Do you believe it would be beneficial to patient safety if nurses were required to attend yearly refreshers in pathophysiology?

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Patient safety is of the utmost importance and the focus of many institutions and accrediting bodies. Each year trainings are completed throughout these institutions in order to improve patient safety and decrease illnesses.
This week we discussed many illness that can greatly impact patient safety. Do you believe it would be beneficial to patient safety if nurses were required to attend yearly refreshers in pathophysiology? Please use examples from this week as well as the literature to support your stance.
(Hint: If you are in support of this you can use an illness we discussed this week and talk about how knowledge of the pathophysiology of this would help provide a safer patient care environment if you saw it in a patient’s history.

How many grams of fat are in each of the chosen items?

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    1. Compare 3 food labels or nutritional information of a breakfast food such as bread, cereal or granola bars. Please try your best to get labels of the food found in a grocery store or at home. You may take a photo of a food label (with a phone etc.) instead of buying the product if you don’t wish to.
    2. Look at the 3 food labels and notice the differences in areas such as nutrients, packaging, price, quantity and ingredients.
    3. After analysis of the labels, produce an easy to read comparative chart for the products. It cannot be hand written.
    4.  Be sure to choose a uniform serving size and convert the calculations accordingly – i.e. let’s say you choose 1 cup of cereal as your uniform serving size, but some of the labels serving sizes could be ¾ cup or ½ cup.  You will need to double all of the nutrition info for the ½ cup serving size cereal.
    5. For each product, list:
      1. Serving Size (all must be converted to the same)
      2. Calories
      3. Total Fat
      4. Saturated Fat
      5. Sodium
      6. Total Carbohydrate
      7. Total Sugar
      8. Dietary Fiber
      9. Protein
      10. Price per ounce of product or other practical equal amount so that they are equal for comparison
      11. Any other information you deem important for comparison or interesting observations that may deter or encourage someone to buy the product – i.e. taste, claims/advertisements, calcium etc.
      12. Vitamins and Minerals

 

  1.  Attach a separate sheet of paper answering the following questions concerning your products. Please make sure to refer to EACH of the 3 brands in every answer:
  2. Answers need to be typed
    1. How many grams of fat are in each of the chosen items?  What is the percentage of calories coming from fat for each brand?  Ex. Is it < 25% of total calories?  (show your work). Comment on the comparison of fat percentage.
    2. How many grams of sugar are in each these products?  AND how many grams of fiber? Approximately how many teaspoons of sugar does each brand use? Is this a “natural” or “added” sugar?  (HINT there are 4 grams sugar / teaspoon).  If no sugar or fiber is in one or more of the brand’s products, write a few sentences commenting on why, or what ingredient you think could have been used as a substitute.
    3. How many milligrams of sodium are in each of these products?  This of the brands produces a food product that could be consumed if someone were on a restricted sodium diet (ie? < 2300 mg/day)?
    4. Explain in a short paragraph the differences between these brands of the same product. Comment on significant differences in nutrients, vitamins and/or mineral content and ingredients.
    5. Which of the brands provides the most economical choice?  Is it necessarily the healthiest choice? Explain your answer.
    6. Which brand would you purchase and why?

Describe differences between viral and bacterial infections.

