Reflective Journal of Improvement and Outcomes of Hepatitis C Therapy The purpose of this reflective journal is to determine the educational needs that the clinic needs in order to have 100 percent compliance with Hepatitis C (HCV) treatment. HCV is currently affecting millions of individuals who have no idea they have the disease. With a multi-disciplinary team who is dedicated to their jobs and successful in monitoring patients currently on treatment, the relapse rate is minimal and medication compliance will increase. In this journal, I will be discussing the issue of medication compliance, how the Pender’s Health Promotion Model and the use of multidisciplinary teams could be a benefit to the individuals pending or currently on HCV …show more content…
In the six years of nursing experience and the 18 years of pharmacy experience, I have been told by a number of individuals that the reason of noncompliance with their medications is: lack of funds, lack of support, no trust in their physician, side effects, forgetting about treatments, they feel better, lack of knowledge, no relationship with medical staff, and the duration of treatment (Ahmed et al, 2013). In the liver clinic that I currently work in, noncompliance is a vast problem, especially with the patients who experience hepatic encephalopathy.
Relevance of Medication Compliance As an HCV nurse in the liver clinic, I use the Pender’s Health Promotion Model, in my screening of the patient’s cognitive-perceptual factors of health, whether they have any barriers or modifying factors that may affect their treatment, and whether they are ready for the 12 to 24 week treatment. Every time a physician or nurse
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Through my years of being a nurse and a pharmacy tech, I have come in contact with individuals and realize that the number one reason for noncompliance of any type of medication regimen is because they feared the unknown. Education and social support are crucial for success in treatment. With an organized multidisciplinary team, patients will be able to demonstrate compliance with therapy, decrease the risk of treatment failure, have better outcomes, lessen the chance of the disease worsening, have less hospitalizations, and have a better outcome and/or life
Kanwal, F., Hoang, T., Kramer, J. R., Asch, S. M., Goetz, M. B., Zeringue, A., Richardson, P., & El-Serag, H. B. (2011). Increasing prevalence of HCC and cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Gastroenterology, 140(4), 1182-1188. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2010.12.032.
This article can be used as a model to determine the cost of triple therapy of sofosbuvir treatment. Hence, this article may provide an assumption of impact of sofosbuvir in different social class of patients contributing to the efficacy of HCV elimination worldwide.
Due to the risk to for noncompliance from multiple medications, uncontrolled chronic health conditions and impaired vision of the patient, the family’s reasons for referral to a home health care coincided with the physician’s as well. Three major safety concerns validated this decision: several medications throughout the day, multiple co-morbidities, and advance age. Her ability to properly manage her medications was questioned when the healthcare team suspected she was uncompliant with her Carvedilol prescription, which consequently resulted in a hypertensive crisis. The progression of her chronic conditions, especially her kidney failure and recurrent dialysis treatment, affects her quality of life and increases her risk for complications.
Lack of support in patient healthcare teams inhibits compliance. The team must ensure the patient and family understand risks associated with untreated asthma; they need to encourage the patient and hold him responsible for taking his medication. Patient must become involved during appointments, as he currently feels ignored. If he is given the care and attention he needs, he will see the importance of taking his medications to prevent
An estimated 242,251 Canadians, and 150 million people worldwide are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus, and more than 350 000 people die every year from hepatitis C-related liver diseases.1 Hepatitis C can lead to other serious diseases, such as liver failure, death, etc. But without any vaccines available to prevent the contraction of the disease, it may be hard to avoid. Due to disease generally being asymptomatic many people are unaware that they have it, further spreading the disease because of a lack of prevention mechanisms. Hepatitis C when developed chronically can cause serious affects on the liver, which may even lead to death. With hepatitis C being such a serious disease, it is important that more people be tested for it so they can start treatment in the early stages of the disease, as well as be aware and informed, before it becomes a chronic infection leading to serious complications.
disease than hepatitis B. While at least half of the patients with acute hepatitis C
There is a disease spreading out in the world called Hepatitis C. It affects the liver and may cause the liver to fail. This disease is caused by a virus called Hepatitis C virus which is also known as HCV. About 32,000 people are affected with this disease per year only in the United States area. Some It’s a disease with many symptoms and many causes. of these symptoms are easy bruising, upset stomach and fever. These are just some of the many symptoms that come from the virus. Hepatitis Cs nature of the causative agent is determined by many things. The biological data of this disease is filled so much information. It is estimated that over 180 million people have gotten Hepatitis C and it is growing.
