Category: Safety

Introduction

Quality outcomes and patient measures are essential in the healthcare industry. It is so because the two relate to what service patients receive and whether medical settings provide individuals with harmful factors. This assignment will create and describe a healthcare entity, mention the entitys successes and failures, introduce a safety measure to be improved by nursing science, determine potential obstacles, and identify stakeholders for collaboration.

Describing a Healthcare Entity

This assignment focuses on a hypothetical acute care hospital in an urban area. It provides numerous services, including emergency care, acute care surgery, critical care, and others. Since it has 160 beds, this hospital is considered medium-sized. It is a non-profit hospital that offers its services to improve public health. The setting has been operating for five years to serve citizens of a single community. Thus, the following sections will comment on how quality outcomes and safety measures are represented in the hospital.

Healthcare Entitys Successes and Failures

It is reasonable to rely on specific quality outcomes to determine the areas where the hospital under analysis is successful. A nurse-patient ratio is a significant indicator among these outcomes since it demonstrates whether patients receive a sufficient amount of care and considers the organizations cost-effectiveness (Qureshi et al., 2019). Numerous scholarly articles focus on the nurse-patient ratio, and Wynendaele et al. (2019) claim that a 4:1 rate is considered optimal in acute care hospitals. This correlation means that a single nurse should take care of no more than four patients simultaneously. Since the hospitals staff includes 40 nurses, it means the healthcare setting will not witness any nurse-patient ratio issues under current conditions. Furthermore, this state of affairs also contributes to the fact that the hospital faces reduced patient turnaround times. Consequently, one can suppose that the healthcare entity is successful in providing patients with sufficient and adequate care.

However, the hospital cannot impress with such positive results when it comes to patient safety measures. As has been mentioned in the Part One assignment, these measures are state policy, diagnosis, medications, surgical operations, infections, and injuries (Ismail, 2017, p. 592). They cover many spheres that can be sources of a dangerous impact on people. Butcher (2018) argues that injurious falls and contract infections are typical issues in the acute care setting. It denotes that such hospitals do not provide their patients with safe environments to ensure that individuals are not subject to harmful effects. The healthcare setting under analysis is not an exception because its patients frequently suffer from these issues. This information demonstrates that the hospitals failures refer to the fact that it does not provide patients with a safe environment that would protect them from infections and injuries.

Improving the Safety Measure through Nursing Science

Since it has been stated that contract infections and injurious falls represent the hospitals failures, it is reasonable to consider how nursing science can impact them. Firstly, patient falls and resulting injuries are dependent variables, while appropriate fall reduction guidelines, tools, and interventions are independent ones. Thus, nursing science is capable of identifying what independent variables can lead to the reduced number of patient falls in the hospital under analysis. Many scholarly and peer-reviewed articles focus on this issue, and Williams (2020) study is among them. The author has conducted research to identify whether it is possible to eliminate patient falls by implementing a customized set of Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) patient fall reduction guidelines (William, 2020, p. 210). This article is an example that nursing science has sufficient data and can impact the issue of patient falls and injuries. This information denotes that the hospital can use one of the existing interventions to reduce the spread of the problem among its patients, and nursing science explains how to cope with the task.

Secondly, contract infections are another safety measure that can be impacted through nursing science. Since an acute care hospital is considered a setting vulnerable to infections, it should have numerous variables that contribute to this issue. They are environmental cleanliness, entity culture, staffing and resource issues, infection control measures, and others (Bail et al., 2020). All these variables are independent, meaning that their presence or absence influences whether infections are prevalent among patients. Thus, nursing science can be useful to analyze whether the hospital under analysis suffers from any of the issues above. Its theoretical foundations allow assessing the situation, while practical concepts can demonstrate how the hospital can minimize the adverse effects of all the variables. Consequently, it is possible to suppose that nursing science can improve hospital safety measures.

Determining Potential Obstacles

One should admit that implementing the safety measures can imply essential barriers. As for preventing falls and reducing the number of injuries, the obstacles are the lack of effective strategies, resources, and time (Ayton et al., 2017). Ev Even though nursing science offers numerous theoretical guidelines on improving the situation, healthcare entities can have problems locating and following them. Furthermore, environmental factors and patient complexity also contribute to challenges when it comes to implementing safety measures (Ayton et al., 2017). It is so because these barriers can create the feeling that patient falls and, consequently, injuries are inevitable events. This belief makes it more challenging to take appropriate actions to improve safety within the healthcare entity.

Simultaneously, the process of implementing a safety measure to address contract infections also implies some obstacles. Difficult working conditions represent the first barrier because long shifts and heavy workload make it challenging for the hospital staff to abide by infection prevention requirements (Clack et al., 2018). These issues contribute to the fact that medical professionals ignore safety guidelines, which promotes infection spread. Furthermore, the lack of material resources to prevent diseases from developing among patients is another obstacle (Clack et al., 2018). This fact stipulates that financial issues also play a crucial role in determining how infections are addressed in a medical setting. It means that insufficient resources subject patients to a higher risk of experiencing infectious diseases. Since these potential obstacles have been identified, nursing science can offer efficient ways to mitigate their effect.

Identifying Stakeholders

Dealing with safety measures is a challenging process, and collaboration can be a significant supporting element. That is why it is necessary to determine stakeholders who can positively contribute to the process. Firstly, it is impossible to overestimate the importance of cooperating with nurses when it comes to addressing quality and safety issues. It is so because these medical professionals directly work with patients. That is why they fully understand patients needs and requirements. In turn, this knowledge allows nurses to estimate the situation at the site and offer some valuable comments regarding possible improvements. It means that the collaboration with these stakeholders is of significance when the task is to implement safety measures and provide patients with a more favorable environment that will lead to their better health outcomes.

