The impact that diabetes can have on someone’s life is truly great. Everyone who has experienced diabetes has a different tale of the hardships that they have endured throughout their lives. As a human being it is important to have an understanding of the feeling of those who suffer around us. All too often we jump at a conclusion without actually putting much thought into the situation before us. As a current student pharmacist one of my goals is to improve my understanding of what it is like to live with a disease. One way to learn is to read about the experiences of people and try to comprehend what they have been through. I read “Needles” written by Andie Dominick, which is an autobiography about growing up with diabetes. “Needles” presents
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Both of these things are subjects that I can tie into my profession as a pharmacist. The first thing is patient interaction. Throughout Andie’s life she retells her interactions with some of the health care professionals she interacted with. Some of Andie’s experiences were good and some were bad. There was one time that Andie was very irritable, because she was nonadherent to her medication and had to go to the hospital in an ambulance. Andie had low blood glucose levels in her body and her interactions with the paramedics, nurses and doctor that was trying to help her were not pleasant. It is not easy as a human being to overlook someone screaming at you and to stay calm. However, as a healthcare professional this is something that I will sometimes need to do. Something the doctor at the hospital could have done to help with the situation would have been to use motivational interviewing. Motivational interviewing can often help deescalate a downhill or “heated” situation (1st link – PHRM 826). The next thing that stood out to me from this book is the severity of diabetes and how it can change a patient’s life in its entirety. There are many aspects of chronic diseases that are often not thought about. It is important that as a pharmacist and really any healthcare provider, we keep an open mind and empathize with patients who are going through a rough time. The suicide of Andie’s older sister
Both of these things are subjects that I can tie into my profession as a pharmacist. The first thing is patient interaction. Throughout Andie’s life she retells her interactions with some of the health care professionals she interacted with. Some of Andie’s experiences were good and some were bad. There was one time that Andie was very irritable, because she was nonadherent to her medication and had to go to the hospital in an ambulance. Andie had low blood glucose levels in her body and her interactions with the paramedics, nurses and doctor that was trying to help her were not pleasant. It is not easy as a human being to overlook someone screaming at you and to stay calm. However, as a healthcare professional this is something that I will sometimes need to do. Something the doctor at the hospital could have done to help with the situation would have been to use motivational interviewing. Motivational interviewing can often help deescalate a downhill or “heated” situation (1st link – PHRM 826). The next thing that stood out to me from this book is the severity of diabetes and how it can change a patient’s life in its entirety. There are many aspects of chronic diseases that are often not thought about. It is important that as a pharmacist and really any healthcare provider, we keep an open mind and empathize with patients who are going through a rough time. The suicide of Andie’s older sister