Essays on Medicine

Hantavirus Cariopulmonary Syndrome

Hantaviruses are a group of RNA viruses, which are members of the Bunyaviridae virus family. several serotypes have been identified worldwide. Hantavirus cardiopulmonary Syndrome is a disease syndrome which is caused by the Sin Nombre Virus (SNV). however, some other strains of the Hantavirus family could also cause disease syndromes which are very similar in presentation to Hantavirus cardiopulmonary Syndrome. (Cunha, 2011). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hantavirus infection in humans is classified as an emerging infectious disease. this is because a lot of facts remain unknown about the disease and its presentation in ...

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome), a disease that affects over 33 million people around the world. When HIV enters the body, it attacks the immune system by destroying CD4 positive (CD4+) T cells, a type of white blood cell necessary to fight off infections, and it also kills off nearby cells with toxic byproducts. Eventually, it overwhelms the immune system's ability to fix itself (AEGIS, 2012). When HIV/AIDS first showed up in the United States, it mostly affected homosexual men. Now, though, it’s clear that anyone of any age, race, ...

Patient

Lillian was an 84 year old diagnosed with sickle cell anemia and uncomfortable with the American culture. She went to America from Philippines at a young age of 24 as a bride of war. She married a Caucasian American and became a neutralized citizen and according to her, she was a Filipino. Having lived in America for many years, she assumes some American traditions and continues to practice Filipino traditions. Philippines fall under the Asian culture, which includes many races with a variety of illness and health beliefs. She has a problem with the Asian culture because some ...

When interviewing men with a combination of Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder I and Male Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder with Male Erectile Disorder it is important to first rule out the possibility that there is an underlying physical cause creating one or more of the psychological problems. In the best possible scenario, the interviewer has full access to the patient’s medical history, and it includes hormonal work ups to eliminate these possibilities. For example, a patient with a hypoactive thyroid may suffer from mood swings, a loss of ...

Introduction

A.1 Outbreak Description

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is one of the twenty-first century viral respiratory diseases occurring in humans. The causative organism is the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Since the first infection was detected in Hong Kong it has escalated into a ...

Question 1

Fiduciary Relationship

A patient in a comatose state presents to the physician with diabetes and high blood pressure. The patient needs mechanical ventilators, dialysis machines and artificial hydration to prolong life. The doctor is informed by the patient’s wife that the patient had previously indicated that he never wanted mechanical ventilation if he fell ill. The doctor is presented with the conflict of interest on the basis of the principle of respect for patient’s autonomy. On the hand, the doctor can ascertain that it is in the best interest of the patient to put him on the ...

Introduction

Cognitive disorders are those which often affects elderly people especially those who are above the age of 65. In this kind of a disorder there is a significant change in the manner an individual behaves and functions. The function of the brain is impacted in cognitive disorders and hence this may have severe impact on the physical and mental functioning of an individual affected by such ailment.

Impact of cognitive disorders on the elderly

Elderly people suffering from cognitive disorders like dementia, Alzheimer’s ...

While many scholar psychologists argue that abstinence is perhaps the only viable way of treating drug addiction, other scholars have demonstrated that controlled use of alcohol and the addictive drug can also provide a realistic solution to the problem. It is paramount for stakeholders to agree that drug addiction is a treatable condition. However, treating drug related syndromes requires that the treatment model is tailored to the needs of the victims. One way of administering this treatment model is by allowing the victims to control their condition and live normal and productive lives. I think that drug and substance ...

1. Define euthanasia and identify the difference between the types of euthanasia (passive/active euthanasia)

Active euthanasia means the intentional killing of a human being who is handicapped or physically or mentally ill by the administration of lethal drugs or some other method that will certainly result in death. Passive euthanasia is the withholding of food, water or medical care from a person with the intention of killing them indirectly, but it is also intentional. It can be voluntary when it is performed at the request of the individual or the family in the case of incompetent or comatose patients, ...

