Preventable Medication Errors Essay Example for Free

Preventable Medication Errors Essay In this essay I am going to discuss what the most common medication errors are, as well as discussing how these errors can be prevented. What are Common Medication Errors? â€Å"Drug errors are defined as unintentional acts, committed by healthcare providers involving medications (Medscape, 2007). Medication errors happen due to ignorance and lack of consciously being observant as to what is going on around them. Granted humans are only humans, and being is indefinitely going to result in human error. However, most of the common medication errors are a result of administering the wrong dosage of a medication, mixing medications with alcohol or simply confusing two medications that have similar names, such as Adderall vs. Inderal. â€Å" According to the national Medication Error Reporting Program, confusion caused by similar drug names accounts for up to 25 percent of all reported errors (Caring, 2008). Insulin is a common medication that is incorrectly administered by patients. Patients sometimes â€Å"double up† on the dosage to make up for a missed dose, or think they are in need of the extra medication. Doubling the dosage of any medication will result in very negative consequences or sometimes more often than not death. Ignorance and medication make for a deadly cocktail, knowing this truth, it is important to be aware of the dangers of mixing alcohol with prescribed medications. Synergism is the mixing of prescription medication with alcohol in order to receive a greater effect of the medication. Knowingly or even unknowingly consuming alcohol with prescription medication can result in permanent physical problems and/or even death. Administering the incorrect dosage of medication, as well as mixing medication with alcohol, or making a simple mistake in the identity of a similar medication are just three of numerous errors happening every day in hospitals and outpatient facilities in the United States. It is highly important to leave no room for error as a medical assistant by consciously being aware of these errors and making it a point to avoid them by checking the medications three times, checking the dosage being administered and being aware of any current prescriptions or alcohol history of the patient. What Can You Do to Prevent Medication Errors in the Practice? If the healthcare workers in the field follow the â€Å"Golden Rule† of the 7 patient rights which are: right patient, right medication, right dose, right route, right time, right technique, and right documentation, they will lower the risk of making medication errors. The patients 7 rights were implemented for this very reason, to prevent error in the field and make for a safer healthcare setting. Cognitive psychologists report that the human brain is creative and is wired to make errors (Medscape, 2007) As a medical assistant I can constantly be aware of the risks in not checking medications at least 3 times before administering the medication to a patient that I have personally confirmed to be the recipient of the medication. By making myself aware of a patient’s health history and any possible alcohol use will help ensure the patient’s safety and use of a medication. I believe that it is important in this field to leave nothing to ignorance, but by checking and re-checking the medication prescribed and the routes it is administered will greatly reduce any possible errors in a healthcare practice facility. Conclusion Preventable medication errors can be avoided by following the patient’s 7 rights of drug administration, and educating patients on the safety precautions that should be taken and making them fully aware of the dangers in not doing so. The communication and education of administering medications will help to lower healthcare costs and save the lives of many innocent victims due to medication errors. References: http://www. medscape. org/viewarticle/556487 http://www. caring. com/articles/medication-mistakes http://www. medscape. org/viewarticle/550273

mathew shepard :: essays research papers

I think that Mathew Shepard was a good person. That stupid church guy that said gays are evil, Matt’s in hell, and stuff like that are the â€Å"evil people. It’s not evil to be gay. All that stuff religious people say about gays is nothing that really is true. The religious people take in everything that the bible says about everything so hard. The bible wasn’t even written by god. The people that beat Matthew up were just raised to hate gays. It’s not right to kill a gay person for hitting on you, and that’s not even what it sounded like. Sounds like there were just being stupid. They sounded like they were just doing it for fast cash or something. Knowing that someone would do such a thing isn’t that great. It feels like this world is full of hate. Bin Ladin, the Matthew Shepard thing, and the list goes on. The real reason I think stuff like this goes on is because people aren’t raised right and the parents expose the bad stuff, and that’s why a lot of people kill. That’s what I think caused Matthew Shepard’s death. The parents were not very good if the kids took drugs and killed and beat people up. The aids thing didn’t surprise me. All my life I’ve been told from various places that 1 in 5 gay men have aids. First I heard about it in school in sixth grad I think. Then I hear it on the radio. Then I hear it on the TV. Matthew Shepard seemed like a good person. Doesn’t have bad habits as far as I saw. The incident made me think of how people use the word gay or fag. I have used those words a lot. I used them in the sense of stupid and ahole. When I was mad that’s what I would say. You can’t help saying it. You hear it all the time. I never used it to offend a gay person. I heard at my old school millions of times. I don’t think I’ll use that word any more.

