Forensic Nursing Chronicles

I think the topic of this article is important for all healthcare workers who care for patients, as well as family and friends of the patients. The recent technology and advancements in medicine are exciting and bring about a sense of hope in conquering some very debilitating diseases. Although this new era in medication is exciting, it is also scary to think of the most serious side-effects associated with these new medications. Often times I think patients feel so helpless that they rely on the expertise and opinions of healthcare professionals to make the best judgment regarding new medications. Patients hope and trust that these new medications are safe and effective. It is difficult for someone outside the drug industry to understand how much effort is put into testing a new drug. Despite all the testing, the final phase of patient administration can bring about unintended side-effects. Because of these issues, healthcare workers must do their best to watch for side-effects and report anything out of the ordinary when a patient is taking a newly marketed medication. I agree with the author of this article that it is of great importance for the health practitioner to monitor for side-effects and report all incidents. I believe it is also the role of the nurse to help the physician look for side-effects and monitor closely for any changes. Often times the physician is very busy and can only see the patient during brief rounds throughout the day. The nurse often comes in contact with the patient more frequently, and therefore should also aid in the monitoring process. Just as the author of this article mentioned, practitioners should be sure to ask patients about any and all heart conditions including palpations, shortness of breath, etc. There is also a good opportunity for the admissions nurse to key in on any of the above heart issues as well. The admissions nurse asks key questions of the patient and their family, being sure to cover all pertinent areas. This would be another chance for the patient to verbalize any concerns, changes, or history pertaining to their heart condition. Although this article focused on the newly marketed meds for ADHD, these precautions are crucial for all newly marketed meds as well.

This entry was posted on August 25, 2006 at 2:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.