During the years of 1999-2000 only 6.3 percent of Americans used five or more medications, and then in the years of 2007-2008 about 10.7 percent of Americans used five or more medications, that is a 4.4 percent increase. In the last decade alone the use of five or more medications has increased 70 percent. Creating the stronger need for healthcare providers to communicate about the care of their patients is becoming evident. However in recent years more hospitals are using electronic medical records that can be sent to each healthcare provider, this helps the patient relive some of the stress in remembering what all medications they take and the dosages they are taking. Also healthcare providers can now see when their patient was last in to see another doctor and what there diagnosis was creating a more stable health system and less medication reactions. Although there is always room error but if every hospital adopts this system there is a good possibility that polypharmacy may be a thing of the past. Polypharmacy is becoming a fatal epidemic for the elderly, it is pertinent to know the risks and ways to prevent
The problem is, no one is exactly sure why patients are non compliant. We are aware that there are people that refuse to follow through with a doctor’s treatment plan. After all, some people feel as if they do not need the help. However, there are also those who agree to follow through, but somehow fail to thoroughly finish the plan. So what is the reason for this and how can it be solved? To solve this problem, there must first be an understanding of
...any APIs are not tested for Hepatitis B and are unaware of their infection. As a result, chronic Hepatitis B and associated liver cancer in APIs is one of the most serious health disparities in the United States. In the United States, nearly 70% of APIs were born or have parents born in countries where Hepatitis B is common. Hepatitis B-related liver cancer incidence is highest among APIs and is a leading cause of cancer deaths in this population. The death rate from Hepatitis B among APIs is 7 times greater than deaths among whites. Knowledge of Hepatitis B varies greatly in the API community and many misconceptions exist. The lack of knowledge and awareness of the disease significantly contributes to the low testing rates in the API population. Limited English proficiency can be a significant barrier to seeking and receiving Hepatitis B related care and services.
Medication non-adherence is an important healthcare challenge that has significant consequences in regards to patient outcomes, attainment of healthcare goals and healthcare costs. Patients are considered non-adherent when they do not initiate or abide by their prescribed healthcare recommendations. The three common types of non-adherence are primary non-adherence, non-persistent and non-conforming. Primary non-adherence occurs when although the healthcare provider has written the prescribed medication, the patient does not initiate the medication therapy. Non-persistent non-adherence occurs primarily due to miscommunication between the healthcare provider and the patient in regards to the recommended healthcare plan. In addition, non-persistent
To make this possible nurses have countless responsibilities and tasks that involve a great deal of risk, including medication administration which carries one of the leading risks. Some patients suffer irreversible damage due to medication errors while others suffer fatalities. Nurses have traditionally followed the five rights of medication administration which include Right patient, Right medication, Right dose, Right route, Right time, and recently added Right documentation and Right for refusal. The five rights offer simple and practical guidance for nurses to use during drug preparation, delivery, and administration, and focus on individual performance (Adams, M., Holland, N., & Urban, C.2014). Even with these rights in place “medication errors remain one of the most common causes of unintended harm to patients. They contribute to adverse events that compromise patient safety and result in a large financial burden to the health service (Cloete, L.
Medications are important part of patient’s life, in that without compliance or adherence to once prescribed medication, the patient’s disease will linger on and cause more complications in their body. Medication compliance is one of the most important topics discussed with the patients. Medication compliance has been described as the ability of the patient to follow correctly prescribed medication. Compliance of medication does not only point out prescription drugs but any therapeutic and medical equipment such as spacers, braces, crutches walkers among others recommended by the physician or nurse practitioner. Medication adherence also addresses the correct prescribed dose of the medication. Ideally, patients
Inaccurate estimation of medication adherence can lead to several problems which are potentially costly and dangerous in both settings. Effective treatments may be judged as ineffective, expensive diagnostic procedures may be ordered, and therapy may be unnecessary and dangerously intensified. In addition, results of clinical trials cannot be realistically interpreted without adherence information. Treatment efficacy and dose-response relationships are miscalculated in studies where patients present poor adherence. Moreover, accurate estimates of medication adherence will provide better evidence on the consequences, predictors/risk factors, and strategies to improve medication