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the virus that causes AIDS, a condition that affects over 33 million people worldwide. When HIV enters the body, it attacks the immune system by destroying CD4 positive (CD4+) T cells, a type of white blood cell vital to fighting off various infections, and it eventually overwhelms the immune system's capacity to regenerate or to fight other infections. HIV can also affect bystander cells with toxic byproducts (AEGIS, 2012). Scientists believe HIV came from a similar virus that first occurred in some populations of chimps and monkeys in Africa, where they're hunted for food. ...

In the study conducted at the Presbyterian Hospital, there were several differences and similarities in the information needs of nurses and physicians in the New York based hospital. The physicians and nurses are two different groups of professional workers at the hospital whose duties are not very much different. The study was aimed at identifying the information needs as well as communication patterns of the two sets of healthcare employees. The perceptions of the two sets of professionals about how the information requirements relate to medical related errors was the main focus of the study.

The information needs of ...

We live in an age of medicine filled with technological wonders – and difficulties. Andre and Velasquez (2010) state that “medical technology has given us the power to sustain the lives (or, some would say, prolong the deaths) of patients whose physical and mental capabilities cannot be restored, whose degenerating conditions cannot be reversed, and whose pain cannot be eliminated.” This poses a medical and ethical dilemma that has pitted us one against the other – should we allow the people in these positions to choose to die, or do we have a moral obligation to preserve life at all costs? ...

During the last 20 years, comorbidity has had a growing prevalence in psychiatric disorders. Comorbidity refers to the overlap of more than one psychiatric disorder. Dual-diagnosis is a more specific diagnosis of a substance use, which can be drug or alcohol use, and other psychiatric disorders (Stinson et al., 2006). Such is the case with the subject Ken, who is presented for this paper. Ken’s sleep disturbances and lack of appetite indicate a diagnosis of depression to fulfill the psychiatric end of the dual-diagnosis. Using alcohol, underage, as a tranquilizer warrants the substance abuse diagnosis. His distraction, restlessness, ...

Abbey St. Claire Quality Care Services and Certifications is a home health care company that provides medical services that include, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and nursing from medical professionals who qualified and competent to handle other services such as bathing and eating.

For the sake of records, the company has compiled an extensive records and information that provides details of funding and state dealings. For many consumers, the cost of home healthcare warrants a proactive planning that weighs on the budget and income level. Abbey St. Claire Quality Care Services and Certifications charge a high of their visits a ...

The choices involved with organ transplants are never easy. There are more patients in need of new organs than the number of available organs, which means that doctors and transplant committees have to make decisions that are not palatable to many of us. They have to evaluate the possible quality of life of patients after they receive the transplants, and factors like longevity are a concern, but so are less quantitative ones, like their ability to contribute to society. Also, factors that are less specific to the patient can come into play, such as the ability of family members ...

Medicalization growth is the process by which certain aspects of life that were initially not part of health care become medical problems. Biomedicalization is the current process of medicalization that is undergoing constant transformation influenced by new social forms and practices of technology in medicine. New technoscientific innovations transform how health care institutions are managed and how they offer their services. Clinical innovations such as new methods of diagnosis and treatment, bioengineering, and evidenced based medicine are core of biomedicalization. A wide range of knowledge that is now ...

Health Information Systems is a discipline that connects computing and information technology and health care practices and research. Computer hardware, software and communication equipment, forming a complex network. It entails the resources, equipment and means of obtaining, storing, retrieving and analyzing information in the health sector. This involves use of programmed systems to manage health information and securely exchange it between patients, health institutions, insurers and even government agencies. This interaction will improve value, safety and effectiveness of health delivery. These health information systems will find application in multiple healthcare disciplines including nursing, public health, pharmacy, pathology and dentistry.

Increased and consistent adaptation and usage of Health Information Systems in the above named disciplines will improve the quality of healthcare, decrease healthcare costs, increase managerial efficiencies, increase access to cheap healthcare and also avert medical errors. These systems will monitor chronic diseases while outbreaks of infectious diseases will be detected and contained in time.

