...Included in the patients’ rights is the right to be free of pain, unfortunately this right is exceedingly abused. We have ways of finding and clinically documenting the root of the pain, but with pain now being considered a vital sign, the patient is reporting what their pain is on a scale from 1 to 10, making the diagnosis highly subjective. The amount of abuse that shadows over prescription pain medication is staggering, it’s led to the standardization and DEA regulation of how much of a narcotic can be prescribed to an individual. If or when at all possible narcotic pain medication should be avoided and tightly regulated, because of the nature of such drugs, there is an extremely high risk of abuse and misuse. Public heath reports and studies...
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...writing more pain medication scripts than are probably necessary. I wish physician had more time in their visits to really get to know their patients more on a personal level as well as a medical level. I understand that a long-term friendship may not blossom from this visits but knowing a patient well enough to know whether or not the symptoms presented are true is of the utmost importance. I wish there was a way for physicians to request or require their patients to try alternative care such as holistic, chiropractor, or even acupuncture to try to relieve their pain before prescribing pain medications. I understand some patients may be totally against an alternative approaches and at that point in time the physician could write a script for a limited supply of medication. I think it would be beneficial for a re-evaluation of the patient be paramount before calling in another script....
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...Pain Medications: The Way We Cope All of us have lived with pain sometime in our lives. We would all like to have a magic pill to take all the pain away, but in modern medicine there isn’t anything like that. There are several different types of medication that can help. Depending on the pain severity, medications vary from your nonnarcotic analgesic drugs which include (salicylate analgesic drugs, nonsalicylate analgesic drugs, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and narcotic analgesic drugs. In the following paragraphs I am going to explain the pain medication I am on for my Rheumatoid Arthritis which is Tramadol. Another name for it is Ultram and it falls under the category of a nonsalicylate analgesic drug. When you are in pain, the one thing you want is the relief to be fast. Tramadol delivers. It has been on the market for years, offering fast relief to moderate to severe pain. How come it is so effective? It is because it is a synthetic form of the more powerful opiate drugs. This gives you most of the pain relief without the side effects. Tramadol works by having your body change the way it senses pain. It does this by inhibiting your neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin, while it also “activates narcotic receptors in the brain and spinal cord to relieve pain.” (Turley, 2010) Tramadol binds to opioid receptors in the brain, which are receptors that transmit the sensation of pain throughout the body. My Rheumatologist started me on 50mg...
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...Americans addicted to prescription pain medication American Intercontinental University Presentation Essentials PRES111 Americans addicted to prescription pain medication Topic: Americans addicted to prescription pain medication. General Purpose: To inform. Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of the epidemic of addiction painkillers. INTRODUCTION 1. A deadly epidemic is happening at a rapid pace with Americans and pain medication 2. Reasons Americans abuse these medications. 3. General facts about the danger of these drugs. A. Physically B. Mentally C. Overall behavior 4. Review and conclusion. 5. Thesis: Addicted and overdosing, Americans of all ages are abusing prescription pain medications. People need to be better educated about the danger of these legal painkillers. Better ways to prevent the rising addiction among Americans needs to be talked about more often. 1. What are the drugs being most abused and the shocking numbers of death due to addiction? A. These drugs are known as opiates or narcotics. 1. Most abused pain medication includes, Hydrocodone which includes iodine, Lora tab, and Lori tan. 2. Oxycodone which includes oxytocin, Percocet, and Percodan. 3. Morphine and codeine are on the list as well. B. The shocking numbers of increase dangers from these medications. 1. 3.7 million people filled 21 million legal prescriptions for opiate pain pills in 2007 (Center for Disease Control & Prevention, 2012). 2...
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...Some depression, like that which comes with genetic heredity, permanent brain chemical imbalance or brain damage may never be able to be eliminated. But, even then depression can be managed with medication, lifestyle changes, high awareness, and treatment of symptoms. One of the most common treatments is taking antidepressants which are for the more serious cases where the depression has an intense onset due to trauma or when it is obvious that there is a brain chemistry imbalance. There are many ways to scan the brain using imaging and electrical sensory devices that can help make a very specific diagnosis of various brain imbalances. Unfortunately, these tests are not yet widely utilized or publicized. Medications help make people more emotionally stable and can lighten up their mood up to 70%. The only down-side to medication is that it will not alleviate life stressors and the medications can have awful side effects. So, though it is helpful to ward off the acute dangers of depression, it could have a bad long term effects. The second most common treatment is counseling for the less severe cases and in duo with medication for more severe cases. This will help with the problems and have a better long term effect. In some cases counseling or medication are not needed. Depression can be temporary and with changes in life situations, the passing of a traumatic event, or lifestyle changes, it can pass through on its own. There are now many alternative healing...