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Antimicrobial agents are essential components in the treatment of various bacterial infections as they help to kill or prevent the growth of microbes such as bacteria, fungi, and protozoans. Prior to the discovery of antimicrobial agents, treatment options for patients with bacterial infections were limited. For many patients, treatment often resulted in the amputation of limbs or even death. Today, treatment options for bacterial infections typically have a more positive prognosis. Due to the various types of infections presented in patients, it is essential to be able to identify the underlying cause of the infection—whether bacterial or viral—before recommending drug treatments. This will help you identify whether or not an antimicrobial agent would be appropriate and which specific agent would target the infection. In this Assignment, you consider the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents for infections.
To prepare:
Review this week’s media presentation on principles of antimicrobial therapy, as well as Chapter 8 of the Arcangelo and Peterson text.
Consider the categories of antimicrobial agents.
Think about differences between viral and bacterial infections.
Reflect on why proper identification of the infection is key to selecting the proper antimicrobial agent.
To complete:
Write a 2- to 3- page paper that addresses the following:
Describe the categories of antimicrobial agents.
Describe differences between viral and bacterial infections.
Explain why proper identification of viral and bacterial infections is key to selecting the proper antimicrobial agent.
Chapter 8, “Principles of Antimicrobial Therapy” (pp. 96–117)
This chapter covers factors that impact the selection of an antimicrobial treatment regimen. It also examines the clinical uses, adverse events, and drug interactions of various antimicrobial agents such as penicillin.
Chapter 12, “Fungal Infections of the Skin” (pp. 141–149)
This chapter explores the pathophysiology of several fungal infections of the skin as well as related drug treatments and examines the importance of patient education when managing these infections.
Chapter 14, “Bacterial Infections of the Skin” (pp. 158–172)
This chapter begins by examining causes of bacterial infections. It then explores the importance of selecting an appropriate agent for treating bacterial infections.
Chapter 32, “Urinary Tract Infection” (pp. 474–480)
This chapter covers drugs used to treat urinary tract infections and identifies special considerations when treating geriatric patients, pediatric patients, and women.
Chapter 35, “Sexually Transmitted Infections” (pp. 512–535)
This chapter outlines the causes, pathophysiology, and drug treatment of six sexually transmitted infections, including gonorrhea, syphilis, and human papilloma virus infection (HPV). It also examines the importance of selecting the proper agent and monitoring patient response to treatment.
Chapter 48, “Human Immunodeficiency Virus” (pp. 748–762)
This chapter presents the causes, pathophysiology, diagnostic criteria, and prevention methods for HIV. It also covers various methods of drug treatment and patient factors to consider when selecting, administering, and managing drug treatments.

Describe which blood types he can receive safely and why these are compatible with his Type B.

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Examine case studies related to endocrine and hematologic disorders and answer the assigned questions. This assignment should help refine your clinical/critical thinking skills.
Assignment Description:
Answer the questions related to each of the patients provided. Your answer must follow APA 6th edition format. Submit the answer in the assignment area of your course. This assignment is worth 50 points.
A 35 year old male has come to see you because he is urinating, by his estimate, about 8L/day. He is constantly thirsty and drinks as much cold water as he can every day. His sleep is disrupted because of the need to urinate throughout the night. During your assessment, you learn he had several concussions playing college sports. He was recently involved in a car accident in which the airbag deployed and knocked him out. You test his urine and the specific gravity is 1.002. Stat labs reveal a serum sodium (Na+) of 150, and his plasma osmolality is 310 mOsm/kg.
What hormonal imbalance does this patient have?
Describe the pathophysiology related to the hormonal imbalance you identified.
Identify the most common causes of the hormonal imbalance and determine which caused the imbalance in this patient.
A 70 year old male patient describes symptoms he has noticed in the past 3 days: easily fatigued, severe shortness of breath, being so weak he sleeps all the time, and bright red blood in the toilet with bowel movements. Your assessment reveals cool skin, pale oral mucosa and conjunctivae, positive hemoccult test, and a Hgb of 5 g/dL. You diagnose him with a gastrointestinal bleed. He will require a blood transfusion. He has Blood Type B.
Identify the type of anemia he has.
Describe which blood types he can receive safely and why these are compatible with his Type B.
Describe the blood types he cannot receive and why they are incompatible with Type B
Explain the transfusion reaction if he received incompatible blood products.
Mini Case Study Assignment Grading Criteria
Requirement
Maximum Points
Earned Points
Patient 1 – Discussed hormonal imbalance exhibited, pathophsyiology, and possible causes..
20
Patient 2 – Identified the type of anemia, compatible and incompatible blood types, and described the transfusion reaction.
20
Submitted the assignment on time and in the correct location
2
Used APA 6th edition style guidelines consistently and accurately.