Health Information Systems trace their roots to the second half of the 20th century when computer usage began and started increasing. Universities in Germany, France, Netherlands and Belgium dedicated departments and training programs in health informatics during early 1960s. In the U.S and Poland, these research units started in the 1970s. Health informatics has experienced massive investments in manpower and infrastructure and continues to advance as technology advances. The United States National Bureau of Standards used digital computers for dental projects symbolizing the earliest use of computers in medicine. Other agencies were to follow suit later, and many publications would follow with a view to introducing medics to computing methods. They included 1959’s “Reasoning Foundations of Medical Diagnosis” by Lesley and Lee B. Lusted. This has resulted in a rapidly growing community of health informatics in the Americas and European Union nations.

In mid 1960s at the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Computer Science Laboratory, the MUMPS programming language was developed for clinical application. MUMPS is an acronym for (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System). The MUMPS operating system supported the specifications of this language. As recently as 2004, a version of this system was still in use, in hospitals like the U.S Veterans Affairs Hospital. This hospital’s system has an electronic medical record. It also has a graphical user interface that allows different providers to assess and update patients’ e-records at any of their branches. This underlines the relevance of integrating communication technology to modern healthcare.

With time, both information communications technology and healthcare have advanced tremendously. This can be attributed to increasing opportunities and challenges witnessed in the past, currently and certainly in the future. Medical scholars have come up with noteworthy factors that have and will continue to manipulate healthcare systems and health informatics at large. Trends and factors with the most significant clout on current health information systems include:

1. Pressure to manage healthcare costs: Need to suppress operational costs as much as possible is of top priority since most healthcare providers are profit-making institutions. This will see corporate restructuring in favor of lean and effective workforces. Increased use of health information systems will see more low-grade employees laid off as these systems take over their jobs. These measures will cut across the board and affect both managerial and medical staff that will be rendered jobless.

According to a report by Price Waterhouse Coopers' Health Research Institute (Needles in a haystack: Seeking knowledge with clinical informatics), 52% of health providers said that informatics will help reduce costs by increasing patient involvement in their own preventive care. 85% of Health insurers believed that preventable hospital visits and admissions would be reduced drastically by health informatics. This implies reduced costs for not only the health providers but also for the patients. Cost controls will undoubtedly affect all healthcare disciplines, including but not limited to, dentistry, medical research, nursing and pharmacy.

2. Increasingly complex disease handling technologies will depend on the presence of reliable and efficient health information systems. Efforts to improve treatment procedures covering all ailments increase by the day. With the emergence of new diseases and drug resistant strains of existing ones, the need for investment in research cannot be underestimated. As clinicians and medical researchers develop new tools to counter these diseases, computer technologies will come in handy. They will help carry out extensive online research on diseases and medicines, record and store the findings safely and share this knowledge with other researchers over the internet. Computer programs and simulations will help monitor costs, efficiencies and outcomes of these researches. Such programs will help predict how commercially viable the products will be. They will also establish whether similar research has ever been carried out and their success rate.

Biomedical research, pharmacy and pathology are major casualties of how treatments and handling of diseases are administered. This is because they are intimately related to either the medicine used in the treatment or to the causes and nature of the diseases.

3. Introduction of powerful electronic gadgets like personal digital assistants (PDAs) will tremendously manipulate the healthcare systems. PDAs are minute and portable electronics devices that can store and transmit information. First and foremost, these equipments have multiple uses and will be bought for other reasons like entertainment and communication.

This factor will increase their client base hence a wider acceptance and purchase by a majority of the population. If effective voice recognition and reliable wireless communication systems are integrated, access to health services will be much increased.

For instance, a PDA installed with dietary software can be used for accurate self monitoring, as opposed to paper records which are cumbersome when checking on weight. PDAs can also be used by persons with diabetes for self-care especially the elderly who live alone or have no reliable helper. Also, patients can follow digital videos displayed on PDAs to carry out routine procedures. An article from the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association “Personal Digital Assistants Used to Document Compliance of Bacterial Vaginosis Treatment” concluded that PDAs accurately documented compliance rates hence can reliably assess compliance in drug or contraceptive trials.

