What does it mean to document accurately and appropriately? To document appropriately and accurately in the medical field means ensuring that records are created for every service provided by any medical practitioner, either nurses, doctors and any other staff. It is vital for such information to in good condition, comprehensible and more transparent for all the users of the information such as the patient, payors, government agencies, legal system, researchers, accrediting groups and any other interested party (Webb,& Pass, 2004, p 35). What are the documenting guidelines? When is it appropriate to use abbreviations? To ensure that documentation is accurate and appropriate, the medical practitioners adhere to documenting guidelines which are laid down as fundamental aspects of documentation. They include being factual. This means that medical records have to contain descriptive and objective information about what a practitioner sees, feels, hears and smells (Hammond, Boyce,  Briceland, Canaday, Carr-Lopez, Eggleston, & Hudson, 2003, p 90). Documentation has to be accurate, which is asserted through the provision of exact measurements. This helps to asses any minor change to a patient which can…

Drug Use as a Destructive Naturally Loathsome Pandora Box Introduction Rob Delaney’s article Drugs will Kill your Friends published by the Atlantic magazine in 2013 describes a drug addict’s journey and the destructive impacts drug use has on individuals and families. The author makes a serious argument for the negative implications of drugs by comparing rehab or halfway houses to war because not all people who go through this journey make it as drug addiction can be compared to facing powerful adversaries and as opposed to the external nature of combat drug addiction occurs inside the individual. The significance of this story is that it is particularly persuasive as the Delaney extensively utilizes pathos to persuade readers not to engage in drug use. It is for this reason that David Barash, in his article “Two Cheers for Nature,” he suggests that because some things while natural are loathsome, they are best left alone.  Thus,Barash seems to contend that everything in this world cannot be unnatural, but it is crucial to understand the folly and avoid it with all determination. Arguably,drug…

Caring in Nursing Theory The article by Zane & Nancey (2017) discusses caring as a core aspect of the nursing profession. With years of nurse-patient and family interactions, nurse professionals have developed theories that depict care as an ethical principle. The theorists emphasize the need for care to improve patients’ welfare. These theories include the “Theory of culture care: diversity and universality” (p.96). It states that care is expressed differently in different cultures. The theory of human caring supports caring as essential in nursing. The Theory of bureaucratic caring stresses that organizations should make caring a culture. Another one, the Theory of caritative caring is about caring for those who are suffering. The Theory of caring would sum up caring as a value for comforting, supporting, protecting and engaging patients. In general, all these theories are centered on care as an indispensable component of nursing. Notably, there have been conceptual models used in the development of these theories. For instance, the nurse must know the patient’s needs, what to do to improve patient care and choose actions indented for better…

Reflection on Experience with an Individual with Dementia Introduction Graham Gibbs’s (1988) reflective framework is a cycle that helps one reflect from past events or situations with five significant steps. The first step entails describing a situation in detail, including place and time and the surrounding persons. A reflection of feelings then follows it at the time of the case. Thirdly, it is about an evaluation of approaches that worked to solve the situation followed by the conclusion stage on what alternative should have been adopted. The final step is the action where one thinks about the future and how to make better decisions should it arise again. In this discussion, I will be adopting Gibbs’s framework to reflect on an experience with a dementia patient. Description of the Event My most vivid dementia experience was at a hospital’s reception. I had finished my shift and decided to pass by to say my goodbyes to a colleague working at the reception. I found her serving a mid-20s aged man taking demographic information of the older man he had brought to…

Nursing Theory Concept Analysis   Self-care can be defined as the deliberate acts done to preserve, replenish and attend to one’s mental, physical and emotional well-being. Self-care is essential for all types of workers, but primarily for nurses and other healthcare professionals whose primary role is to take care of others. In healthcare settings, nurses are exposed to trauma, pain and suffering daily (Ross et al., 2017). Often nurses are traumatized and stressed without realizing. Practising self-care replenishes a nurse’s delivery capacity in the provision of empathy and compassion while improving the quality of healthcare and the quality of life (Borji et al., 2017). Defining Attributes The defining attributes of the self-car concept of nursing refer to the defining characteristics of self-care. Firstly, self-care creates self-awareness and creation of boundaries. Through boundaries, nurses can determine when they are overworking or underworking. Also, boundaries determine the clarity of expectations from senior physicians and stakeholders. Secondly, self-care is defined by workload self-regulation (Masinaeinezhad et al., 2018). In healthcare settings, it is often hard to regulate workloads; however, through assertiveness of the self,…

