ESSAY: RESEARCH AND PHARM

ASSESSMENT 4

OVERVIEW

Write a 5 page article on a controversial topic related to pharmacology.  Explain appropriate use of pharmacology; the relationship between quality patient outcomes, patient safety, and the use of pharmacology; and how the topic affects communities and organizations.  Describe inequities regarding access to pharmacological treatments.

CONTEXT

Professional nursing practice is based on knowledge that comes from research.  This research provides nurses with strategies to better communicate with patients, as well as answers to questions such as the following:

What are the most effective pharmacological agents to treat hypertension in an elderly Latino patient?

How do home visits benefit the family of a child with a severe chronic illness?

Are there new pharmacological treatments for mental illness?

Health care is ever changing.  Research helps nurses understand what those changes are and build on their knowledge base as they continue to provide quality care to their patients.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the question below:

What role does nursing play in clinical trials during the development of a new drug?

RESOURCES

Bench, S., Day, T., & Metcalfe, A. (2013). Randomised controlled trials: An introduction for nurse researchers. Nurse Researcher, 20(5), 38–44.

Edwards, B., & Chakraborty, S. (2012). Risk communication and the pharmaceutical industry: What is the reality? Drug Safety, 35(11), 1027–1040.

Folmsbee, S. (2014, October 5). Folmsbee: Medical marijuana deserves research. University Wire. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu

Hoffmann, D. E., & Weber, E. (2010). Medical marijuana and the law. The New England Journal of Medicine, 362(16), 1453–1457.

Kubiszyn, T., & Mire, S. S. (2014). A review of recent FDA drug safety communications for pediatric psychotropics. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 23(4), 716–727.

Schwartz, L. M., & Woloshin, S. (2013). The drug facts box: Improving the communication of prescription drug information. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(Supplement 3), 14069–14074.

Ward-Abel, N., Vernon, K., & Warner, R. (2014). An exciting era of treatments for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 10(1), 21–28.

Doamekpor, L. A., & Zuckerman, D. M. (2012). Lack of diversity in cancer drug trials may exacerbate racial disparities in mortality rates. Cancer Epidemiology, 38(5), 645–646.

Kesselheim, A. S., & Avorn, J. (2012). The food and drug administration has the legal basis to restrict promotion of flawed comparative effectiveness research. Health Affairs, 31(10), 2200–2205.

Munro, C. L., & Savel, R. H. (2015). Measles 2015: Why public health matters to critical care. American Journal of Critical Care, 24(3), 192–194.

ASSESSMENT INSTRUCTIONS

In your professional nursing practice, you will likely encounter both patients and coworkers whose personal or cultural views on pharmacology may be quite different from your own.  Understanding the most current research on pharmacological topics will help you make informed choices.

For this assessment, imagine your supervisor asks you to write an article on a controversial topic for the organization’s monthly newsletter in which you review the most recent research on the topic.  She stresses you must present a balanced overview and equally address the pros and cons of the topic.

Preparation

Complete the following as you prepare to write your article:

1.  Choose a topic from the list below:

The use of medical marijuana.  MARIJUANA IS A GREAT TOPIC FOR THE ER, HAD A RECENT CASE WHERE A PEDI PT ATE MOM’S GUMMIES.

The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) versus traditional Western medicine.

Experimental drug programs and disease management.

Mandated vaccinations for children and the implications for parental choice not to vaccinate.

The information you use to support your work in this assessment must be as recent as possible.

Note: These are very broad topics.  Limit your work to the scope of your practice (ER) and be mindful of the page-length requirements.

Requirements

Once you have identified your topic, organize your article as you wish.  

Be sure to include the following:

1. Explain the appropriate use of the pharmacology related to the topic.  Include elements such as diseases or health concerns associated with the topic and the efficacy and applicability of the pharmacology.

2. Explain the relationship between quality patient outcomes, patient safety, and use of the pharmacology related to the topic.  Remember to address both the benefits and limitations of the pharmacology in terms of specific diseases and populations.

3. Explain how the topic affects both the community and the organization in terms of promoting health and wellness.

4. Describe any inequities regarding access to the pharmacology related to the topic. Is access limited to specific groups or populations?  Who determines access?  On what is it based?  Does access influence choice?

5.Follow APA guidelines to format this assessment. Include a title page and reference page.

Additional Requirements

Number of pages: 5

At least 4 current scholarly or professional resources.

Times New Roman, 12 point, double-spaced font.

GRADING POINTS

1.  Explains the appropriate use of pharmacology and considers efficacy, secondary health concerns, and factors that may affect efficacy.

2.  Explains the relationship between quality patient outcomes, patient safety, and the use of pharmacology; considers both the benefits and limitations of pharmacological treatments.

3.  Explains how pharmacology affects communities and organizations in terms of both preventing disease and promoting health and wellness.

4.  Describes inequities regarding access to pharmacology and considers the impact of inequities on individuals, families, communities, and populations.

5.  Writes clearly and logically with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics; uses relevant evidence to support a central idea.

6.  Correctly formats paper, citations, and references with no errors.

ANSWER

Research and Pharmacology: Medical Marijuana

Clinical trial nurses do not spend much time with patients the same way nurses in standard settings do. The only individuals they get to interact with are the few individuals who come to participate in the medical research and used as experiments (Hill, 2015). The primary function of clinical nurses is to ensure people being used as experiments are safe and permanent damage by the trial does not occur.

Before any patient participates in any clinical research, the nurses have to ensure that the individual has learned all the information about the benefits and the risks he or she may experience after the process. A chance to choose what the patient wants is given to avoid forced experimental procedures (Bradford & Bradford, 2016). It goes further to signing an agreement that states the patient is able and willing to be used in the experiment.

After the patient enrolls in the trial process, clinical trial nurses have to be supportive all through the process. They have to be keen and observant to record the effects of the new medication administered. In case of anything wrong, the nurses have to handle the situation and ensure the safety of the patient (Connolly & Lang, 2014). A clinical trial nurse plays a considerable role in the creation of medicine. He observes the whole process, collecting samples and recording faults in the process. The decisions to start using medication or not is determined mainly by clinical trial nurses.  For instance, while testing medical marijuana to decide if it can be used legally as a medication, individuals had to offer to be administered with it and observe reactions of their bodies. According to clinical trial experimenting the nurses concluded that its positive effects bypass the negatives which led to its legalization…