The use of these gadgets will affect the healthcare fields like nursing and pharmacy that are concerned with administering of drugs and taking records for each patient.

Works Cited

Burke, Lillian, and Barbara Weill. Information Technology for the Health Professions. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. Print.
Reilly, Edwin D. Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2003. Print.
Pantazi, Stefan, Felicia Pantazi, and Karen Daly. "Clinical informatics in undergraduate teaching of health informatics.." Studies in health technology and informatics 164 (2011): 58-63. Print.

SARS Disease Outbreak

The SARS disease outbreak occurred in 2003 when the World Health Organization issued a global alert on the disease that was similar to pneumonia (Wei et al., 2009). Similar cases were experienced in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand. Other countries affected included Germany, United States, and Canada. The disease spread from Beijing leading to an outbreak in Tianjin city. According to Wei et al., (2009), 175 probable cases of SARS were reported. This included 21 deaths. The transfer of patients from one hospital to another stimulated the spread of the disease. A patient that was suspected ...

How systems theory can be used to propel the field of public health to the next level.

Improving people’s health entails understanding and changing societal functions and structures, while at the same time countervailing forces that undermine these changes. This, in turn, reflects the adaptive intricacy inherent in public health systems (Von Bertalanffy, 2004). Due to the changing times, improving public health will need a greater understanding of the intricate adaptive systems that are involved in both instigating and cracking public health concerns. For instance, containing and preventing the pandemic influenza will require partnership across a wide array of fields and disciplines, including global reconnaissance to prevent further outbreaks. There is also need for prompt ...

1. Personal Development, Life & Work Experience, Activities and Adversities:

As a child, I found it humbling how ants – those tiny creatures belonging to an ancient species – achieve huge goals by functioning as a harmonious collective. Humanity’s success as the master race on this planet also relies on our interdependence as a harmonious community, but crucially, the willingness to innovate and disseminate knowledge that distinguishes human beings from other living creatures. In my own case, to make myself of more worth to other people, I have never stopped pursuing knowledge through academic education, and more ...

I grew up wanting to be a surgeon. As I have gotten older, my experiences have pushed me to change my path many times. Though I am most of the way through an engineering degree, I am afraid that a career as an engineer would leave me in a cold, broom-closet office, cramming numbers for a customer or boss. I decided that I have a passion for helping people, especially those I am close to in my community and in the Guard. The IPAP opportunity allows me to pursue a long lost dream, provide a better quality of life ...

Introduction

Infectious diseases have been affecting humans since diseases and germs were discovered. No sophisticated antibiotics or antiviral medications were available to treat neither disease nor epidemiological records to trace ...

Experts in mental health use DSM-IV-TR system of classification to label and diagnose treatment for their patients. This classification has been universally accepted by all mental health experts because it is thought to be beneficial and accurate in diagnosis and determination of treatment approaches. However, the system of diagnosing and labeling mental health patients has been criticized by some experts who claim the method is harmful to patients. The DSM-IV-TR approach of labeling and diagnosing mental patients is beneficial and has been used successfully to treat mental health patients. However, this approach is ineffective in some cases and can ...

Introduction

Quality of life and functioning relates to fulfillment of low level demands for life as outlined in Maslow’s hierarchy of basic human needs theory. It is the ability to acquire and enjoy fresh air as well as breathe efficiently. Also, it is to articulate one’s existence into self-actualization, which is the peak of successful living (Maslow, 1954 ). Therefore, in discussing this case study regarding the quality of life to be envisioned by a community health nurse for this ...

Human beings have a tendency to consider behaviour that differs from their own to be abnormal. A person’s background plays a major role in forming their perceptions about abnormality. What may be considered to be normal in another country or culture may be viewed as abnormal in another. Hence, the identification of abnormal behaviour is crucial as it forms the first step towards the treatment of the ailment. Every classified abnormal behaviour has certain symptoms that are noticeable. However, they can often be confused with slight ...