Electronic Devices Essay

Ring! Ring! â€Å"Honey it’s your mother, please pick up your phone†¦ well call me when you get this message.† Two out of five kids get this voicemail daily during the week. The majority of students having a cellphone are only to contact parents and relatives. I think students should be able to have their cellphones and iPods out during school because after school kids should be able to contact their parents for any emergency. Students should also be able to keep their cellphones and iPods out for the resources, many sources including internet access and the use of calculators. I think students should also be able to use their cellphones and iPods for the music, music can change a person’s mood at any given time. While being in middle school I strongly believe that students should be able to use their cellphones and iPods during school and after. However, some people may argue that students shouldn’t have their cellphones and iPods out. They might argue that a student may be able to cheat on a test by texting their friends the answers. Or maybe the student’s phone might get stolen. The child might even get bullied with the use of a phone out. These little mistakes though aren’t something every kid goes through. Their mistakes that no one can control, but if they do happen then there will be consequences. However, I think students should be able to use their cellphones and iPods at appropriate times. I believe students should be able to have their cellphones out because after school they’ll be able to call their parents because someone might be trying to kidnap them. Or simply to just let them know their getting a ride with a friend. Many kids walk to school and from school to home. Meaning they need to be able to contact their points at any moment. Sometimes parents forget to pick up their child just because they’ve had a busy day at work. That’s when having a cellphone is really handy. During the day a cellphone can be useful especially when a student is having problems. Those problems can vary. Students at SVMS have experienced an unexpected problem that a cellphone could have been of good use. I think cellphones should be allowed at school in any case of emergency or if they just need to contact their parent. Additionally, I believe students should be able to have their cellphones and iPods out because they have resources. Using your phone you’d be able to use the internet for many reasons. Maybe you’re in science and a student asks a tough question that the teacher isn’t sure the answer is. By using your cellphone you’d be able to look the answer up on Google, it’s a quick and convenient resource to find an answer quickly to any question. Right after a quiz or test if you want to figure out your score and your teacher only told you how many you got right you would be able to pull out your phone or iPod and calculate your score. I think students should be able to use their cellphone or iPods during any time of the day for the resources. Furthermore, I believe using your iPods and cellphones should be allowed because of music. Music motivates people and can instantly change their mood. If someone is down all day, going to lunch and being able to just sit and listen to music can really bring someone up. Lunch on Fridays ASB plays music because everyone is so excited for the weekend. If you were to take away our cellphones and iPods there wouldn’t be any music to play. Even on Tuesdays during P.E we listen to music, when we run on the blacktop the coaches play music. They know that it pumps us up and helps us run. Some teachers even play music in class, it can either be a way of calming everyone or celebrating a class for their great achievements. I really believe that students should be able to have their phones and iPods for the music purposes. In conclusion I believe students should be able to have their phones and iPods out during school because after school kids should be able to contact their parents for any emergency. Students should also be able to keep their cellphones and iPods out for the resources, many sources including internet access and the use of calculators. I think students should also be able to use their cellphones and iPods for the music, music can change a person’s mood at any given time. While taking your time and reading this I really hope you look into helping us students by not getting our phones and iPods taken away for the various reasons. My reasons for wanting to keep our electronic devices are backed up from proofs from the SVMS student body and their life stories. As speaking for Spring Valley Middle I would like to thank you and hope you are against banding our electronic devices.