Secondly, it is also reasonable to cooperate with representatives of leadership roles. It is so because efficient leadership is considered an enabler of some safety measures (Ayton et al., 2017). That is why it is necessary to establish good relationships with chief clinicians and hospital administration. Collaboration with these stakeholders is essential because they can make decisions that can significantly influence the way how the hospital approaches its quality and safety measures. Thus, this information has demonstrated that the process under consideration requires multi-level support to ensure that the proposed steps lead to positive consequences.

Conclusion

The assignment has demonstrated how quality and safety measures can be applied to a hypothetical acute care hospital. The healthcare entitys analysis has revealed that the nurse-patient ratio and patient turnaround times are its quality successes, while frequent infections and injuries represent safety failures. That is why the appropriate section has explained how nursing science can affect the identified inefficiencies. The solutions refer to the fact that science can provide the hospital with useful data on locating the specific guidelines or interventions and implementing them. Furthermore, potential obstacles, including the lack of resources, environmental factors, difficult working conditions, and others, have also been addressed because they can negatively affect safety measures. Finally, the paper has stated that it is essential to collaborate with nurses, chief clinicians, and hospital administration because these are significant stakeholders who can improve the implementation process.

References

Ayton, D. R., Barker, A. L., Talevski, J., Morello, R. T., Brand, C. A., Hill, K. D., & The 6-PACK Investigator Team. (2017). Barriers and enablers to effective falls prevention in acute hospitals.Innovation in Aging, 1(1), 651. Web.

Bail, K., Willis, E., Henderson, J., Blackman, I., Verrall, C., & Roderick, A. (2020). Missed infection control care and healthcare associated infections: A qualitative study. Collegian. Web.

Butcher, L. (2018). Caring for patients with dementia in the acute care setting. British Journal of Nursing, 27(7). Web.

Clack, L., Zingg, W., Saint, S., Casillas, A., Touveneau, S., Jantarada, F. d. L., Willi, U., van der Kooi, T., Damschroder, L. J., Foman, J. H., Harrod, M., Krein, S., Pittet, D., & Sax, H. (2018). Implementing infection prevention practices across European hospitals: An in-depth qualitative assessment.BMJ Quality & Safety, 27, 771-780. Web.

Ismail, M. N. b. I. (2017). Patient safety and its components. Patient Safety & Quality Improvement Journal, 5(4), 592-593.

Qureshi, S. M., Purdy, N., Beng, A. M., & Neumann, W. P. (2019). Predicting the effect of nurse-patient ratio on nurse workload and care quality using discrete event simulation. Journal of Nursing Management, 27, 971-980. Web.

William, G. Z. (2020). Translational nursing science: Implementation of a patient fall reduction strategy in the emergency department at a community-based medical center. Open Access Journal of Biomedical Science, 1(5), 210-215. Web.

Wynendaele, H., Willems, R., & Trybou, J. (2019). Systematic review: Association between the patient-nurse ration and nurse outcomes in acute care hospitals.Journal of Nursing Management, 1-22. Web.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was established in 1971 following the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970. President Nixon signed a law with OSHA to protect the safety and health of workers as well as the American workers from the hazards of their work environments. Crystalline silica, or silica fume, is a significant health hazard in the workplace, especially in the construction industry. An official regulation on exposure to crystalline silica only came into effect recently (Schneider, 2016). According to risk assessments, lowering occupational exposure limits from the current to the proposed standard will cut silicosis and lung cancer mortality in half.

Much of the controversy surrounding these rule changes revolve around the economic cost of implementing these new standards and the charge of occupational health and safety to workers. Untold thousands, if not millions, of people may have died or will die in the coming days as a result of four decades of inaction on the exposure threshold. Lung cancer and silicosis are both dangerous conditions. Some companies, and the organizations they represent, argue that the time and effort required to fully adapt their employees and construction sites to the new standards would place an unreasonable and irrecoverable burden on their operations. In the short term, it would be the cost that would increase without worrying in the long run. Hence, ending up taking advantage of their budget. Other companies, it is argued, are more employee-centric, or large and successful enough to benefit from the rule, for obvious reasons.

According to Ali & Rawlins (2019), Corporate Americas positions on this matter are posted on the websites of various industry and non-industry groups. They are considered helpful in understanding different views on these new rules. A source, calling itself the building code monitoring website summed up the strong opposition of the NAHB to the new silica standards and identified several other companies and groups that were also opposed to the changes. On April 19, 2016, NAHB chairman, an Illinois developer and entrepreneur, testified before Congress that the new rules would not guarantee workers safety. It will also hurt the economy. He claims that the technological changes necessary to comply with the regulations are not economically viable for his company and would only increase housing costs by increasing its operating expenses.

In summary, while many industrial companies and their representative organizations have expressed strong opposition, these new silica standards were necessary and long overdue. Some companies and industries find the new silica standards as a great plan for the safety and health of workers, whereas others have withdrawn such stands. However, industry resistance and the unwillingness of legislators to act on such a costly matter of industry regulation has resulted in the new limit not being implemented to this day. Countless thousands or millions of people may have or will die in the next few days due to more than four decades of inactivity at the threshold of exposure (Ali & Rawlins, 2019). Lung cancer and silicosis are deadly diseases. Those who have suffered and continue to suffer due to their work environment in construction or related industries could have avoided their suffering. Better practices and stricter regulations regarding this dangerous respirable substance could have reduced the physical, emotional, and mental anguish of workers, as well as financial costs. As a result, OSHA may not have been effective in treating silica promptly.

References

Ali, R., & Rawlins, T. (2019). History and critical analysis of OSHA crystalline silica rules: A systematic review. JOURNAL of ENVIRONMENTAL and OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, 2019, 9(1), 112.

