Medication Knowledge

 

This week’s exercise truly gave me a greater appreciation for patient education in nursing. I took this opportunity to ask my family members about specific medications that are commonly used such as Tylenol, Advil, Aspirin and Insulin. I was surprised to find such a limited knowledge about commonly used medications. I found that many in my family honestly believed Tylenol and Advil to be the exact same medication. My husband for instance, only knew that you take Tylenol for headaches, and “are not supposed to take Advil before working out” according to his high school cross-country coach. When asked about common side-effects on Tylenol and Advil, all of the family members I asked could not come up with any. However, Aspirin tends to be a better known medication in my family it seems. Both my mother and husband were aware of common uses of the medication, such as heart attacks, heart conditions and common side effects, such as bleeding. Although most of my family members understood the use of insulin, they did not know the various types of insulin and potential adverse effects. I really enjoyed completing this assignment, as it gave me a better understanding of baseline knowledge our patients might have in the clinical setting. It also gave me the opportunity to open-up this discussion with my family and practice educating. The assignment also reminded me how unrealistic it is for a patient to be sent home without a proper explanation of each medication prescribed. If my own family members, who have regular contact with a health care professional, know so little about common medications, there is no doubt in my mind that many others know even less. I hope that as I enter the nursing field, I am able to use the knowledge I’ve gained throughout this program to educate my patients about the treatments they’re being prescribed.