QCF – HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE LEVEL 3 OPTIONAL UNIT SUPPORT USE OF MEDICATION IN SOCIAL CARE SETTINGS 1.1 There are a number of legislation that govern use of medication in social care settings. The Medicines Act 1968 lays down the basis for the licensing, sale, supply and manufacturing of medicines. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was created to prevent the misuse of ‘controlled drugs’. These are drugs that are potentially harmful. The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 is intended to prevent the non-medical use of certain drugs, particularly those that can lead to dependency.
Direct to Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising Pharmaceutical companies advertise their products through multiple mediums. These advertisements appear on TV, radio, billboards, magazines and newspapers and are directed to the general public. Individuals who see these ads can take this information to their doctor to inquire about curing their ailment. Some believe that these advertisements have created an over-medicated population for symptoms that may not need to be treated with prescription drugs. I believe that these advertisements do not cause harm to the overall population and in fact, help educate individuals who may believe they have the symptoms of an undiagnosed disease.
Additionally, because many medications have similar names illegible handwriting can cause the wrong medication to be dispensed; this type of error can also occur when prescriptions are given verbally since many medication names sound similar. Medication errors can also occur when the prescribed medication is contraindicated due to a patient’s other health conditions including allergies or other medications the patient is currently taking (Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy). Prevention Preventing medication errors is crucial to patient safety. Computerized physician order entry is a key technology in the prevention of medication errors. Through the use of this technology prescribers enter the prescription into the computerized patient chart.
We need to make ourselves knowledgeable about all of the effects of prescription medications in order to make good decisions for our overall health because if we do not, then we are merely playing dice with our health just like the users of illegal drugs. Prescription pain medications are used by patients to relieve extreme pain or discomfort. Although pain relievers are legal, increasing the frequency or amount that you use can cause harm to your body that was not originally intended. Pain medications release opiates that act in much the same way as the opiates found in heroin. Opiates can make your body feel relaxed, drowsy, and numb in place of those feelings of pain and discomfort.
Drugs used in a way that is not medicinal can be deadly and have shown to be too large a temptation globally, and have been the source of many historic events. Recreational drug use should be monitored and individuals should be charged when felonies, like selling or owning recreational drugs, are committed. It is not wise to allow recreational drug use and these practices must be regulated and controlled to the best of the government’s ability in order to keep our cities safe and our population healthy. Recreational drugs include, but aren’t limited to, marijuana, cocaine, opioids, prescription pills, heroin, and more recently “bath salts”. These substances can cause serious damage to the central nervous system, internal organs and, most importantly, effect ones brain.
America must restore its rights and responsibilities. Prohibition does not work. There would not be a criminal market place if drugs, all drugs including designer drugs, were legal. In an article titled, “10 Reasons to Legalize Drugs” it stated that “The market for drugs is demand-led and millions of people demand illegal drugs.” Crime would be reduced tremendously. Most of the violence associated with Lind 2 illegal drug dealing is caused by its illegality.
Some people abuse them by taking them when there is no clinical reason. The purpose of the legislation impacts on care homes by requiring special arrangements for the storage administration, records and disposal. The misuse of drugs (safe custody) amendment regulation 2007 This specifies how controlled drugs are stored and is referred to in the standards for care homes. Controlled drugs must be
Our Role, as Health Care Providers, in the Ever Increasing Drug Addiction Problem Donna Riddle Excelsior College Abstract Prescription drug abuse has become a problem of epic proportions in the United States and around the world. The largest types of drugs involved are opioid pain medications and narcotics. Prescription drug abuse rates nearly equal to abuse of illegal drugs. One of the major contributing factors for this is the easier availability in getting prescription drugs. It has become common practice to dispense prescription narcotics to treat reports of pain.
The question is what role do nurses play when it comes to medication safety? Nurses play many different roles in the world of medicine; however the most important role is to assure that patients are receiving their medication safely. One of the recommendations to reduce medication errors and harm is to use the “Five rights: the right patient, the right drug, the right dose, the right route, and the right time” (Choo, Hutchinson & Bucknall, 2010, p.854). Verifying the patient’s identity ensures that the correct patient is receiving the medication, confirming that the medication written on the order is the same medication being prepared, ensures the right drug, dose and route is given. Some medications must be given at specific time, so it imperative to provide the medication to the patient at the correct time.
New drugs, treatment protocols and technologies have been invented to treat the diseases easily and efficiently. But there are many factors which make those health care systems fail to bring the intended outcomes compare to the cost invested. The demand of the population is increasing as the size of population around the world is increasing and the resources are scarce which brings the need of efficient management of the resource allocation and utilisation. When health organisation fails to efficiently manage and utilisation of those scares resources it results in very high cost of health services or poor quality of services or deficiency of resources etc. The causes of those economic failures are discussed in the report and the possible prevention strategies too.