Schneider, S. (2016). Getting to Know OSHAs New Silica Standard  LHSFNA. Www.lhsfna.org. Web.

Introduction

The effectiveness of the online COVID-19 health and safety program will be evaluated in line with the set objectives. The outcome evaluation entails an assessment of the results of the program while comparing with the expectations (Owen, 2020). First, students achievement from the program will be evaluated by answering the question of how much a difference the program made to the students. The first step, in this case, is hypothesis formulation to shape the direction of evaluation. The hypothesis will be stated as H_A: The COVID-19 health and safety program facilitated knowledge on infections prevention and control in a safe environment for the students and instructors. This hypothesis combines the programs impact on students and instructors because the goal was to foster an understanding of the preventive measures, a process carried out by instructors.

The second step entails data collection, which will be carried out through questionnaires and in-person interviews. For this purpose, a sample of ten randomly selected students, and two instructors will be selected for interviews. The questionnaires will be distributed to every participant, and anonymity is encouraged to ensure correct responses. The primary purpose of the in-person interviews is to gauge the participants attitudes towards the program. The data collected will be analyzed through methods such as cluster analysis by grouping responses based on the level of change realized. At this stage, the analysis results can be presented in a graphical format to clearly illustrate how much of a difference was realized through the program.

Marketing Strategy and Brand Promise

The proposed training program will be marketed to students through online and offline platforms. As COVID-19 has disrupted many learning programs, most students have to study online (Zhu & Liu, 2020). For this reason, the first strategy will be capitalized on social media advertising. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the min social media platforms to be used. This strategy will effectively attract students since many are active on these social media platforms. Celebrities will be used to advertise the program on their social media pages. Celebrity advertising has been found effective in many attempts to reach young people because they identify themselves always want to identify themselves with famous figures (Kim et al., 2017). Recently, there has been an increased use of TikTok advertising as it has gained popularity among college students, as shown by Haenlein et al. (2020). Using short TikTok videos depicting the programs application also be a viable marketing strategy capable of attracting a large percentage of students.

The goal of a marketing strategy is to reach almost every potential customer. Since some students may not be frequent social media users, email invites will be used to invite them to check out the program and, if possible, leave their feedback. In addition to online advertisement, flyers and posters will be distributed to different colleges through the administrations to reach students who may be within the school premises. A good brand is built on the need to establish emotional connections between the brand and potential customers (Punjaisri & Wilson, 2017). The programs brand promise is: unearth your potential while saving yourself and others. The brand describes the desire to enable students to learn as much as they can on health and safety without risking their lives. This will be delivered through continuous program evaluation and feedback to ensure that its tenets are in place.

Learning Platform Assessment

As e-learning becomes popular in the education sector globally, many technological breakthroughs have helped the development of learning platforms to equip students with essential tools. The COVID-19 health and safety training program will be delivered through the Blackboard, which is a common and effective tool for online learning. According to Elbasuony et al. (2018), blackboard learning has been appreciated by many students as an effective way of personal knowledge acquisition and connections with classmates and instructors.

In comparison with other platforms such as Moodle, Blackboard is more effective in terms of resource management. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a serious resources strain, and as such, students need to study using the cheapest and most convenient methods. Blackboard allows students to take their lessons offline and share their knowledge online (Elbasuony et al., 2018). Although Blackboard has been found applicable in many learning programs, it has one major challenge in regard to assessments. The use of unfair means of passing examinations has contributed to dishonesty and dissatisfaction among students (Elbasuony et al., 2018). One crucial suggestion in regard to the platforms usefulness entails the integration of programs that can detect dishonest methods with a higher degree of accuracy than that offered by current solutions such as Turnitin. When taking online assessments on Blackboard, students should be prevented from consulting secondary sources.

Ethical Issues in Program Implementation

E-learning has facilitated access to educational resources and increased students participation in learning. However, several ethical concerns arise in response to its widespread use in schools. One of the significant challenges is data privacy and monitoring (Majeed et al., 2016). Keeping students data safe is a significant challenge that needs to be addressed. Essentially as all students have access to the Blackboard, there are high chances that a students personal data may be hacked and used inappropriately. In addition, students are not given copyrights for their work submitted on the backboard. Therefore, a student may use another students post and present it as their own, violating ethical standards. The lack of intellectual property rights is a big challenge that can be solved by developing software that marks each answer submitted on Blackboard with the first students name and storing all answers in a database. In case a student tries to send the same work, it will be detected as a duplicate and regarded as plagiarism. This way, each students work will be safeguarded against unauthorized access.

The second ethical challenge associated with the proposed program is online bullying. According to statistics, 4.3% of college students have been victims of cyberbullying, with 7.5% being perpetrators of the vice (Webber & Ovedovitz, 2018). These statistics reveal that cyberbullying among college students is high, which may be facilitated by online learning platforms. Cyberbullying may take different forms, including body shaming and the use of abusive language. When interacting on the Blackboard, students may respond rudely to each other, which is unethical. This issue will be addressed by the formulation of strict guidelines concerning students interactions. The code of conduct will outline all forms of behavior deemed unethical and serious punishment given to all who violate the set regulations.

Cost of Funding

As an online training program meant to facilitate awareness of health and safety issues, the proposed program was designed to involve minimal costs and maximum benefits. According to Leng et al. (2020), many potential programs have been limited by the high implementation costs, inhibiting their deployment. The cost of funding the proposed program is estimated at $6,000. Forty percent of this cost goes to the cost of hosting and subscription of third-party programs for anti-cheating. Forty-five percent will be used to pay instructors and to maintain the day-to-day operations. The remaining fifteen percent will be used to market the program both online and offline. It is estimated that, in the short run, no additional costs will be significant enough to exceed the $6,000 set aside for the program implementation. However, the budgeted amount may change due to some additional needs in the long run. For this reason, the program will be reviewed regularly and any changes made to ensure that it operates as expected throughout its lifetime.

