Thank Goodness for Second Chances

Melissa Mihalovic

Written Communication

Cause and Effect

Preeclampsia/Eclampsia:

               

 

                Today I will discuss some causes and effects of preeclampsia which can lead to eclampsia. Which is life threatening to the pregnant mother and baby.  I unfortunately know of eclampsia all too well, since this happened to me 4 years ago after giving birth to my last child.  It is very rare to only have eclampisa without having preeclampsia, actually only a 0.1% chance of this ever happening. 

                Preeclampsia is high blood pressure that develops or increase while a women is pregnant, and can lead to eclampsia which involves seizures of the women.  Preeclampsia usually develops after 20 weeks pregnant.  I can be mild or severe, and can even affect the kidneys, brain, liver and lungs.  If the women’s blood pressure gets too high then she can and will develop eclampsia which is a bleed in the brain and then causes seizures.  My seizures developed a full one week after I gave birth which is very rare.  There may be some signs and symptoms of preeclampsia which include agitation, confusion, changes in mental status, decrease urine output, nausea and vomiting, headaches and visual impairment.  I had all of these symptoms and went to the doctor several times but because this is so rare after giving birth they did not look for this and was sent home.  A lot of times there are no clues or warning signs that eclampsia will occur.  During or after a seizure a women may bite their tongue, break bones, harm her head, develop fluid in lungs and can also be life threatening.

                There are many causes that can contribute to preeclampsia and eclampsia, but there are times as in my case where they have no cause and no warning.  Some of these causes include, high blood pressure before even getting pregnant, or developing high blood pressure during pregnancy, also diabetes, having a baby before the age of 20 or after the age of 35, a first pregnancy, or low socioeconomic status.  These are just a few causes but there are many more that are not known. 

                Diagnosis begins with a complete history and physical while pregnant.  This does include multiple blood test and history of both father and Mother.  There can also be long term effects from having preeclampsia and eclampsia which include, increased risks for C section next time, placenta abrubtio, in which the placenta breaks away from the uterine wall, stillbirth, premature birth, death of mother, acute kidney failure, and PRES syndrome, which I was also diagnosed with, this is a reversible brain swelling to put it in better terms.  They say the only treatment for eclampsia is to give birth but as we know this does not always stop the seizures.  When this happens to someone once the risks for it the next time the Mother becomes pregnant is high. 

Response to "Why I Blog"

Response to “Why I Blog”, by Andrew Sullivan was a good essay to read and interesting.  I know I heard of Blogging but would never consider blogger as a hoppy, although I have enjoyed the experience of blogging in this semester of Written Communications Class.  My favorite quote from the essay of Andrew Sullivan’s essay, which I agree with, was when he said “Blogging is to writing what extreme sports are to athletics: more free-form, more accident-prone, less formal, and more alive.  It is in many ways, writing out loud”. People write blogs for all different reasons and on all different subjects like religion, house repairs, births, and family life.  I did think about writing a blog this semester on my family life, but with anyone being able to read a blog, I thought it could be dangerous.  I also liked how Sullivan said in his essay that blogging is free writing, and can just be thoughts of the person blogging.  To some people blogging and writing in general can be a stress reliever.  The thing about blogging is there are no editors, or any need for revisions.  It is simple how the blogger thinks, feels, and opinion. So may be after this class some of us will continue our current blogs, or start a new blog just for fun.  

Only one thing

Melissa Mihalovic

Written Communications

Wed.6:30pm-9:50pm/11/13/13

Instructor: Daykin

                                                                                “Only one thing”

 

                My every day to day work load as a LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) can be very long, and at times it can be hard to keep up with everything that I have to accomplish in one day.  At the nursing home I work at I actually do everything an RN does, and I am the only LPN that is in charge of her own hallway.  This means I am responsible for 27 residents each day, which includes there day to day health concerns.  Today though, I will tell you the step by step the process I have to go through to insure that each resident receives there medications safely, they receive the correct medications, in the right manner,  and actually this part of my job duties are the least worrisome in my line of work.

                The first thing to know about passing medications to all those residents, and anyone that passes medications to patient, residents or clients is you have to remember your five rights of following medication pass, which are right drug, right dose, right route, right resident/patient/client, and right time.  These five rights are very important when giving someone else medications.  The first thing you want to do is to wash your hands, before any direct contact with medications or with the resident. 

                The second step is to check the medication label with the medication record three times, this means each time you pass out a medication it has to be checked three separate times.  This does become very time consuming when a person just starting to pass medications begins.  At my place of employment only one nurse at a time can be at the medication cart.  This has been made a rule at my place of employment due to having two nurses one time trying to pass out medications on the same cart, a male resident received the wrong medications, which was an actual whole cup full of meds when I say a cup I mean a thirty cc medication cup, and he was given many different heart meds that he was not on and he already had a compromised heart.  This sent him to the ER which in turn sent him to ICU unit for many days.  Thankfully he did survive.  When passing meds the person needs to check the meds three times, including, when taking med from cart, when putting in cup, and just before giving medication to resident.  These helps to insure that nothing was missed and that you have the right person.  This can save many lives.

