In many Asian countries there are a lot of cases of malaria. I knew some people who have malaria. Malaria is caused by tiny parasites that grow in the red blood cells. They can multiply 10 times every two days and invade new cells. Eventually they may cause fever or more severe illness such as anaemia or coma.
• Malaria parasites are spread by the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito.
• There are four types of malaria parasites. P. Falciparum is the most dangerous type which causes cerebral malaria. P. Vivax cause a milder type of malarial. The other two malaria parasites (P. Ovale and P. Malariae) are less common.
• Children under five and pregnant women are most at risk of death from malaria.
The Department of Health in the countries where malaria is prevalent are doing their best to prevent people from having malaria. Clean surrounding is still the best way to prevent it for mosquitoes do not dwell in clean areas. People like missionaries should take some antimalarial drugs. The use of some mosquito lotion and the use of mosquito net are also good protection.
Archive for the ‘nursing information’ Category
Facts about malaria
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009PRICE is the right treatment
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 I am reminded about my sister’s motorcycle accident last year. She almost broke her leg. Thanks God she only had sprain on her knee. It made her knee very swollen. The PRICE treatment did help. Now she is able to walk without any support.
“Sprain” is used to describe a wide range of injuries. But a true sprain involves damage to ligaments, the bands of elastic like tissue that support joints by connecting the bones. Sprains can often be treated with simple home-care measures. However, there are times you should see medical attention.
To treat a minor soft-tissue injury, remember the letters PRICE, which stand for Protection, Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.
• Protection – protect your joint from further injury. An elastic wrap, brace, sling, air-cast, cane or crutches may help support the joint that cause pain or swelling.
• Ice – cold reduces swelling and inflammation, decreases muscle spasms and helps relieve pain.
Apply ice or an ice pack with a dry towel or a blanket for insulation. Apply ice for no more than 20 minutes at a time, several times a day. Don’t apply heat, which can cause more swelling. If you have vascular disease, rheumatism or decreased sensation, talk to your doctor before applying ice.
• Compression – this decreases bruising and swelling. Keep the joint wrapped until swelling subsides. Keep the wrap snug but not tight. Loosen if pain increases or you have numbness.
• Elevation – raising a swollen joint above the level of your heart reduces swelling. This is especially important at night.
Continue the PRICE treatment as long as it helps. You may want to take acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain or nonaspirin anti-inflammatory drug, such as ibuprofen (advil, motrin), for pain and inflammation (aspirin may slightly increase risk of bleeding).
Pray for a stronger heart
Friday, January 30th, 2009I attended a seminar yesterday about how to read an ECG result. I learned a lot from it. We learned that there are a lot of many heart conditions and most of them are life threatening. We all should pray for a strong heart. When you are suffering from heart diseases already you need to pray and be positive. Recovery comes faster for those with faith. Religious people may recover faster from heart attack. Going to church is good medicine, according to a small study. People who had had a heart attack and who most often attended services, prayed, and participated in church activities had the most confidence and made the greatest strides during rehabilitation, say researchers. The study tracked Christians.
MICU orientation schedule
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009I learn today that our hospital MICU orientation will be in two weeks. I thought it would be sooner. I think I am just excited. It is okay though I still have time to study and review some nursing procedures and common diseases in the Medicine ICU. At the same time I can do the things I needed to do because I know when I start the training I only have limited time. For now, I list all the things that need to be done.
What if patient becomes unresponsive?
Monday, January 26th, 2009This must be hard for a newbie ICU nurse like me. I ask this question so that I will be prepared to know what should I do when my patient becomes unresponsive. Nursing process should always be utilized. What should be done first? First thing that needed to be done is assessment. The thing to focus on here is pretty simple- keep in mind the basic question: “What’s wrong with my patient?”. The goal as a new ICU nurse is to try to figure out what the patient is doing- but when the patient does something happened unexpected, there is just no substitute for experience. So go get some help: get the resource nurse, and get the team. This points up the most basic principle of ICU nursing: it is a group process. As a new nurse, we should know where we stand, what are our roles and most of all always communicate what is happening to the patients with the resource nurse.
Excited for MICU training
Sunday, January 25th, 2009In the next two weeks my training in MICU (Medicine Intensive care unit). I am very excited and at the same time kind of nervous as to what to do. This will be my first exposure to that unit. I know this is one of the busiest and toxic nursing units in the hospital. I am very excited to learn and to care for sick patients. I know in the beginning I need to observe, learn and familiarize things. At first, I think I will feel like it seems as though there is an endless stream of emergent situations that crop up in the unit, may be sometimes it clearly in response to some prior event, sometimes all by themselves, and they can be genuinely terrifying. Experienced ICU nurses may be a lot more nervous than a newbie trainee nurse simply because they know what to be afraid of. A key rule of ICU: any patients is capable of doing anything at any time. I know where to put myself though. When there will be cases that needs an experience then I need to call the experienced ICU nurse and I need to back up myself and let them do what is needed to be done. I can help them handing the things they needed. In that case, I should be a keen observer so if that case will happen again I know what to do. It is good to know that later on in my training I will improve and function or do what the unit staff do. I cannot wait for that time.