Discussion

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected learning in institutions of higher learning. There is an increased need for training on the health and safety measures important in this period to ensure the continuity of education during and after the pandemic. The proposed program will fill the gap in knowledge on health and safety while ensuring that students are secure during the training. The program is designed to deliver essential information backed up by current research. It is therefore expected to be effective throughout its lifetime. Regarding the scope, the program is suitable for all students regardless of race, age, gender, or nationality. The concepts contained in the program entail general health issues and safety measures, which are crucial for every individual.

While there are many online learning platforms that could be applicable to this program, blackboard learning demonstrates greater applicability. The main benefit of the Blackboard is the simple and easy-to-use design that enables students to access the learning material, use it offline, and engage in peer discussions. Online training via the Blackboard is also suitable for students of all economic statuses since it is less costly. Essentially, the proposed program will create a community of students united against ignorance and prepared to fight against safety challenges regarding their health.

Conclusion

The education sector plays a vital role in societies and national development. It is one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic started, many schools have had to close, and students are forced to rely on online learning methods. The knowledge of health and safety measures in regard to COVID-19 is essential to all members of society. Since most of the worlds population comprises young people, it is logical to focus on a training program targeting college students. The proposed program is designed to offer online training to college students on basic health issues and safety precautions during and after the pandemic.

A programs evaluation is a crucial step that entails an assessment of the outcomes in line with the set objectives and needs of the target group. The proposed program will be evaluated through questionnaires and in-person interviews to assess the programs impact on students and trainers. Information accuracy is essential in results generation, analysis, and change implementation. For this reason, anonymity will be preserved when administering the questionnaires so that individuals can answer the questions genuinely without the fear of discrimination. Since every participant will fill a questionnaire, analyzing the results will require a cluster analysis to group the responses in groups for easy comprehension and presentation.

The goal of the program is to include students from every region irrespective of their age, race, gender, or political affiliation. To facilitate participation, the program will be marketed online and offline. Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn offer the best platforms for advertising since they have a high percentage of internet users. TikTok is also a viable marketing channel following its recent popularity among the youth. The Blackboard will be used to deliver the program due to its simplicity and ease of use. Data privacy and monitoring is one crucial ethical concern facilitated by the lack of property rights for material shared on the Blackboard. High standards for ethical conduct will be set along with software applications for anti-cheating. The program is expected to cost approximately $6,000 with the likelihood of variation when new needs arise.

References

Elbasuony, M., Gangadharan, P., & R., J. (2018). Undergraduate nursing students perception and usage of e-learning and Blackboard learning system.Middle East Journal of Nursing, 12(2), 3-13.

Haenlein, M., Anadol, E., Farnsworth, T., Hugo, H., Hunichen, J., & Welte, D. (2020). Navigating the new era of influencer marketing: How to be successful on Instagram, TikTok, & Co.California Management Review, 63(1), 5-25.

Kim, T., Seo, H., & Chang, K. (2017). The impact of celebrity-advertising context congruence on the effectiveness of brand image transfer. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 18(3), 246-262.

Leng, J., Zhu, B., & Zhang, M. (2020). Analysis on the cost of implementing the flipped classroom model in universities.Proceedings of the 2020 9Th International Conference on Educational and Information Technology.

Majeed, A., Baadel, S., & Haq, A. (2016). Global triumph or exploitation of security and privacy concerns in e-learning systems.Global Security, Safety and Sustainability  The Security Challenges of the Connected World, 351-363.

Mishra, P., Pandey, C. M., Singh, U., Keshri, A., & Sabaretnam, M. (2019). Selection of appropriate statistical methods for data analysis. Annals of cardiac anaesthesia, 22(3), 297301.

Owen, J. M. (2020). Program evaluation: Forms and approaches. Routledge.

Punjaisri, K., & Wilson, A. (2017). The role of internal branding in the delivery of employee brand promise.Advances in Corporate Branding, 91-108.

Webber, M. A., & Ovedovitz, A. C. (2018). Cyberbullying among college students: a look at its prevalence at a US Catholic University. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 4(2), 95-107.

Zhu, X., & Liu, J. (2020). Education in and after Covid-19: Immediate responses and long-term Visions.Postdigital Science and Education, 2(3), 695-699.

In the article titled Safety of hydroxychloroquine among outpatient clinical trial participants for COVID-19, Lofgren et al. conducted clinical trials to ascertain the safety of hydroxychloroquine. In the wake of COVID-19, Lofgren et al. set out to test the safety of hydroxychloroquine among outpatients. The use of hydroxychloroquine for inpatients and outpatients with COVID-19 showed an increased risk for cardiac side effects, causing the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to warn against the use of the drug outside of hospital settings (Lofgren et al., 2020). The drug led to QT prolongation, especially when used alongside azithromycin or in patients with kidney and heart problems history. The research aimed to establish the safety of hydroxychloroquine in the management of COVID-19. The researchers aimed at eliminating the fears evoked by its use in hospitalized patients with comorbidities and are under several other medications. Since the drug has a clean safety record of over 65 years, reaffirming its safety is critical in the management of the pandemic (Lofgren et al., 2020). Hence, the significance of the study is to find out how safe it is to administer hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 patients.

The study included three randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blind trials to investigate hydroxychloroquine as pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis and early treatment of the coronavirus. During the first two trials, the scientists investigated preemptive early treatment (PET) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), while pre-exposure prophylaxis (PREP) was tested in the third trial (Lofgren et al., 2020). Randomized trials using the drug and placebo are the most effective in clinical tests. The study included 2795 participants enrolled through an online survey from across the United States and a few Canadian provinces. Only 2544 (N = 2544) participants completed the survey, the rest failing to follow up (Lofgren et al., 2020). Therefore, the dropout rate from the study is equal to 0.09%. Although the percentage is small, researchers did not follow up to know whether the participants experienced adverse effects from the drug and hence, stopped responding.