Indirect Health care cost of obesity

Total Cost of obesity

In this research presentation the author will discuss how obesity in United States of America impact health care costs. This topic will be approached from the perspective of direct and indirect costs. Direct cost is related to treating obesity as a health disorder in itself without accompanying complications. Indirect costs emerge from associating medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart failure and arthritis among other serious diseases medical science is now discovering. These add up to what can be considered the total health care costs of obesity in United ...

The ethical issue which this paper wants to address is the normative set up in the patient doctor relationship. This is a highly paternalistic model. In this set up, doctors are the experts in medicine. Most patients have only scant and dependable medical knowledge. Hence, the overall trust in one’s medical practitioner is focal to the medical process and doctors carry the main responsibility for the patient’s wellness. The sole duty to decide on every crucial medical evaluations and decisions relies on them.

The patient-doctor patient relations must be a two-way street between the patient and the ...

1. Contingency planning requires an understanding of the crises that are most likely to occur, the potential impacts of those events, the resources that are needed to address those situations, and the most efficient means of accessing those resources. How has the center addressed each of these concerns?

YNH-CEPDR provides a complete solution to create a proper contingency planning system which includes risk mitigation planning and based on the anticipated impact the actual steps are planned and there are proper guidelines that are created and shared with the operations team so that the business continuity efforts can be in place, ...

Significant characteristics of a disease

Virulence is a term that describes “the capacity of a microbe to cause disease after infection”. It is a multifaceted phenomenon is dependent on the “context and nature of the interaction between the host and the microbe.” The number of fatalities that occur as a result of infection by a given pathogen is used as a measure of the virulence. Based on this parameter, the Ebola virus would therefore be considered to be highly virulent as compared to small pox. Give that research has provided better understanding of pathogens thus led to the development of potent forms of therapy; ...

In my third year of medicine school at Ross University on November 2008, I was intrigued by a class on open heart surgery of a patient suffering from myocardial infarction. The video documented of each step and explained the logic behind each incision of a heart vessel. This was intriguing to me as what attracted me was the mechanics of the cardiology system. It was like a complex wire system in a machine and an electrician was exploring each wire to find fault; except this time the electrician was a cardiologist. This was even better as the cardiologist was ...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome is a life threatening condition that is caused by a virus from the Coronaviridae family. The SARS virus is believed to have originated from the Guangdong province of southern China before spreading to Hong Kong, Canada and the United States of America. The virus has an incubation period of 2 to 7 days but it may last up to 10 days. Like other respiratory disease, SARS is spread through direct contact; long range and short range. The major agent of transmission is the droplet nuclei. The symptoms of the disease include: fever, chills, malaise, cough, ...

Lack of knowledge and negligence on the part of surgeons are the predominant factors for patients’ post-surgical trauma. However, a lawsuit against medical malpractice is one of the most difficult to win, let alone file, because of a multitude of agreements between the medical boards and practitioners. Signed agreements between the surgeon and the patient also determine the grounds for liability. The identification and description of liability theories for medical malpractice that apply may not necessarily be set in stone. To provide a strong and alleged case, the patient requires the following:

Violation of the standard of care

Compensable injury suffered by patient, and Identification ...

1. I don’t think that the deal that Harley-Davidson made with the union is too one-sided for several reasons. The first reason is that while half the jobs had been cut and a quarter of the remaining jobs received pay cuts, this measure cut a considerable percentage of operating costs and ensured that the plant still continues to operate. The 2009 economic recession shut down many companies and thousands of people lost their jobs; if Harley-Davidson did not take these measures, everyone at the plant loses their job. The second reason is ...

