According to articles in the Toronto Star, thousands of Ontario seniors are receiving powerful antipsychotic drugs such as olanzapine and quetiapine to treat dementia. As we are currently learning these drugs are claiming the lives of our seniors’ at an alarming rate. Ethel Geraldine Anderson was unfortunately one of those victims who died four month later after receiving an increased dose of Zyprexa. Are health care providers including doctors not abiding by the code of ethical conduct and standards whereby providing the best possible care for their clients, are they upholding the principle of non-maleficence, are doctors relying too heavily on nurses for assessment of patients? Throughout this paper I will be discussing the unethical practice
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During my research It was noted that an “increased efforts are needed to enhance clinical training and knowledge in psychopharmacology among trainees and practicing clinicians”. (Gardner, 2014) these medications are not being prescribed for the actual intended use, safety warnings by pharmaceutical manufactures known as the black box labelling are put in place to notified the patients of their deadly side effects (Toronto Star, 2014). The adverse effects heavily outweigh the temporary benefits of what the health care providers are seeking to achieve. ‘These antipsychotic medications are not approved by health Canada for treating seniors with dementia they are used to sedate clients in nursing homes who are sometimes aggressive, wonder’s off and are easily agitated.“(Toronto Star 2014) these acute symptoms are treated without taking into consideration or totally ignoring the deadly side effects such as “falls, bedsores, blood clots and direct adverse reactions to the drugs themselves, which can sometimes be fatal,” (Toronto Star …show more content…
So I think that a more hands on approached with the Doctors will be beneficial when prescribing antipsychotic medication. I do believe that sedating patients minimizes the work load of the nurses, and also represents a significant cost containment method by the nursing homes. This on unethical and in humane I believe that they are acting in the best interest of themselves and of the facility instead of the patients. According to the nurses’ union of Canada “the system lacks the nimbleness to adjust available nursing hours to changes in patient acuity, and the political will to create systems that acknowledge that matching staffing level to patient needs saves lives”(Nurses Union,
During my research It was noted that an “increased efforts are needed to enhance clinical training and knowledge in psychopharmacology among trainees and practicing clinicians”. (Gardner, 2014) these medications are not being prescribed for the actual intended use, safety warnings by pharmaceutical manufactures known as the black box labelling are put in place to notified the patients of their deadly side effects (Toronto Star, 2014). The adverse effects heavily outweigh the temporary benefits of what the health care providers are seeking to achieve. ‘These antipsychotic medications are not approved by health Canada for treating seniors with dementia they are used to sedate clients in nursing homes who are sometimes aggressive, wonder’s off and are easily agitated.“(Toronto Star 2014) these acute symptoms are treated without taking into consideration or totally ignoring the deadly side effects such as “falls, bedsores, blood clots and direct adverse reactions to the drugs themselves, which can sometimes be fatal,” (Toronto Star …show more content…
So I think that a more hands on approached with the Doctors will be beneficial when prescribing antipsychotic medication. I do believe that sedating patients minimizes the work load of the nurses, and also represents a significant cost containment method by the nursing homes. This on unethical and in humane I believe that they are acting in the best interest of themselves and of the facility instead of the patients. According to the nurses’ union of Canada “the system lacks the nimbleness to adjust available nursing hours to changes in patient acuity, and the political will to create systems that acknowledge that matching staffing level to patient needs saves lives”(Nurses Union,