The instrument employed was an online survey that participants filled on days 1, 3, 5, 10, and 14 to report their side effects, new symptoms, drug adherence, COVID-19 testing, and hospitalization (Lofgren et al., 2020). Participants in the PREP trial reported weekly on these same items. The self-reporting feature of the instrument provides advantages and disadvantages to the study. For example, patients may lack insight into their medical condition, including drug side effects and symptoms. More specifically, the symptoms of COVID-19 are a little difficult to tell, and the widespread panicky situation of the pandemic might create false symptoms. Therefore, self-reported surveys for clinical trials are relevant, but their reliability is adversely affected by various factors mentioned above.

Statistical analysis involved summaries of the frequency of the survey items, including side effects and other drug-related adverse events, such as deaths, other life-threatening occurrences, and hospitalizations. The researcher used an interquartile range for the participants demographics. The chi-square test was conducted on the participants who received medication, N = 1312, to produce the p-values for various events (Lofgren et al., 2020). A similar statistical test was carried out on groups of participants to produce their respective p-values. The statistical methods were relevant because frequency is the most important measure in clinical trials. P-values are important in distinguishing between events caused by the drug and ones that could have occurred by chance.

All the participants were adults aged 18 years and above. Other exclusion criteria included being under 40 kg in weight and being pregnant or breastfeeding. Therefore, participants were both men and women aged 18 years and above. Ethnically, most of the participants were whites or Caucasians, followed by Asian and Hispanic. Additionally, 51.4% were women, while 74.4% were healthcare workers or first responders (Lofgren et al., 2020). Considering that majority of the participants had medical and drug knowledge, their self-reporting reliability is higher than that of the ordinary respondents. In addition, the study included all adult age groups, major ethnicities, and both genders. Therefore, the findings are generalizable to a population with similar characteristics.

Outcomes of the clinical trials manifested side effects, including stomach upset, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, gastrointestinal symptoms, and neurologic reactions in 29% of the PEP and PET trials (Lofgren et al., 2020). Although sudden cardiac death and arrhythmias were not reported, seven allergic reactions were noted. Four percent of the PET and PEP participants stopped medications due to adverse side effects. Since gastrointestinal effects are an effect of COVID-19, researchers used chi-square to determine statistical significance between the placebo and the hydroxychloroquine group. Nausea or stomach upset reports between the two groups had no statistical significance difference as p =.12, which is greater than the recommended p d.05 (Lofgren et al., 2020). Similarly, for vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pains, with p =.14. In the three trials, 1% were hospitalized, and three deaths were reported (Lofgren et al., 2020). Researchers concluded that hydroxychloroquine is safe for use among COVID-19 outpatients but should not be paired with azithromycin. They also warned against high dosages for hospitalized patients, citing the possibility of cardiac complications.

The researchers achieved high degrees of reliability and validity by achieving over 90% participation from respondents. However, those that dropped out were not followed up to discover their reasons for opting out. The biases of self-reporting were a threat to the research, but it is lessened by having the majority of participants being health workers who understand symptoms, side effects, and allergies. The researchers also used randomized sampling to recruit the sample, ensuring reliability.

The strengths of the study include a large sample size of 2544 participants and innovative clinical trial designs. By sampling such a huge number across two countries, the researchers ensured the inclusion of many varying demographical factors. Nevertheless, the use of social media and the Internet for recruitment is a limitation because older participants could not be recruited. This explains why the median age of the participants is 40 years (Lofgren et al., 2020). In addition, the study did not include hospitalized patients who are more likely to suffer cardiac-related side effects than healthier outpatients. Future studies must involve large-scale and continuous clinical trials to ascertain the drugs safety. Trials on older patients with comorbidities can also produce specific results for the age group.

Nurse practitioners (NP) can prescribe drugs to patients and are responsible for ensuring that patients have proper medications in the right dose. In addition, NPS must notice any adverse side effects of any prescribed drugs and act quickly to ensure the patients get help. Since hospitals have seen increased patient numbers and health worker shortages during the pandemic, NPs must understand the drugs used for the treatment of COVID-19. This research contributes to the knowledge about hydroxychloroquine usage for outpatients with the virus.

Overall, NPs must understand how drugs interact and their side effects on patients. In the article, the researchers used online surveys to collect data from participants spread across two countries. The Chi-square method was employed to produce statistical significance values for the control group and the medicated group. The studys limitation emerges from the use of internet-based recruitment tools and the exclusion of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Reference

Lofgren, S. M., Nicol, M. R., Bangdiwala, A. S., Pastick, K. A., Okafor, E. C., Skipper, C. P.,& & Rajasingham, R. (2020). Safety of hydroxychloroquine among outpatient clinical trial participants for COVID-19. In Open forum infectious diseases (Vol. 7, No. 11, p. ofaa500). US: Oxford University Press.

Eating disorders are still a severe issue in modern-day society. One of them is bulimia nerviosa, which involves binge eating followed by unhealthy ways of weight loss. Said measures involve fasting, use of laxatives, and causing vomit. As a rule, this disorder starts when one is in late childhood or early adulthood, as the patient secretly purges and binges. A person with this disorder tends to experience shame and repulsion when they eat large quantities of food and are liberated when they do the latter. It is important to know about related safety measures, considerations and medications and therefore outcomes of bulimic patients are more likely to be optimistic.