Introduction

Taekwondo is a sport which originated as a form of martial arts in the ancient Korean states which were divided into three. It was basically used as a means of combating fighting skills among the soldiers but it was later adopted as a sport. The sport usually employs heavy use of fist and foot as well as flexibility. There have been claims that this sport heavily impact on the physical fitness of a person as well as health of the person. The popularity of the sport has spreads to over 180 countries in the world with about 80 ...

Question 1:

The board and the executive leadership team of Northwestern memorial hospital should respond to the finding of the Illinois court case as discussed hereunder:

Provena Covenant Medical Center “relies on private physicians to fill its medical staff.” This is through utilizing numerous third party providers in order to deliver other services at the hospital. These include but are not limited to lab, laundry, pharmacy, MRI/CT services. Despite this being a non-profit motivated institution, some of the services were provided for a fee/profit under disguise. Therefore the executive leadership and the board of Northwestern memorial hospital should bind itself with ...

Placing a cap on “Pain and Suffering” in tort actions is essential; this is because there are many cases that arise from tort actions. Tort action is in itself a civil action or injury that does not arise from a contract. The law for such action provides for some outline of money damages. The actions arise from accidental laws like personal injury and negligence. This calls for a cap on the tort actions regarding pain and suffering. Reforms are needed, for proposals and enactment, to have a clear outset of the nature of tort actions.

The laws that are ...

Arguably, child growth and development is very important crucial for the entire life. In society, every individual has the responsibility to adhere proper growth and development of toddlers. Family is the immediate socializing agent to any child; hence, parents and members of the family play a significant role in supporting the child’s spiritual development and growth. In this case, parents and family members employ various strategies to achieve the ultimate objective of raising an upright child. Every parent in the world today has the objective of raising a well-adjusted, rounded, and productive child. Family members do their best ...

A union is an important part of any labor workforce. It encourages a two-way form of communication between the employer and the employees who are usually also members of a particular labor or otherwise known as a workforce union. Now, there are some things that a pre-made union leader may consider and take before finally being able to form a new labor union. Almost all general principles applied in a normal union can be applied to the Healthcare Administration setting. However, it has to be remembered that the differences between the nature of the job of one industry and ...

The Case Scenario

Recent clinical evidence-based guidelines suggest that a “watch and see” approach may be best in the management of pediatric acute otitis media. In this case scenario,
a team of nurses in the outpatient clinic are considering whether they should use this approach to manage AOM in the children they see. They plan to evaluate clinical studies before making their final decision. The nurses are also aware of the possibility of parental concerns concerning a change in treatment protocols. The studies are analyzed in this paper.

Cautionary use of Antibiotics in Acute Otitis Media

Acute otitis media (AOM) is the ...

1. Components of Metaparadigm

There are a number of factors that influenced the nursing theorists when it came to the definition and description of the metaparadigm components. In order to understand these factors, it is important to start by understanding and identifying these metaparadigm components. To start with, it is important to have a complete overview and understanding of the person (who is in this case the client for example a patient). Understanding the person societal, psychological, physical as well as physiological variables that might affect him is therefore important (George, 2011). Secondly, the environment in which ...

When I started the inquiry process, I thought I knew the subject well. It turned out I was wrong. I ended up having to make extensive changes to my inquiry question as I developed the topic. To start I had to change the main issue and make it more specific; the inquiry process was too effective, and my choice of focus too general. I ended up with an excessive amount of information. Therefore, I changed the topic from medical errors in a hospital to be more specific to induced labor. This topic was still too general, and I was ...

The need for an insurance plan is necessitated with the need to have timely and proper medical care in the event of an illness or an accident. In this respect, there are three basic types of health insurance medical plans that are utilitarian in serving different purposes. These health insurance medical plans can be differentiated from one another with regards to their salient features. This paper canvases the differences between Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and Point of Service (POS) plans. The paper also seeks to institute some of the pros and cons of ...

The skyrocketing per capita Medicare spending is accelerated by aging population, fraud, and healthcare cost. These progressively accumulate unfunded liabilities threatening the sustainability of Medicare programs.