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...A Caucasian man with Hip Pain The management of pain can be tricky as sometimes-healthcare professions struggle between objective pain and associating the subjective pain which is what the patient says, “It is.” Understanding the Pathophysiology of pain and the cause of acute pain that lead to chronic pain is an essential aspect of managing pain. The nociceptive pain pathway is series of neurons that detect noxious stimuli that end up with pain; however, the pathway starts at the peripheral to the spinal cord and the brain (Stahl 2013). Knowing the pain pathway will help the PMHNP to understand the use of certain psychological drugs for the manage pain like Selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) for depression (Mehalick et al. 2016). According to the case study, the patient suffered from right hip pain that has been going...
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...head injuries, dizziness or convulsions. Visualized a small essential tremor in bilateral hands. States has some weakness, tingling, and numbness in both lower extremities due to bilateral knee replacements. Denies signs or symptoms of difficulty speaking, or swallowing. States takes Narcotic pain medications for pain management. | Head and Neck:States intermittent migraines. Denies any neck pain. Denies any abnormal lumps or swelling in her neck or head area. Sinus surgery in 1991, without complications. | Eyes:Denies eye pain, excessive tearing or blurred vision of the eyes. Last eye exam was March, 2014 which included glaucoma testing, vision testing. No visible redness of eyes. Client states she is currently wearing progressive lens glasses. States when eyes are occasionally dry she uses artificial tears. | Ears:Denies earache or other ear pain. History of childhood chronic ear infections. No lengthy exposure to loud environmental noises. Denies any vertigo or ear medications. | Nose, Mouth, and Throat: States has had cold sores of the mouth in the past. Denies any nosebleeds. States has had gingivitis in the past and was treated by dentist. Allergies to multiple medications and bee stings. Last dental check-up, states was 1 year ago. States has had many root canals and tooth implants. Rinses with medicated mouth wash. States had sinus surgery in 1991, with no complications. | Skin, Hair and Nails:Skin dry and intact. No signs of skin disease. Denies any changes...
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...Health History/Review of Systems(Complete and systematic review of systems) | Neurological System (headaches, head injuries, dizziness, convulsions, tremors, weakness, numbness, tingling, difficulty speaking, difficulty swallowing, etc., medications): Patient is oriented x3. No major memory deificit was noted or reported. Patient if forgetful at times due to the aging. Has BLE muscle weakness and pain due to the disease process. No history of tremors or seizures was reported. No numbness or tingling was reported. Patient speech is clear; no difficulty in swallowing was reported or observed. Patient takes Aspirin 81mg PO daily prophylactically. | Head and Neck (pain, headaches, head/neck injury, neck pain, lumps/swelling, surgeries on head/neck, medications): Per patient “I get occasional headaches but is relived with the pain medication. I have LBP less often then daily but is relieved with the medications”. On assessment no swelling or lumps were noted. No history or surgeries on the back and neck was reported. Patient takes Tylenol 500 mg 1-2 PO PRN. | Eyes (eye pain, blurred vision, history of crossed eyes, redness/swelling in eyes, watering, tearing, injury/surgery to eye, glaucoma testing, vision test, glasses or contacts, medications): Patient reported cataract surgery 10-12...
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...the disease. Cancer patients are chronic sufferers and require effective physiological and psychological management of the complications. Pain is a common complication of end stage cancer patients who are undergoing either curative or palliative treatment. It can range from mild, moderate and severe depending on the progress of the disease. When it comes to palliative or end stage cancer (terminal illness), severe chronic pain management becomes even difficult for the family and health care providers. In fact, in such cases pain becomes primary and chief complaint of people for referrals....
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...Administration and Pain Management in the Terminally Ill Cancer Patient: Case study of a patient in the terminal phase of breast cancer. This case study is based on Ms. D, a 48-year-old married woman diagnosed with Bilateral Breast Cancer. She underwent a bilateral mastectomy 4 years ago. Lymph involvement was noted at the time of the surgery. Recent metastases of the bone has been diagnosed and she is in the terminal phase of the disease process. Up to this point, she has been on a regimen of Oxycodone 5 mg P.O. every 6 hours as needed for pain, Zantac 150mg P.O daily for heartburn, Docusate 100mg P.O. twice a day to promote bowel movements, Celexa 40mg PO daily for depression and enteric coated aspirin 81mg PO daily for prophylaxis of transient ischemic attacks and MI. She remains in her home and is receiving care at home. Ms. D has complained recently of significant increased pain and trouble sleeping, most likely due to the bone metastases in the area of the lumbar spine. She has stated that the pain has dramatically decreased her quality of life recently also. She has expressed the desire to remain at home during the terminal phase of her disease, but needs more adequate pain management to preserve her quality of life for as long as possible. She is married and her husband is very loving and supportive of her desire to stay in the home during this phase. He has voiced some concerns about drug dependency if the patient were to receive stronger pain medication. I have contacted...