                The third step is to never leave the medication cart/treatment cart or med room unattended or unlocked.  This is where all the meds are kept, in a locked cart, with only that nurse having the key, and then in a locked room, medication room, and only the nurses and medication techs have the keys.  This is so there is only limited access to the meds.  When passing meds also never leave meds with a resident, make sure they take all meds while you watch, also the medication cart has to be within eye view of the person passing out meds, and if you step away from it, it has to be locked. It is my responsibility to know what meds are to be given before, after and with food, and to give appropriately. When measuring liquids this has to be done at eye level, and has to be given to the resident all liquids, you may have to add water to residue to insure all of the med was ingested.  If the person giving meds walks away before the resident takes their meds they may drop one. 

                There are many other small rules to giving meds to residents, like taking off old pain patches before applying knew ones, waiting 5 minutes between different eye drops unless it is specified to wait longer, and waiting 1 minute between each puff of same inhaler or waiting 5-10 minutes between puffs of different inhalers. This allows the medicine to get into the body and do what it is suppose too. 

                In conclusion, when I pass meds I have to follow the 5 rights of medication pass, which are right drug, right dose, right route, right resident, and right time.  I also need to chart after each medication given because not charting something is just like saying I didn’t do it.  This part of my day is only one small fraction of what I do in a day, but one of the most important things I do.  It is my responsibility to ensure that each one of my residents receives the proper medications that are ordered for them.  After all they rely on me and trust me.  

Process Essay: Only one thing

Process analysis essay

                My every day to day work load can be very long and at times it can be hard to keep up with everything that as an LPN have to accomplish in one day.  At the nursing home I work at I actually do everything an RN does, and I am the only LPN that is in charge of her own hallway.  This means I am responsible for 27 residents each day, which includes there day to day health concerns.  Today though I will tell you step by step the process I have to go through to insure that each resident receives there medications safely, and insure they receive the correct medications, and actually this part of my job duties are the least worrisome in my line of work.

                The first thing to know about passing medications to all those residents and anyone that passes medications to patient, residents or clients is you have to remember your 5 rights of following medication pass, which are right drug, right dose, right route, right resident/patient/client, and right time.  These five rights are very important when giving someone else medications.  The first thing you want to do is to wash your hands, before any direct contact with meds or with the resident. 

                The next step is to check the medication label with the medication record three times, this means each time you pass out a medication it has to be checked three separate times.  This does become very time consuming when a person just starting to pass medications begins.  At my place of employment only one nurse at a time can be at the medication cart.  This has been made a rule at my place of employment due to having 2 nurses one time trying to pass out medications on the same cart, a male resident received the wrong medications, which was an actual whole cup full of meds when I say cup I mean a 30 cc medication cup, but he was given many different heart meds that he was not on and he already had a bad heart.  This sent him to the ER and he was in the ICU unit for many days.  Thankfully he did survive.  When passing meds the person needs to check the meds three times, including, when taking med from cart, when putting in cup, and just before giving medication to resident.  These helps to insure that nothing was missed and that you have the right person.  This can save many  lives.

                The next step is to never leave the medication card/treatment card or med room unattended or unlocked.  This is where all the meds are kept, in a locked cart, with only that nurse having the key, and then in a locked room, medication room, and only the nurses and medication techs have the keys.  This is so not everyone can get access to the meds.  When passing meds also never leave meds with a resident, make sure they take all meds while you watch, also the medication cart has to be within eye view of the person passing out meds, and if you step away from it, it has to be locked. It is my responsibility to know what meds are to be given before, after and with food, and to give appropriately. When measuring liquids this has to be done at eye level, and has to be given to the resident all liquids, you may have to add water to residue to insure all of the med was ingested.  If the person giving meds walks away before the resident takes their meds they may drop one. 

                There are many other small rules to giving meds to residents, like taking off old pain patches before applying knew ones, waiting 5 minutes between different eye drops unless it is specified to wait longer, and waiting 1 minute between each puff of same inhaler or waiting 5-10 minutes between puffs of different inhalers. This allows the medicine to get into the body and do what it is suppose too.  

                In conclusion, when I pass meds I have to follow the 5 rights of medication pass, which are right drug, right dose, right route, right resident, and right time.  I also need to chart after each medication given because not charting something is just like saying I didn’t do it.  This part of my day is only one small fraction of what I do in a day, but one of the most important things I do.  It is my responsibility to ensure that each one of my residents receives the proper medications that are ordered for them.  Afterall they rely on me and trust me.