WEEK 8 journal 6500 - Essay Example

NURS 6500 and NURS 6510 Practicum Experience Journal You must submit a journal entry in the assigned week, even if you are not on site that week. Ifyou are not on site for a week in which a journal entry is due, reflect on experiences from any of the previous weeks of this course. Place the references for each week’s entry immediately after that week is content. Remember to use APA style when writing your journal entry and references.Submit this assignment via the assignment submission link for that week.

Using this template, write your journal entry and references, using APA format and style, under the heading for the appropriate week. Begin each journal entry on a new page. The template has a ‘new page’ command inserted before each weekly label. Be sure to delete any blank pages that appear between each week’s entries. Practicum Experience Journal Entries NURS 6500Week 4 Journal (References immediately follow the content) During the practicum experience, I observed a situation to which I believe could lead to serious future consequences if it is not addressed early.

In nursing, it is common for errors to occur during practice, but failure to report these errors could lead a habit that may end up causing serious problems in the future especially when patient safety is concerned. When the nursing students were checking blood sugars, the nurse on the hall wanted them to dry their finger that had been wiped with alcohol by fanning it finger using their hand. According to patient safety, procedure in preventing that would be a wrong technique. The finger should air-dry.

The nursing students did it the way the nurse wanted them to even though it was wrong so as not to upset the nurse on the hall. Nursing students need to understand that patient safety comes first, and it is okay to report an error or raise concern if they notice an error being committed by a senior nurse or physician. Having an error-reporting system is one important strategy for improving the healthcare system. Apart from offering safety through reporting and tracing underlying causes, it further offers information about potential future errors and problems (Kim, Kim, Kim, & Kim, 2007).

According to Wolf & Hughes, (2008) “ethical principles of beneficence (doing well) and non-maleficence (preventing harm) are violated when errors are not reported or disclosed”. The situation I observed at the practicum site mirrors what research has found to be key reasons that lead to medication administration errors, which is a real world problem. A study carried out to identify barriers to the reporting of medication errors found “Administrative barriers and fear were found to be the top two reasons for not reporting medication administration errors among nursing students” (Koohestani & Nayereh, 2010).

ReferencesKim, M.-S., Kim, J. S., Kim, Y. H., & Kim, H. J. (2007). The effectiveness of the error reporting promoting program on the nursing error incidence rate in Korean operating rooms. Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing, 185-191.Koohestani, H. R., & Nayereh, B. (2010). Barriers to the reporting of medication administration errors among nursing students. AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, 66-74.Wolf, Z. R., & Hughes, R. G. (2008). Chapter 35. Error Reporting and Disclosure. In Z. R. Wolf, & R. G. Hughes, Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses (pp. 400-430). New York: Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Week 6 Journal (References immediately follow the content) This week during my practicum experience, I was teaching my class regarding antibiotics, and an issue came up with a patient regarding allergic reactions and resistance to antibiotics that I felt needed to be addressed. As I was going through the charts to find the right order for an antibiotic, specifically rocephin, one patient with active MRSA bacteria in his urine appeared not to respond to the treatment. After the patient was prescribed with a different antibiotic, which he responded to, which lead to the conclusion of MRSA bacteria being resistant to rocephin.

Taking into account that MRSA bacteria is the key cause for “difficult-to-treat infections in humans” (CDC, 2010) and the patient’s allergies I decided to show the nursing students the correct way to address antibiotics when an infection is persistent. In the medical field, there has been a significant increase in antibiotic resistance and it has become an important area of concern. According to Annie Wong-Beringer, inappropriate use of antibiotics may lead to loss of beneficial bacteria, in turn providing a conducive environment for harmful bacteria.

This further, toughens up some of the harmful bacteria, therefore, encouraging them to undergo mutation and develop drug resistance (Claubaugh, 2012). This situation directly mirrors a global problem faced by medical practitioners in treating bacterial infections and allergies. Several studies have been carried out indicating that the rate of resistance is continuously increasing over the years. A study by Jacobs (1999) on the rate of antibiotic resistance towards upper and lower respiratory tract infections showed that the rate of resistance to antibiotics was 67 percent in adults and 87 percent in children.

It is for this reasons that nursing students need to be aware of the correct ways to identify and addresses cases of resistance in antibiotics.ReferencesCDC. (2010, August 3). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Infections. Retrieved from Center for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/mrsa/Claubaugh, B. (2012, April 22). Antibiotic Resistance and Allergies: An Essential Solution. Retrieved from Green Owl Wisdom: http://greenowlwisdom.com/antibiotic-resistance-and-allergies-an-essential-solution/Jacobs, M. R. (1999).

Emergence of antibiotic resistance in upper and lower respiratory tract infections. The American Journal of Managed Care, 651-661.Week 8 Journal (References immediately follow the content) Early this week during my practicum experience, I observed a rather disturbing scene that involved an elderly woman who had difficulties in swallowing food. The charge nurse at the hospital tried to force-feed the patient, while explaining to my students that it was appropriate since the elderly woman was too difficult to feed.

The situation got worse when one of my students tried to remove the food from the patient’s mouth, as she was afraid that she was going to choke. Such a situation is an example of a problem where many morals are being broken in the medical field leading to harm and neglect. The issue is not new to the nursing field, it is a worldwide problem where unethical practices take place resulting to neglect and harm. In 2010, two carers were charged with force-feeding an 85-year-old patient at a nursing home (Mather, 2010).

Not only is the situation illegal, it is also unethical and could result to more harm and neglect to the patient (Lakhan, Hamlat, McNamee, & Laird, 2009). According to Lafferty (1997), the main aim of nurse education is to prepare and nurture students into competent practitioners with a target goal of protecting the public from incompetence while maintaining professional standards. I am glad I used such a situation positively to educate my students on medical care morals and I hope it is one-step towards eliminating ignorance and implementing proper ethical practices in the nursing field.

Unethical practices in the medial field are a major worldwide problem (Malpani, 2005). However, we need to understand that besides the hospital policies and regulations it is an individual initiative to ensure safe practice and to have moral responsibility. ReferencesLafferty , P. (1997). Balancing the curriculum: Promoting aesthetic knowledge in nursing. Nurse Education Today, 281-286.Lakhan, S. E., Hamlat, E., McNamee, T., & Laird, C. (2009). Time for a unified approach to medical ethics. Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine, 13.

Malpani, A. (2005). Successful Medical Practice: Winning Strategies For Doctors. New Delhi, India: UBS Publisher.Mather, S. (2010, May 6). Dementia patient, 85, was force-fed by nurse. Retrieved from The Helens Star: http://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/8149755.Dementia_patient__85__was_force_fed_by_nurse/ Practicum Experience Journal Entries NURS 6510Week 3 Journal (References immediately follow the content)Week 5 Journal (References immediately follow the content)Week 7 Journal (References immediately follow the content)