Nurses, Paramedics, EMTS, Where Do you Keep Your Tape? Stat Gear S3 Stat Review and Giveaway http://t.co/WMVSM9nD - 8 to win!
10 rights of drug administration
1. Right Drug
2. Right Patient
3. Right Dose
4. Right Route
5. Right Time & Frequency
6. Right Documentation
7. Right History and Assessment (Complete patient drug/relevant history)
8. Drug approach and Right to Refuse
9. Right Drug-Drug Interaction and Evaluation (drug-food incompatibilities/interaction)
10. Right Education and Information (Teach pt about the drug he is taking)
Today is the end of an era folks. Lipitor, the #1 selling branded medication in the world is going off patent. This means, instead of the $115 a month Pfizer has been charging, it is now a race toward the bottom for generic manufacturers to produce and sell it for hopefully $4 a month.
Despite Lipitor’s wild popularity, as you can see below, either 96 or 98% of people (depending on whether or not you have prior heart disease) who take Lipitor see no benefit. It does do what it says— it lowers your cholesterol. But prolonging your life and increasing the quality of your life is much more complicated than just lowering your cholesterol. Here are the numbers for:
Those without heart disease (just high cholesterol):
For those with a heart disease diagnosis:
Taking chronic medications like Lipitor is quite similar to receiving vaccines. You receive vaccines to not only protect yourself, but to also protect society. At the individual level, Lipitor is a very bad investment. At the population level, a very small percentage of Lipitor takers are helped. As you can see, if you’re a gambler, it’s not a very good bet to take Lipitor. And if you look at the entire population of people, less than 4% of those taking Lipitor will actually be helped.
This is modern medicine folks, bottled up and sold via daytime television.
And by the way, see that chemical structure up there. That’s called atorvastatin. It’s also called Lipitor. If anything changes in that chemical structure, it’s fundamentally different and can no longer be called atorvastatin. So if any of you are wondering if a generic is better/different from a branded medication. It’s simply not. If a generic medication were different/better, it would be a fundamentally different chemical compound. And that applies to all medications and vitamins. Don’t let marketers fool you that there’s a benefit to spending $111 more a month on a branded drug.
Nursing
As a fairly new nurse (16 months), I’m curious what it is you look for in a nurse who works for/with you. What qualities and personality traits do you like to work with?
I realize this doesn’t exactly follow the pre-med vibe of your blog, but I thought, “who better to answer this than Dr Cranquis?”
Thanks very much for all you do!Ooh, I have a VIBE! Well I love your question, and thanks for giving me the honor of expounding on Dr. Cranquis’ Mental Checklist for Awesome Nurses that I Like to Work With. (This list assumes the prerequisites of: a standard amount of training, the ability to speak understandable English, and acceptable levels of personal hygiene.)
- Must have a sense of humor, and the more warped the better — BUT must also be able to shut that humor off at the drop of a glove when an emergency arises.
- Must have a fluffy compassionate outside — wrapped around a crunchy tough-love center that doesn’t let patients get away with crap.
- Must have an ever-expanding storehouse of clinical knowledge based on experience — BUT must be willing to modify or change his/her behaviors when presented with new data.
- Must be able to tolerate gross or awkward procedures/conditions/patients — OR be able to gracefully arrange for another nurse to handle it without just “disappearing” when work needs to be done.
- Must be able to listen to the doctor’s rambling story or pun-filled joke with minimal eye-rolling. Must be able to look at the doctor’s latest cute pictures of Baby Cranquis with appropriate “ooh’s” and “ahhh’s” and “oh he looks so handsome just like you’s”.
- Must be curious about things “outside the scope” of nursing. I love when my nurses ask me how to interpret an xray or ask to hear the pneumonia.
- Must have a good sense of self-esteem. I always feel awkward working around nurses who are timid and think that any un-positive comment is a direct attack on their person.
- Must be able to provide and receive feedback well. Everyone needs to be given feedback on their performance, doctors and nurses — and sometimes a nurse is the best person to point out something that the doctor could improve, in order to improve care and patient safety.
- Must never EVER make a complaint or a grumble within hearing-range of a patient. I am whole-heartedly in favor of back-hallway eye-rolling, blowing off steam and complaining about the latest stupidiot to stagger through our clinic — but patients must never feel those sentiments. All patient care must be professional and equal, regardless of the patient’s lack of functioning brain cells, survival instincts, or morality.
Good luck with your career! And thanks for reading. :)
***Pending Cranquis-Mails: Zero; InBox: Will open today, Sunday November 20, sometime before noon US Eastern Standard Time. Watch for an Inbox Open announcement!***
