Multiple Chronic Conditions (MCC) means that a person is living with two or more chronic conditions at the same time. Currently, 1 out of 3 adult Americans have MCCs and for persons 65 and older 4 out of 5 Medicare Beneficiaries and a growing number of children have MCCs. This is the largest patient population and users of healthcare resources accounting for 64% of all clinician visits, 70% of all inpatient stays, 83% of all prescriptions, 71% of all healthcare spending, and 93% of Medicare spending.
Palliative care is symptom management in persons with multiple chronic conditions. The focus is on quality of life and not death. Palliative care should be integrated into the routine management of symptomatic chronic conditions such as heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer, chronic kidney disease and others. The effective management of symptoms prevents disease exacerbation, reduces hospitalization, maintains physical functioning, and improves quality of life.
Managing symptomatic multiple chronic conditions, prevents escalation and worsening of the underlying conditions. Proactive interventions to reduce the burden of symptoms such as pain, depression, insomnia, shortness of breath and others improves quality of life and promotes the ability to engage in meaningful and important activities.
Clinical practice is ever changing, especially related to medication safety and the prevention of adverse events. Are you using the latest evidence and best practices to protect your patients as well as your nursing practice? Learn about nurse accountability in today’s interdisciplinary, teamwork-based care systems. Panelists will also discuss risk, liability, and culture of safety strategies that focus on error prevention.
Patients have long associated trust and respect with nursing. However, recent incidents of nurses delivering inappropriate medications (wrong drug, wrong dose) have led to catastrophic consequences. Most notoriously, former nurse RaDonda Vaught was stripped of her nursing license and charged with reckless homicide and abuse of an impaired adult.
Anticholinergics, widely used in clinical practice for an extensive range of diseases, exert effects on circulation, respiration, alertness, and vision by blocking the action of acetylcholine (a neurotransmitter) within the cholinergic system.
Providers prescribe benzodiazepines (BZDs)—also known as anxiolytics, hypnotics, muscle relaxants, anticonvulsants, and amnestic medications—to manage several symptoms and conditions, including anxiety, insomnia, alcohol withdrawal, sedation, muscle spasms, agitation, and seizures.
To ensure safety and effective care, nurses must maintain their knowledge and understanding of opioid pharmacologic properties and best practices when caring for patients with acute and chronic non-cancer pain.