Grief in The Epic of Gilgamesh - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1041 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/07/29 Category History Essay Level High school Tags: Gilgamesh Essay Did you like this example? In this mystical tale of friendship and the quest for immortality, the theme of grief is emphasized when Gilgamesh is forever changed by the death of his dear friend Enkidu. Gilgamesh is confronted by the struggles of mortals and is profoundly effected by the injustice that was Enkidus untimely death. For Gilgamesh, Enkidu is a symbol for the natural world. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Grief in The Epic of Gilgamesh" essay for you Create order His character is vital to the transition that Gilgamesh goes through and his search for immortality is sparked by the grief he experiences. Gilgamesh begins the epic as a rash, arrogant young king who takes what he wants with little regard for anyone else. He forces himself on women, and forced men to do his biddings for him. He saw himself for the fraction of a god that he was, and for him that put him in a position higher than noblemen and peasants alike. Though he is the hero of this epic, he had to go on a long journey and underwent many hardships (Norton 1.29) to become the great king he left in his legacy, including the loss of his friend. Through themes of grief and friendship and symbols of nature and mortality, it is clear that Gilgamesh must experience this tragedy in order to learn the lesson that death is inevitable and the only way achieve immortality is to live fully. The friendship that builds between Gilgamesh and Enkidu in undeniably symbolic of the relationship between man and the natural world. His death causes a major disruption for Gilgamesh mentally, and changes the way he envisions humanity and life in general. Enkidu is born from nature, raised by nature and only becomes interested in the fruits of civilized life when he encounters humanity. Since he can no longer connect with nature in the same way again, which is privy to the complexity of the relationship between the Sumerians and nature, he proceeds to making his mission seeking to fight Gilgamesh. Once the two eventually become friends and set out on their quest to kill Humbaba, it is clear that Enkidu encourages Gilgamesh to take the life of Humbaba. The fact that Gilgamesh agrees shows that there is trust between them, so their bond is very influential to Gilgamesh and his decision making. After Enkidu gets word of his sentencing, he curses everyone for playing a part in taking h im out of the wilderness and removing him from nature, which ultimately lead to his death. It is only after the god Shamash enlightened him did he realize that if it hadnt been for Shamhat meeting him, he would have never met Gilgamesh. Enkidu becomes content with dying because he gained a beautiful friend to whom he was totally devoted. His death effected Gilgamesh so greatly because he had found a true friend in Enkidu. Even Ninsun, when interpreting Gilgameshs dream, told him that Enkidu was a companion who rescues a friend (1.295) implying that he was in need of that kind of relationship. With a kinship this strong, Gilgamesh would naturally be heartbroken at his death. The theme of grief is heavily shown through the dark tones in the dialogue of Gilgamesh over Enkidus body. May the Roads of Enkidu to the Cedar Forest mourn you and not fall silent night or day. May the Elders of the broad city of Uruk-Haven mourn you. May the peoples who gave their blessing after us mourn you. May the men of the mountains and hills mourn you. May the pasture lands shriek in mourning as if it were your mother. (8.8-13) In this passage, Gilgamesh speaks and calls upon all living things, humanity and the natural world to mourn his passing. Before, Gilgamesh was irreverent towards the earth and humanity, yet after experiencing loss and grief, he cries out to the mountains and plains like family to mourn Enkidu. He wanted the entirety of the earth to lament his lost friend. This tragedy causes a major change in the way that Gilgamesh sees life, death and mortality. Gilgamesh tries desperately to answer the eternal question that is death. He struggles to understand the finality and experiences very human emotions, and contemplates existence. Through Gilgamesh is two-thirds a god, his morality is shown through his grief. On his journey, he encounters Siduri, who could be interpreted as a character symbolic of truth. She gives Gilgamesh a different perspective on life. As he changes by simply coping with the idea that life is never promised, she also introduces to him the idea that his life could inevitably be short as well. She encourages him to be happy day and night (10.72) she does not necessary believe in trying to leave behind any kind of legacy but rather to only focus on the time he has on earth. Though it would seem to be an answer to his quest, to not pay mind to death because it is inevitable, but Gilgamesh does not listen to her and feels there is still more knowledge to be had. He seeks this further knowledge in Utanapishtim, who give s him the secret to the magic youth flower. The fact that the flower is bitten by the snake and then dies, is symbolic of the themes of death and loss because it serves as yet another illustration of the truth about life and death. Though Gilgamesh left him empty handed, it is possible that Utanapishtim serves the purpose of teaching and reiterating this lesson to Gilgamesh. As Gilgamesh journeys home he comes to the realization that his legacy already thrives in Uruk which is his pride and glory. He transitions from seeking the truth and meanings of life to coming to the acceptance of his mortality. As he looks upon the city, he says to Urshanabi Study the foundation terrace, and examine the brickwork, (11.314-315) and marvel at the beauty of his many creations. The theme of grief is present throughout this epic through the death of the symbolic character Enkidu, and his death not only changes Gilgamesh, but also teaches him a valuable lesson that eventually allows him to fulfil his life journey. Perhaps if Enkidu had never been sentenced to death, and Gilgamesh would have never learned the lesson, he would never have been able to become a great king.