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...PATIENT INFORMATION Date Last Name Date of Birth Address Home Phone Number Employer First Name Middle Initial Age Social Security Number City State Zip Other Phone Number Work Phone YES NO A. Are you pregnant? If yes, please stop and return to the front desk. B. Are you on ANY type of steroids (oral, inhaler, injections or creams)? Have you been on steroids within the past 3 weeks? C. Have you had an organ transplant? D. Have you had cancer? Are you in remission? E. Do you have any implanted electronic devices? YES YES YES YES YES YES NO NO NO NO NO NO Can we leave a message on your answering machine? YES NO May we contact you at work? YES NO May we give results at this address? YES NO Would you like to receive occasional informational notifications? If so please provide address: Email Authorization to release information to and relation. Your Primary Care Physician Is: Have you ever filed legal actions against a healthcare provider? YES NO EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION Last Name First Name Phone Number(s): Nearest Relative/Friend Not Living With You: Phone Number(s): Middle Initial Above information will be used for verification and emergency purposes only. How Did You Hear About Laser Med Center? Patient Signature: _____ INITIAL CONSULTATION AND PATIENT HISTORY Circle any of the following which apply: - Arthritis - Compression Fracture - Diabetes - Kidney Failure/Dysfunction - Liver Failure/Dysfunction - High Blood Pressure - Irregular Heart Beat - Light Sensitivity...
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...50-year-old male cook/crew member who sustained a work-related injury when he lifted a 40-pound tray of chicken and felt back pain. Per OMNI, he had a lumbar sprain/strain with right sciatic component. Based on pain management follow up evaluation report dated 06/26/15, the patient complains of lumbar spine pain, which he rates at 5/10. He notes that the pain has decreased since his last visit ( 05/29/15) due to a sacroiliac joint injection on 06/08/15. He reports that the procedure helped (100%) and he is pain free for two weeks and he was not taking any medication. He states that he had better mobility and he slept well. Now, he is indicating that the pain has returned. He has been taking his medication regularly and...
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...Indivdual Client Health History and examination Chinnu Varkey-Andrews NRS 434V Instructor: Michale Jones Grant canyon University July 15, 2012 Health History and Examination | | | |Student Name: Chinnu Varkey-Andrews |Date: 7/13/2012 | | | | | |Client/Patient Initials: G.K. |Sex: Male |Age: 35 | | | |Occupation of Client/Patient: Scrub technologist | |Health History/Review of Systems | | | |Neurological System: No history of headaches, head injuries, dizziness, convulsions, tremors, ...
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...recently, your options for treating pain were relatively limited. You had weak, over-the-counter solutions like ibuprofen and acetaminophen or you could choose heavy-duty prescription opioids. There was little middle ground in getting pain relief. As a result, most healthcare practitioners have defaulted to prescribing opioid medications when it comes to pain conditions. These medications do provide powerful relief of most pain, but they also come with a host of side effects and significant risks. Patients have long wondered if there’s a better treatment option out there. Recent research shows cannabis could be the treatment patients have been dreaming of. It’s likely the reason more people are turning to cannabis for pain relief. It’s Effective The first question anyone asks when it comes to cannabis for pain relief is how effective it is. After all, if there was a better...
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...Task #1 Key assessments that should be done to a patient upon arrival to the emergency department help assess and identify the patient's condition or status. First I would assess Mrs. Baker by using the stethoscope to listen to heart, lungs, and abdomen, at the same time checking her body and skin to see is there are any abnormalities. Next, I would check Mrs. Baker's neurological status to see if she recalls what happened and where she is at that time. I would also ask her about her health history and check to see which medications she takes at home and if there's any new medications that she's started on. Then I would ask her if she's having pain. However if Mrs. Baker is unresponsive, I would assess her facial, body expression, and behavior to determine if she's having pain. IV access would be started, in case Mrs. Baker needs more fluids or iv medications. Next, I would ask the nursing assistant to take the patient's vital signs to see if there's any major issues with her vitals, especially her blood pressure. I would also ask lab to get stat labs for the patient with an order from the attending physician. Labs would include, stat CBC, CMP, and ABG's. The CBC would help to determine if she's having any bleeding, anemic, or having an infection. The CMP would help to determine if there's an electrolyte imbalance. The ABG's would help to determine if she's having a respiratory or a metabolic reaction, and if she's acidic or alkalitic. ABG results will also help...
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