Fortunately, there are some safety measures that they can incorporate. Some of them include avoiding triggers and maintaining a healthy diet. The former can be done by avoiding any pictures of bodies that are unattainable to the individual. They should not look into their mirror and use their scale. Regarding healthy diets, it is important for one to ensure getting the necessary nutrients (WebMD, 2021). Moreover, the patient may consult their doctor about the suitable supplements that may benefit them and the amount of exercise which is permissible for them.

People with this disorder exhibit specific features and characteristics that nurses need to take into consideration. Patients with bulimia may have cases of substance abuse, shoplifting, and mental disorders (anxiety and depression) in their lives. Such individuals are usually closer to having an average size than underweight or overweight (Belleza, 2021). They spend the majority of their time on food and dieting and are commonly known for experiencing low self-esteem. Hence, with the help of these characteristics, a person with bulimia may be identified. Symptoms of bulimia can be reduced with the help of combining antidepressants and psychotherapy. The only antidepressant, which is accepted for the treatment of this disorder by the Food and Drug Administration, is fluoxetine, also known as Prozac (WebMD, 2021; Mayo Clinic, 2018). Combined with therapy, it can improve a bulimic patients condition.

In conclusion, in order to ensure optimistic outcomes in people with bulimia, it is important to know about safety measures, considerations and medication. It is recommended for them to maintain a healthy diet and avoid triggers to stay healthy. Some of the important considerations involve an individual dedicating most of their time to food and dieting, struggling with mental disorders and low self-esteem. By paying attention to these aspects, it will be easier to help the patient recover properly.

References

Belleza, M. (2021). Eating disorders: Anorexia & bulimia nervosa. Nurseslabs. Web.

Mayo Clinic. (2018). Bulimia nervosa  Diagnosis and treatment  Mayo Clinic. Web.

WebMD Editorial Contributors. (2021). Bulimia: Symptoms, treatments, and prevention. WebMD. Web.

Accidents that happen to students in schools and during the learning process cause many childrens injuries. For this reason, implementing safe learning is one of the most important organizational issues in education (American Academy of Pediatrics et al., 2019). Because there is a clear connection between trauma and childrens personalities, school-based injury prevention should be tailored to these characteristics.

The main form of child injury prevention at school is safety training for both teachers and students. School personnel should have several essential goals in mind. It is necessary to ensure regular preventive conversations with students and parents about the need to follow the rules of conduct at school and the requirements for students clothing and footwear. Implementing effective monitoring of the learning environment and compliance with sanitary and epidemiological rules is essential (Bastable et al., 2021). Besides, there is a need for adequate daily inspections of classrooms in educational institutions.

For these goals to be successfully achieved, all school personnel must become familiar with the various guidelines. Because the educational staff consists of people with different cultural backgrounds, education levels, and academic profiles, the literature to be reviewed should be simple and well-structured (Webb, 2019). This is necessary to ensure that the safety instructions are fully understood. The most appropriate type of material for school personnel would be a handbook that includes question-and-answer explanations of how to deal with various situations that threaten student safety.

The manual should include the schools basic legal provisions governing injury prevention. Lists of safety hazards that exist in different types of lessons and stages of the learning process are an essential component. The following suggestions can be included when drafting instructions:

1. Every staff member should know the legal basis for school safety.
2. Injury prevention at recess and walks is as important as safety during lessons.
3. As much as the staff, children should be aware of their health risks.

References

American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, & National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education. (2019). Caring for our children: national health and safety performance standards; guidelines for early care and education programs (Fourth ed.). American Academy of Pediatrics.

Bastable, S. B., Sopczyk, D., Gramet, P., & Jacobs, K. (2021). Health professional as educator: principles of teaching and learning (2nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Webb, S. (2019). Education in a violent world: a practical guide to keeping our kids safe. Prominent Books, LLC.

Introduction

The public health systems have a critical role in community preparedness towards response and recovery from emergencies and threats. Coordination and collaboration between local and global emergence response stakeholders create capability-based frameworks that save peoples lives and promote safety. Organizations such as the American Red Cross are popular for their integral role in public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities in the US and other parts of the world.

Explain how the organizations mission and vision enable it to contribute to public health and safety improvements

The American Red Cross (ARC) has fundamental principles, vision, and mission that enhance public health safety and standards. The organizations mission and vision statements are geared towards improving the quality of life, offering safety services, and health promotion during a crisis (American Red Cross 2020). The mission focuses on creating networks and mobilizing volunteers who provide the capacity for the organization to alleviate human suffering during emergencies. ARCs vision is to promote care, safety, and comfort to families and communities affected by disaster through their trained individuals. The organizations effectiveness towards public health safety is achieved through the integration of its values, and business practices.

Include examples of ways a local and/or global initiative supports organizational mission and vision and promotes public health and safety

The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) is a global initiative that supports the ARCs vision and mission through its humanitarian protection and assistance towards the victims of war and armed violence. The global initiative focuses on health, life protection, and upholding of human dignity during emergencies such as armed conflicts (American Red Cross 2020). The initiative is present in every country and has millions of volunteers whose role is to promote peoples safety through the development of humanitarian action.

Evaluate an organizations ability to promote equal opportunity and improve the quality of life in the community

Guided by its core principles of impartiality, humanity, unity, voluntary service, neutrality, universality, and independence, ARC has remained fair in its delivery of public health services to all. The organization voluntarily offers emergency care and humanitarian work without discrimination in its national and international capacity (Kent State University 2020). The organization is committed to relieving individuals suffering by prioritizing the most urgent and distressful cases. ARC values diversity, equity, and inclusion to its workforce, partners, and suppliers.

