Be nice to nurses.
Say it with me everyone, T G I F !!! It's finally Friday and it's FINALLY the end of midterms. Although, there are still a bunch of assignments and quizzes coming my way VERY soon... Yesterday at clinical, I actually made my first catch in a patient's chart! I noticed that a patient was prescribed a particular pain medication in the chart.. but I also noticed that the patient was ALLERGIC to that same medication. I instantly told the nurse who then contacted the primary care provider to change the medication since the patient was asking for something to alleviate the pain.
The allergy listed the trade name (brand name) of the drug (also one I know too well). But I also recognized the generic name under the patient's prescribed medications list. Thanks to pharmacology, basic active ingredients are common in trade name and generic name drugs, so the patient could have easily had an allergic reaction if given the pain medication. After this incidence, I realized even more how COMMUNICATION is so important in the health care setting. It is human to make mistakes, so it's incredibly important in work as a TEAM in patient care as well. Although this particular patient's allergic reactions were only mild...
GOAL: Don't kill the patient.
Nurses are the last line of defense.. we are the ones who will be administering the medications for patients and checking the orders made by primary care providers. It is our responsibility to catch these blips!
Speaking of pharm.. I had my second pharmacology test today... it was A LOT. Covered probably about 50+ drugs (memorized in the span of a week). We had to understand their mechanisms of action, adverse effects, therapeutic effects, contraindications, etc. Everyone was feeling a little overwhelmed with the amount of material we were expected to have memorized, but hoping the curve is forever in our favor! (:
HAVE A RELAXING WEEKEND, YALL!
Sincerely,
Meagan
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