The aging population is susceptible to chronic or acute illness making them to fall sick quite often making the elderly population to demand more medical services than the younger generation for example in 2002 Canada used approximately $8,208 per year per elderly persons and $1,428 per year per persons below the age of 65. As the medical costs increases with age, the cost of medical services given to the aged people ...

Nutrition is the act of providing the body cells and the whole human body with the necessary nutrients to support life. The nutrients include carbohydrate, proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins and water. Taking these nutrients in the right amount will eventually dictate an individual's state of health. If taken in the right amount commonly referred to as a balanced diet, the individual remains healthy, vibrant, strong and highly productive. A poor diet is deleterious to health. Diseases and illnesses such as Kwashiorkor, Scurvy, Obesity, Diabetes mellitus, Metabolic syndrome X result. Also, other common chronic and vicious systemic diseases such as ...

Recently, there has been a paradigm shift, mostly in western countries, from an emphasis on crime prevention, to punishment. According to Fowler (2008), this trend is expected to accelerate steadily, at least in the United States. For instance, with respect to juvenile crime, there has been a frequent call for heightened outlays on crime detection and law enforcement, and for increased penalties for criminal as well as other anti-social behaviour (Meyers, 2010). This paper seeks to review the psychological research evidence on the effectiveness of punishment, and propose alternatives to the current trends.

Hollin (2008) describes punishment as the ...

The twenty first century has brought several challenges to the medical field. Today, the world suffers several terminal diseases that have attracted the idea of applying other approaches to these conditions. These new methods of treatment tend to deviate from conventional medicine. All these methods have been grouped into a broad category commonly referred to as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The American government recognizes the existence of these methods and has developed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). This paper reviews all the tenets associated with complementary medicine

Definition of Concepts

The term alternative medicine is defined by ...

Hospice care is a complex issue that needs a multi-disciplinary approach. As a patient’s disease progresses to its final stages, the patient needs increasing emotional, social, psychological, and spiritual support. A community hospice nurse is at the core of the healthcare team.

Quality of Life and Functioning

Perceptions About Quality of Life and Health Promotion and their Effects on Quality of Care

I see health as an active state of being, not just the mere absence of disease. For me, the most important duty of a healthcare giver is to increase a patient’s level of wellbeing, from ...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an infectious disease caused by SARS corona virus (SARS-CoV). It is a dangerous, not well understood, and easy to transmit disease. Its most dangerous features are that SARS outbreaks occur within the hospital setting, it can be deadly, and has no definitive set of symptoms. There is a distinct probability of another global outbreak of SARS.

On February 28, 2003, Carlo Urbani, a medical doctor working for the World Health Organization in Vietnam, examined an American patient in a French hospital in Hanoi. The patient presented with atypical pneumonia, ...

Introduction

Plainfield is a city in the New Jersey with a population of 46,318 and a population density of 7690 people per square kilometer. It has over 15180 households and about ten thousand families living in the city. The city is racially diverse with African Americans being the dominant race, accounting for 50 percent of the population (Onboard, 2011).

The white population in Plainfield is 23 percent, Native Americans account for 0.91 percent, 0.05 percent of the population are Pacific islanders and 0.95 percent are other races. Children account for 35 percent of the population while married population account ...

Introduction

There are several ways in which drug delivery to body is being achieved. One of the most important methods is via the oral route. Administration of oral drugs has its merits and demerits. An important merits is that which relates to the 'ability of patient to use it anytime, anywhere' while the major demerit is non-compliance with the usage of those drugs ...

An old person is one who can make a sound decision on key issues. He/she is a person who commands respect at all levels of the society. This definition is based on the fact that only a few people live for more than 80 years and most leaders i.e. presidents, special UN envoys, ambassadors, etc range between 50-75 years of age. This was the opinion of 57 years old man. In fact, most countries have a set minimum age below which you cannot hold a certain office, mostly 35 years. Different people have a wide range factors and physical ...

