization, individuals who live with persistent pain are four times more likely than those without pain to suffer from depression or anxiety, and more than twice as likely to have difficulty working. Also the costs associated with pain are extremely high, due both to the healthcare system and to society at large (Katz, 2002). Most people with pain have a greater rate of utilization of the healthcare system and also their productivity is substantially reduced. However one of the most important characteristics of pain is it's effect on quality of life. The impact of malignant pain on quality of life is severe. When pain is chronic and poorly controlled it produces anxiety and emotional distress, interferes with functional capacity, and can affect a patient's social, family and professional life. I have chosen this aspect of nursing practice because I have a personal interest in the subject. Also many people suffer from cancer and I believe it's an important aspect of nursing care to treat and effectively relieve patient's pain and therefore improve a patient's quality of life. According to the code of professional conduct of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC),
In this essay I intend to look at the concept of holism, why it is important, how it is supported in legislation and codes of practice and the possible benefits to the nurse patient relationship.
In this essay I intend to look at the concept of holism, why it is important, how it is supported in legislation and codes of practice and the possible benefits to the nurse - patient relationship. Due to the word limit the focus is going to be centred around the positive aspects of the approach as apposed to negative critique. In order to explore the importance of considering the patient holistically, it is imperative that we understand what the word/concept holistic means. Weller (2004, p44) describes holism as a comprehensive approach to health care that encompasses and considers the body, mind and spirit considering all actions and interventions for the patient, while recognising the concept of uniqueness, individualism and the influence of internal and external environmental factors on health. This can be condensed to suggesting that we should consider the person as a whole in relation to their individual needs. Dryden (1995, p.177) cites that Fitz Perls (1951), based his gestalt approach to psychotherapy on premise that we should take an holistic view in relating to a person in order to help a person grow and ascertain a sense of wholeness. Stevenson, Grieves & Stein-Parbom (2004, p16) suggests that holism is knowing more about a person rather than deciding on a clinical pathway. It could be argued that the holistic approach is a humanistic approach focussing on
"A qualitative study of nurses' attitudes and practices regarding brief alcohol intervention".
INTRODUCTION This assignment requires the author to select a research article and critically analyse it in relation to the different characteristics of the research process. The chosen article is entitled " A qualitative study of nurses' attitudes and practices regarding brief alcohol intervention". (Lock et al 2002). (Appendix 1). This particular article was chosen due to the author having encountered many patients with alcohol related problems and the author wished to gain an improved insight into the topic. Research is a process of inquiry aimed at answering questions and finding solutions to problems of concern. (Daly et al 2002). It involves the collection and analysing of data in a systematic and rigorous way, where the findings are described in a written or oral presentation. (Parahoo 1997). Nursing research is the key in providing evidence on the benefits and shortcomings of clinical interventions and on their cost-effectiveness. It is an essential tool used in nursing to evaluate the effectiveness of nursing practice and increase the evidence base that guides clinical decisions. (Langford 2001). The use of research-based evidence is central to evidence-based practice. (Polit and Beck 2004). Evidence-based practice is a process of questioning the basis of decision-making regarding patient care and ensuring they are based on the best available research evidence.
Drama course work portfolio.
The Poem The poem was about a family splitting up and the parents find other partners and start a new begging. There were words missing from the poem because the words represent the family, and some one is missing out of it. When a family breaks up I think about how there life will change and why have they split up. The family could feel sad, hurt or if someone cheated on you the other person could feel betrayed, gutted and just be sad, but if you come from a bad background your feelings could be different like you could be happy your out of the relationship, My family is a happy one I have two brother, ones called Aaron the others called jack, my mums called anthea and my dads called Ted, my family is a caring and laid back one, but they aren't laid back with our school work. My character is called Matthew Allan, he is a calm man unless he is startled, he has a good personality and gets on great with the ladies, and he has a cheerful voice, which is loud but gentle, he takes pride with his job even though he is a taxi driver and doesn't care what people think about him, though he takes pride he isn't very punctual. He is a very loving man who cares dearly about his family and his to daughter called Corrine and Annaliese, Corrine is the eldest one which has passed her exams and is on her way to university and her father is very proud of her and wants her to do her best
A) Give an explanation of why people yield to minority influence.
Psychology A) Give an explanation of why people yield to minority influence. Social Cryptoamnesia. Which is a tendency, over time, to forget the source of a particular , thus making it less likely that conversation will be impeded by the association between deviant minority and a particular attitude or belief. There is a pint in any group where, after some members have started to agree with the minority, the minority then turns in to the majority. B) Describe the aims, procedures, prediction, results, conclusions and criticisms of two studies of obedience to authority. Milgram electric shock experiment 1963 Aim Stanley Milgram was from a Jewish background he was interested in how easily ordinary people could be influenced into committing atrocities for example, Germans in WWII. The aim of Milgrams study was to investigate whether ordinary people will obey a legitimate authority even when required to injure another person, i.e. obedience to unjust authority. Procedures Milgram recruited 40 male participants by advertising for volunteers to take part in a study of how punishment affects learning, to take place at Yale University. Everyone was paid $4.50 and told that they would receive this even if they quit during the study. There were two confederates: an experimenter and a learner. The participant drew lots with the confederate and always ended up as the
The following assignment will review a chosen piece of nursing research and reflect on how it could have an impact on practice.