Consider the effects of social, cultural, economic, and physical barriers

Though ARC extends its services to all parts of the world, challenges such as violence, war, and geography hinder the aid personnel from accessing the needy. Lack of mapping of the marginalized communities is a concern when trying to locate areas affected by crisis (American Red Cross Report 2018). Lack of a culture of community preparedness is a barrier commonly faced by ARC. The organization needs to sponsor a culture of preparedness among the members of the local communities. ARC requires emergency and trauma care systems which demands partnerships from NGOs and volunteers. Management of mass casualties requires human capacity and finances which if not available affect ARCs performance.

Assess the impact of funding sources, policy, and legislation on the organizations provision of services

The sources of funds facilitate the ARC to deliver care and comfort to millions of individuals in need across different parts of the world. The funding sources including individuals, companies, and universities help keep ARC afloat. The organizations legislation and policy provide guidelines on the best way to achieve ARCs fundamental goals. The ethical rules and policies of the organization prevent the organization from compromising its reputation for neutrality and achieving its overall objective (Kent State University 2020). The policy ensures that all the stakeholders in the organization work for the best interests of the people. ARCs legislation prepares the organization to prevent and respond to future disasters and promotes peoples welfare.

Consider the potential implications of funding decisions, policy, and legislation for individuals, families, and aggregates within the community

The funds donated to the ARC have a trickledown effect on individuals, families, and communities affected by disasters. The funds donated to the organizations help build a national and international capacity that alleviates human suffering through emergency response to the affected societies. The funding decisions made by different organizations promote universality in the delivery of services to all families and communities in need (Kent State University 2020). It is through strict adherence to policy and legislation, that ARC maintains its autonomy and achieves diversification in the promotion of safety and health to individuals and communities. The ethical principles and standards ensure that ARC is focused on its response to the disaster-prone areas to protect the safety of exposed individuals and families.

Explain how an organizations work impacts the health and/or safety needs of a local community

Through its educational and service efforts, ARC has remained pivotal in the promotion of health and safety in the American community. The organization works in collaboration with the local physicians to help with the distribution and direction of relief and medical work (American Red Cross Report 2018). ARC provides supplies, facilities, and other services such as first aid, nutrition, home nursing, water safety, and accident prevention. The organization provides training to the local community on disaster preparedness to build capacity and resilience. The ARC improves public health by providing a pool of experienced health professionals who provide support to the local health systems to prepare and respond to the disasters affecting the communitys health safety.

Consider how nurses might become involved with the organization

ARC depends on more than 40,000 nurses who are either paid or working in volunteer capacities. Some of these nurses work as blood drive workers and health and safety educators (Cross & Crescent, 2021). Others are involved in research and leadership of the organization as members of the ARC committee or board while others serve as task force specialists. All these positions assumed by the nurses have a significant effect on ARCs impact towards health safety improvement.

Conclusion

ARC is a local/global non-profit organization whose aim is to promote public health preparedness and safety in communities. The organizations values and standards provide equal opportunities to individuals and families facing disasters. ARCs policy and legislation framework play a crucial role in ensuring that the organization remains focused on its vision and mission. Nurses are among health care professionals who have a pivotal position in the organizations delivery of public health safety to communities.

References

American Red Cross (2020). Mission and Vision. Web.

American Red Cross Report (2018).Disaster Response. Web.

Cross, R., & Crescent, R. (2021). Nursing Matters Past and Present: A Call to Action, American Red Cross. Web.

Kent State University (2020). The Red Cross and Health Policy. Web.

Early childhood education is an incredibly responsible activity for the caregiver, whose priority should be safety. Because of a childs young age, inexperience, inability to understand the consequences, and causes, there is a risk of regular trauma in the classroom. These can include bruises from falls, injuries, and scratches from fights or collisions, along with traumas that a child has been exposed to during tasks. Moreover, the range of potential threats includes biological contamination with pathogens if one of the children was previously ill. Ways of transmission of such microorganisms may include unwashed hands, insufficient hygiene of the body, lack of sanitation of the premises. Taking all this into account, it is clear that in order to ensure the safe development of children, it is essential to create a protected environment, which is the professional responsibility of the educator (Marotz, 2014). Designing a protected environment is a complex of measures aimed at achieving comfort in the physical, physiological and psychological spheres of life of a preschooler. Every pupil going to classes should clearly understand that they will not be traumatized by classmates or even caregivers within the educational institution. On the other hand, parents should know that their child will be provided with high-quality support in training and education, taking into account the latest sanitary and pedagogical rules. This knowledge becomes a guarantee of the harmonious and calm development of the child. For this reason, a descriptive table is provided in this work, which indicates the categories of safety and the conditions for achieving them used in my future professional practice.

References

Arizona Department of Health Services Office of Child Care Licensing. (2010). Arizona administrative code, and Arizona revised statutes for child care facilities [PDF document]. Web.

Arizona vaccines for children [PDF document]. (2019). Web.

Caring for our children (CFOC). (2020). Web.

Childcare. (2019). Cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting in child care. Web.

Childcare. (2019). Guidelines for Child Care Providers on How to Report Suspected Abuse or Neglect. Web.

Dental hygiene: How to care for your childs teeth. (2020). Web.

Early learning program accreditation standards & assessment items. (2018). Web.

Emergency and evacuation policy. (2018). Web.

Gonser, S. (2017). Why is it so hard to stop suspending kindergarteners? Web.

Marotz, L. R. (2014). Health, safety, and nutrition for the young child. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

NAEYC. (2018). Staff-to-child ratio and class size [PDF document]. Web.

NAYEC/National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2019). NAEYC early learning program accreditation standards and assessment items [PDF document]. Web.

Ratios and group sizes. (2017). Web.

Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. (2016). SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths: updated 2016 recommendations for a safe infant sleeping environment. Pediatrics, 138(5), 1-14.

When to change your babys diaper? (2020). Web.