Diabetes is one of the diseases that are affecting many people in the current world. It is a situation whereby the body sugar is too low or too much such that the sugar is not enough to the cells or it is too high such that it is dangerous to the body. When food is digested, it needs to be absorbed by the cells so that it can be used by the body. Glucose that has been digested in the body combines with insulin so that the cells can absorb it. The insulin is manufactured by ...

Electronic Health record is the acquisition, storage and retrieval of health care information in digital form. It has the potential to improve the safety, efficiency and quality of data being utilized in the health care industry. (Wilder, 2010). Electronic health records would become an easy and ready source of information for research and administrative purposes for the development of public policies (Wilder, 2010). However, concerns and issues with protection of the data are threatening to derail the implementation of electronic health records. This article proposes strategies to address these issues.

Concerns with the privacy and security of electronic health ...

Research faces various problems as it tries to come up with conclusive evidence that describes the causes of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). A cardiovascular risk factor is associated with coronary heart disease. The association is nearly always a statistical one, and cannot be used as a foundation for conducting research. Equally, the fact that an individual does not have a particular cardiovascular risk factor does not guarantee protection against heart disease.

Direct evidence, which stress, as well as other similar behavioral factors have a relation to cardiovascular disease is conclusive; However, the information collected, is not conclusive. This is ...

The medical field to me represents an interesting field with immense possibilities. My journey in the medical field started out with a bachelor’s degree in biology from the Milkins University followed by another degree in clinical laboratory science from the Illinois University. I had made the decision to be part of the medical world after my mother had a brush with cancer. Prior to that, I had weighed several options but none had particularly impressed me. Watching her recover fully and later on become cancer free was proof to me that being involved in the diagnosis, care and ...

Cardiovascular diseases include all diseases that affect the heart and the circulatory system of the body, including coronary heart disease, stroke, valvular heart disease, heart failure and cardiomypoathy. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally, with more deaths recorded for cardiovascular diseases than any other disease. It affects both men and women of all races and ethnic groups.

Many heart diseases are caused by atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the process by which plaques build up in the walls of blood vessels. This process causes narrowing and hardening of blood vessels. This leads to increase in force of contraction ...

Trenholm (2008) explains that television can be an important tool for spreading messages from the dominant group in a culture to other groups (305). Now this can be done to households all over the world Messages can be sent about how people should keep their house, what their kitchens should like, and what the receiver (the audience) should wear. All this is being done while the audience thinks the only thing that is happening is entertainment. The messages aren’t sent like a lesson plan that (a) you should wear stilettos ...

Diarrhea and Constipation

There are a lot of pathologies and pathogens that could affect the normal flow of food and absorption in the digestive tract. Two common digestive problems, very common that it could be acquired by almost anyone, are diarrhea and constipation. These two digestive disorders are less severe compared to several cancers that could exist in the digestive system like colon cancer and liver cancer. Thus, diarrhea and constipation are easier to treat—these two are also very much easy to acquire.

As a brief background, Diarrhea is a bowel disorder wherein the classic symptom is an increase in the ...

Introduction

It is rare to witness maternal infanticide in the United States. However, cases of maternal infanticide still come to pass. Postpartum mental illness contributes to a high proportion of maternal infanticide cases. This paper will focus on the contemporary, legislative and historical psychiatric points of view on infanticide. The paper also gives a discussion on the ways of promoting appropriate treatment of women committing infanticide out of mental illness and ways of improving the prevention of infanticide (Barak, 2003).

There was an history of psychiatric disorder in Mrs. Yates. Her first reported psychotic incident came after the birth of ...

Abstract

It is disheartening to stand and watch infants and children come for clinical checkups and get pumped with one antibiotic after another. Sad still is the fact that most parents tend to believe that by so doing, they are helping their children overcome illnesses. Acute otitis media, an occurrence that is quite prone to children between two months and two years, has shown warring trend lately. The challenge that is present is in the fact that enormous works have supported antibiotic administration to cure and curb the spread of the infections. However, it is not until lately that the ...