Introduction The following assignment will review a chosen piece of nursing research and reflect on how it could have an impact on practice. According to Polit & Beck (2004), the aim of critically appraising an article is 'an attempt to determine its strengths and limitations.' The chosen article is titled 'Effects of changing needles prior to administering heparin subcutaneously.' The reason for the choice of this particular article was the belief that it would enhance the knowledge of heparin and the administration of this medication, which is of an area of interest to the reader. It can be seen in the self-assessment and action plan (appendix 1) that the administration of subcutaneous injections is an area that was felt needed to be looked at due to not using this particular skill for some time. The article was also felt to be relevant to practice as it was of a recent nature and was also based on a skill that is used daily in nursing. The Oxford Dictionary of Nursing defines heparin as 'a prevention of blood coagulation, and a 'prevention of deep-vein thrombosis following surgery.' The article is of a quantitative approach, this is described by Burns & Grove (1997) as 'a formal, objective, systemic process in which numerical data are utilised to obtain information.' In order to effectively critique, guidelines produced by Bennett (2001)
Anti-discriminatory Practice
Child Health Care Challenges Anti-Discriminatory Practice In this a reflective essay the author will discuss the concept of anti-discriminatory practice as a contemporary issue in children's nursing, in particular disabilism. An observed incident from practice placement will be reflected upon to analysis the implications for personal and professional nursing development. Reflection on an experience has been developed as a learning tool in professional education in order to help promote the integration of theory into practice (Schon 1991). The author has chosen to use Gibbs model of reflection (1988) to analysis the situation. All names have been changed to ensure confidentiality in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Code of Professional Conduct, Section 5, (2004). Article 14 of The Human Rights Act 1998 states that everyone has the right to be free from discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, disability, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status. Discrimination within the nursing profession is explained by Moonie (2002) as a decision to deny one person or group the same rights as another. Neil Thompson (1997) proposes a model to understand the different levels on which discrimination and oppression operates - the personal, cultural, and structural
This essay explores acute confusion in elderly hospital patients. It was found that a high proportion
Acute confusion and the hospitalised elder Introduction This essay explores acute confusion in elderly hospital patients. It was found that a high proportion of hospitalised elders develop acute confusion, with some studies indicating incidence levels may be as high as 50% (Inouye 2000). Elders that develop acute confusion, or delirium, have longer hospital stays, increased mortality, and are less likely to resume independent life in the community than their non-confused counterparts (Inouye 2000, Aditya & Sharma 2003). Elements that contribute to the development of delirium in elders were next examined to find that elders accumulate a number of predisposing factors through the ageing process. They have reduced physical reserves, more chronic illnesses, and are often prescribed multiple drugs for their conditions; all of which make them more vulnerable to minor precipitating events. Precipitating events that can induce delirium in the elderly may not cause delirium in younger, more hardy individuals. Infection, dehydration, hypoxia, pain, sleep deprivation or additional medications have all been described as possible precipitating factors. Considering that delirium often heralds adverse outcomes for the elderly, it was interesting to note that this condition is rarely diagnosed or adequately managed. Attitudes of health care staff were examined to understand why
Reflecting on a specific clinical need, for example pressure area care, nutrition, moving and handling etc; discuss whether the care provided was based on current best evidence
'Reflecting on a specific clinical need, for example pressure area care, nutrition, moving and handling etc; discuss whether the care provided was based on current best evidence' The clinical incident for this assignment revolves around a patient, Mr. A, presenting at a walk-in Genitourinary Medicine centre for HIV screening. In line with guidelines published by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), specific names and places have been amended to retain anonymity for all concerned, and consent has been obtained from the patient and staff involved (NMC, 2008). Involved in the event were the patient, Mr. A, my mentor, Miss D, and I. Mr. A is a homosexual gentleman who had had unprotected sexual intercourse, and as a result was worried that he had contracted HIV. He had attended the clinic three months earlier, just after the encounter, but due to the 'window period' for HIV infection of approximately 3 months (AVERT, 2009), he had to attend again after this time. My mentor began the consultation by asking a series of routine questions regarding his sexual history, culminating in asking whether he would consent to an HIV test at this time. Mr. A said that he was happy to consent, and signed the appropriate consent form. He was then taken to phlebotomy, had his blood taken and then left. No where in this time was any counselling or advice given to Mr. A as to what he could
This assignment will look at the high acuity needs of James and why he was initially nursed in the HDU instead of on an orthopedic or genitourinary ward.
When an oncoming car crossed the median strip it crashed into James who was riding his motorcycle, inflicting upon him serious pelvic injuries. His pelvis was broken and his bladder was ruptured. On admittance to the emergency department via an ambulance, James went to the operating theatre (OT) for surgery and was sent from the OT to the high dependency unit (HDU) for a higher level of nursing care than he may have received if he had been sent to another ward. When he was admitted to HDU he had a central venous (CV) line, an arterial line, drain's, external fixation devices and an indwelling catheter protruding from his body, all designed to assist his body to heal but these aids also provided a portal of infection into the body. Infection is a high source of mortality and morbidity in intensive care settings and much of the care James received was aimed at avoiding this. Pain management was also a high priority for James as pain can have a negative impact on the healing process. This assignment will look at the high acuity needs of James and why he was initially nursed in the HDU instead of on an orthopedic or genitourinary ward. The nursing care James received will also be investigated and compared with nursing literature. The need to keep James pain free will be discussed as well as the high requirement to keep him free of infection. Legal requirements govern many