Performance Improvement Plan: Case of Belated Lab Test Introduction According to Mone, London, and Mone, (2018), performance measurement refers to the collection, analysis and reporting of information regarding an individual’s performance. A performance improvement plan is a document which states recurring performance issues and the goals that the performer has to attain to regain a good reputation (Mone et al. 2018). Addressed in this document is the subject of belated lab tests at the College Community Hospital (CCH). The primary issue is the slow turnaround time for laboratory tests which is what will be covered in this performance improvement plan. Included are the steps and flow of activities that lead up to delayed lab test results, a flow chart, performance measures, customer issues and performance opportunities that can be included by future work teams such as in the picking up of results from the outbox in a quicker manner. Performance Measures As explained above, performance measurement refers to the collection, analysis and reporting of information regarding performance. The primary issue is on the slow turnaround time of laboratory results which…

Counseling Sessions Provide a brief paraphrasing response to Emmanuel.  Make sure to use present-tense. “Your parents are responsible for your anger and frustrations. You also stated that they moved you away from your friends, and you have a hard time making new ones.  You were part of a soccer team in your previous school that won numerous games while the new school has won only three games in two years. That is indeed frustrating for anyone. You have no new friends in the school, and you live in a place that is very far away from your home. Your parents must not understand how difficult this is for you. Your relationship with your parents was close when you lived in Costa Rica, but since you moved here, you have drawn apart, and you blame your parents for this change.” Provide a brief empathy response to Emmanuel.  This must be in the form of an “I” statement. “I hear you saying that your parents do not seem to understand how significant these changes are to your life. Losing friends and starting over again…

Martin Luther King Letter from Birmingham Jail The letter is revealed to have been composed by Martin Luther King in response to the extreme reaction to the critics that were intensifying from the religious personnel in the locality. The Birmingham campaign had been accelerated in the streets. Luther seeks to establish defending arguments in regards to the non-violent actions composed towards fighting racism in society. It supported the moves of individuals to fight for justice in the society as it was among their moral responsibilities to ensure equality was restored. The letter was in response to the 1963 sit-ins and revolts against the racial discrimination that was intensifying in Birmingham, Alabama (King and Vivian 257). Martin Luther engages in the use of rhetorical appeals of logos, pathos, and ethos to ensure the effectiveness of the message is communicated in the letter. Luther manipulates the rhetorical device of Pathos to effectively communicate in the long latter. It is established that Luther illustrates the conditions that are developed within the Birmingham cell to enable him to develop the urge to write. It…

Purpose and Expectation of Practicum Interacting with patients of different needs and attention requires one to be prepared both physically and psychologically to overcome most of the potential challenges to be encountered. And in order to achieve this goal, one of the essential steps is having a positive attitude towards practicum because the achievement of any objective often begins with the state of mind.  Providing supportive assessments and counselling will be one of my primary responsibilities at the internship and to execute this task thoroughly, I have to read or watch the patient’s records to provide comprehensive and relevant counselling. Therefore, I have to be non-judgemental towards clients as well as celebrating the diversity among the clients and communities because this will cloud my assessment, hence providing low-quality services. Aligning my personal beliefs, values and perspective with both the agency’s and  NASW codes of ethics is one of the areas that I will require more guidance through shadowing because one of my responsibilities is to advocate for clients rights and needs as different patients require different forms of treatments and…

From Turnbull to Morrison: Understanding the Trust Divide By Mark Evans, Michelle Grattan, Brendan    Chapter 2: Trust and Democracy in Australia Australians should take pride in enjoying the system of democracy that has been established as a tradition in the country. Having a stable government in place where citizens can freely express themselves should be a much-celebrated value in Australia. Nonetheless, the results of democratic governance in Australia may also be painting a grim picture altogether. For instance, there is a growing trust divide between the people and those who have been placed in authority. The main evidence presented by the authors is the fast rate at which satisfaction level towards democracy is declining among the citizens. There is also a receding trust for authority in politics. Members of the public also feel that the government has gradually lost the capacity to address issues affecting the nation. The democratic culture is also divergent and has come to a sharp brink because the civilians no longer pay allegiance to democracy.  Several citizens are seeking new political machinery to represent their…