Introduction

• Heat is the main weather related killer disease in many countries (CDC, 2006).
• Over exposure to severe heat conditions has been found to cause killer diseases.
• These diseases include; heat exhaustion, heat rash, hyperthermia, prickly heat, high body temperature, Skin cancers among others.

United Arab Emirates Situation

• United Arab Emirates is located in Tropical weather (Joubert, 2012).
• Tropical weather is associated with Hot and Humid seasons.
• These season is dominant all year round.
• Due to this conditions, the people in the country are exposed to the above stated diseases.
• To carb this The united Arab Emirates government has introduced public awareness campaign to help reduce severe exposure to this conditions.
• This is through the Health Authority Abu Dhabi ( HAAD).

Objective of HAAD

• To raise awareness of the negative effects of heat exposure (HAAD, 2013).
• Provide health and support materials to increase training, awareness and education.
• Support EHSMS.

HAAD Target Audience

The target audience for HAAD include:

• Safety and Health Personnel in all companies (HAAD, 2013).
• Employers.
• Workers exposed to heat and contracted diseases associated with exposure to heat.

HAAD Practical Solutions To Reduce Heat Problems

• Establishing and Enforcing work in heat locations and designing procedures (Joubert, 2012).
• Informing and training workers and supervisors in recognizing symptoms related to heat stress.
• Implementation of First Aid in heat related complications.
• Encouraging good hydration and re-hydration practices.
• Providing adequate clean drinking water to workers.
• Providing workers with appropriate personal protective equipment and clothing.
• Preforming Pre  placement training.

Advantages of The Project

• Reduces Occurrences of heat related diseases (Joubert, 2012).
• Reduces the treatment costs.
• Improves working conditions.
• Reduces Companies expenditures.

Disadvantages

Despite the great benefits of the project, The initiative does not provide clear procedures on how the affected people are treated.

References

CDC. (2006). About Extreme Heat. Web.

Dubai Weather Forecast and Conditions  weather.com. National and Local Weather Forecast,Hurricane, Radar and Report. N.p., n.d. Web.

Joubert, D. (2014). Health Authority Abu Dhabi Safety in the HeatProgramme . Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Medline Plus. (2012). Heat Illness. Retrieved from health Topics.

Public Health Programs. GJ&) ‘D5-)  #(H8(J. N.p., n.d. Web.

Relations, D. o. (2013). Heat Related illness and Prevention.

Teran, S. (2010). Heat Illness Prevention Campaign. California, California, United States of America.

United States Department of Labour. (2012). Heat-related Illnesses and First Aid. Web.

Any place that human beings dwell in should be in condition that it does not pose any health risks or dehumanises in anyway. In short, this implies that living house should live up to the set state guidelines for instance, should be habitable during cold seasons, have clean drinking water and be hygienically on form (Kemp, 1999). Among the issues, that contravenes these rules and makes a house uninhabitable are lead-base paints and moulds.

Lead-based paints

Painting purpose is to add aesthetic value and give a beautiful and relaxing ambience to our homes but some paints for example Lead-based paints used in painting walls in some dwelling houses are harmful to human health.

Peelings of lead-based paints from old, deteriorating or poorly maintained apartment wall surfaces exposes occupants of such apartments to health risks. Inhabitants get exposure to lead poisoning mainly through ingesting of falling paint chips especially young children and inhaling of lead dust that grinds and piles on from peelings of painted doors and windows.

Effects of lead in human beings

Lead has several health effects, which include, causing of anaemia. When lead enter the blood stream it destroys the red blood cells, which are responsible for oxygen transportation in the body. Lead also causes brain damage especially in young children, high blood pressure, delayed growth, kidney damages, and sperm damage resulting to infertility in men among many other health effects.

Moulds

Moulds are type of fungi and have the ability of growing on almost every surface if provided with the right conditions that is wetness and high humidity levels in the air. A mould releases tiny spores in the air and thus exposing dwellers through breathing in contaminated air.

Touching and eating of items or foods with moulds is another way that exposes an individual to moulds. Moulds do not pose healthy worries to healthy individuals. However, people who are allergic or have respiratory problems have all the reason to worry about as they are at risk of suffering from irritations, running noses, skin diseases, lung congestion and asthma.

Remedies to peeling lead-based paints and moulds

According my mandate and obligation as an environmental health inspector, I would enforce the set regulation on public health and safety. As the saying goes prevention is better than cure, I would concentrate much on advising the low-income generating tenants on how to deal with the above health threats.

This will include, immediate cleaning of dropping paint chips, maintaining thorough cleanliness of walls and windows surfaces frequently, informing of landlords of peeling paints, checking and stopping sources of wetness, warming of houses to keep off moulds, and washing children hands before eating among others.

Protecting the health of swimmers

Recreational swimming pool are becoming a common thing in social areas but if not taken well care swimming pool waters can be a health threat due to causing and spreading diseases. The pool water usually undergoes treatment process to ensure that the water is clean and safe for consumers. There are several processes used to treat swimming pool water, which include chlorination and ozonation.

Conclusion

So far, most people consider chlorination the common way of treating and disinfecting. It is a reliable ability of eradicating water borne diseases. However, chlorination method has been related to several health hazards due to chlorine compounds such as chloramines, a substance that causes cancer, red eye and skin rashes, which results from, by products of chlorine.

Ozonation on the hand is a technology that has proven highly in reducing organic load in water hence making swimming waters safe for consumers and even pool attendants. Nonetheless, ozonation system machine are expensive when considered as preferred method of water treatment compared to chlorination.

Finally, I would recommend a combination of the two process of water treatment in recreational swimming pools and spas to ensure maximum the health of general consumers. I would also give advice the pool attendants to use small amounts of chlorine to reduce its risks in cases where the owners opt for chlorination.

Reference

Kemp, K. (1999, December 14). The Implied Law of Habitability. Web.