Using nurse-led patient monitoring to avoid medicines-related harm

Effective medicines optimisation involves the use of medicines to control disease while ensuringthat adverse effects are kept to a minimum. However, medicines-related harm and symptommismanagement represent significant risks to patients, particularly those with long-term conditions.These risks are accentuated by inadequate patient monitoring, with some nurses and other healthcareprofessionals being unaware of their responsibility to monitor patients and avoid medicines-relatedharm. This article explores strategies that will enable nurses to take an increasingly active role inmedicines optimisation

Anaerobic Fermentation of Glycerol to Ethanol

The purpose of this design project is to examine the plant-scale economic viability of the anaerobic fermentation of crude glycerol to ethanol by a hypothetical wild strain of Escherichia coli. The manufactured ethanol, before being denatured with gasoline, has a purity requirement of 99.5% by weight. The capacity of the ethanol plant, as suggested by the problem statement, is 50 MM gallons per year. The process uses crude glycerol (a waste byproduct from the biodiesel industry) as a primary feedstock, so the manufactured ethanol can be considered a “green” or renewable fuel source. The process energy requirements must meet the current energy benchmark of 35,000 BTU/gallon of ethanol, typical for a modern corn-to-ethanol process of this scale according to the design problem statement. This goal is more than met, with an energy usage of 8,000 BTU/gallon of ethanol. The process design consists of three main sections: upstream preparation of the glycerol feed for the E. coli, anaerobic fermentation of this glycerol feed to ethanol and succinic acid (a valuable specialty chemical and a side-product of fermentation), and downstream separation to recover the ethanol and succinic acid. When performing the economic analysis, the plant was assumed to be a grass roots plant located in the Gulf Coast region of the United States. The total capital investment is $108 million, including a working capital of$23.6 million. In the base case scenario, with crude glycerol priced at $0.05/lb, ethanol priced at$2.50/gallon, gasoline priced at $3.15/gallon, and succinic acid priced at$2.00/lb, the net present value (NPV) of the project is $95 MM based on an interest rate of 15%, and the investor’s rate of return (IRR) is 32.24%. The process profitability improves with increasing crude oil prices and decreasing crude glycerol prices, which we believe are highly likely scenarios based on our market research

Exercise Motivation in College Students

Purpose: Learning what motivates people to exercise may be the key to health professionals helping their clients become more active and moving our society in a positive direction in terms of health. Motivation can be divided into two broad categories; intrinsic and extrinsic. Our study sought to examine which type of motivation positively affects college-aged students’ one-mile times. It was hypothesized that college-aged individuals would run one mile in a shorter amount of time if they were motivated extrinsically than if they were motivated intrinsically. Methods: Eighteen college-aged individuals participated in the study and were randomly split into two groups: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. On day one all participants performed a baseline, one-mile run timed trial with no motivation administered. On day two subjects were asked to repeat the one-mile time trial; however, this trial included a motivation condition (extrinsic or intrinsic) based on which of the two groups the participants were randomly assigned. Results: An independent t-test revealed no significant differences in final one- mile run time between the extrinsic group (7.5 ± 1.4 min) and the intrinsic group (7.7 ± 1.5 min). Survey results revealed that trophies, recognition, self- satisfaction, and health ranked the lowest of motivating factors while money and fitness ranked the highest. Conclusion: Although there was no statistical significance supporting one type of motivation over the other; the survey results suggests that college students are not intrinsically motivated to exercise, and only certain extrinsic rewards such as fitness and money were reported to be “motivating” to exercise

An Ethnographic Study of Student Eating Habits at Parkland

Our research question was broad as we chose to examine the eating habits of Parkland students and how it may affect their performance in the classroom. We also chose to focus on how Parkland students’ eating/snacking habits have changed since being at Parkland compared to high school or wherever they snacked before becoming college students. From our cultural anthropology course, we understand that food and eating habits are part of the “everyday actions that reflect cultural ideas” and can be studied to define the identity of a group (Miller Griffith and Marion 2020). Our research will reflect part of the identity of Parkland students through their habits

A Systematic Review of the Legal Considerations Surrounding Medicines Management

publishedVersio

Looking for the “Little Things”: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Medicines Monitoring for Older People Using the ADRe Resource

As prescribing has become the dominant modality of medical treatment, the “pharmaceuticalization” of practice has often resulted in treatment “at a distance”, with doctors having limited contact with patients. Older and poorer people, who are socially distanced from medical prescribers, suffer more adverse drug reactions (ADRs) than the general population. This paper advocates a team approach to checking patients in care homes systematically for ADRs, using information from manufacturers’ guidelines. It explains the benefits of medicines monitoring to protect older patients from iatrogenic harm, such as over-sedation and falls. The ADRe profile is a sophisticated paper-based check-list, which helps nurses and carers play an active role in monitoring signs symptoms that indicate problems. Better monitoring allows doctors and pharmacists to adjust prescribing and respond to identified ADRs. We argue that Implementation of tools like ADRe can be accelerated by changes to the regulatory regime and better inter-professional cooperation

Do transgender men have equal access to health care and engagement in preventive health behaviors compared to cisgender adults?

Based on data from the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, this study looks at whether transgender men have the same rates of health care access and engagement in preventive health behaviors as cisgender adults in the U.S. and whether race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and rural residence moderate these relationships. While there are some differences for transgender men, these differences no longer reach statistical significance after controlling for other sociodemographic factors. Rural residence and having less education are significant moderators for some models related to health care access and preventive health. We detail implications for social workers within health care settings