Medication Administration: Tuberculosis
Introduction
Medication administration is one of the most critical elements of healthcare. The purpose of medication is to help fight diseases, and hence prescriptions must be followed as instructed unless healthcare providers change the instructions. The primary function of medications is to diagnose, treat, as well as prevent specific diseases. In the administration of medicines, healthcare providers must understand how the medication enters the body and act on the condition causing agents, toxicity levels, side-effects, among other complications in the body. When not correctly administered, drugs can be dangerous even if their real intention is to improve the health of the patient (Case-Lo 2019). For this reason, taking medication correctly and understanding the correct methods of administration becomes even more critical.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), medication administration errors are the leading medical errors during healthcare provision. Consequently, the healthcare providers given the responsibility of drug administration must display high levels of correct decision making and clinical judgment during drug administration. Healthcare providers are required to follow agency policies to ensure safe practice. In today’s world, there are even technologies that provide safety during the administration of medications. A good example is the Automated Medication Dispensing Systems. Nurse practitioners are always concerned when it comes to medication administration. For one, the basic rules require the person preparing the drugs to administer them. This is because of the danger of improper administration of medications and the fact that the individual giving out the medications is responsible for documenting the medication type, dosage, and other issues related to medication administration.
Tuberculosis care and treatment
Tuberculosis is a respiratory infection caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The mode of transmission is air. A person gets infected when he/she breathes in air infected with these types of bacteria. Once in the body, Tuberculosis attacks the lungs but may also attack and damage other organs.
In most cases, Tuberculosis is curable. However, if left untreated, Tuberculosis can prove fatal. The treatment of tuberculosis is a long process that may involve taking tuberculosis drugs for at least six months. This is because tuberculosis medications work to kill the causing bacteria. However, the tuberculosis bacteria do not die fast, and hence patients have to take prescribed medicines as strictly indicated. A failure to do this may cause the bacteria to become resistant to the medication, which may force a patient to be prescribed with stronger medications that may require to be taken for more extended periods. Once a patient is diagnosed with tuberculosis, he/she may be quarantined, and healthcare providers may be needed to use face masks that do not allow tuberculosis bacteria to penetrate.
Tuberculosis medication administration
Diagnosis: A doctor may do a skin test and checking signs of swellings in the lymph node and listening to breathing patterns using a stethoscope. The skin test is done by injecting PPD tuberculin and then checking for a red swelling. The test results may be wrong, for instance, in cases of people who received recent BCG vaccines. For this reason, blood, imaging, and sputum test are necessary (Mayo Clinic).
Drug regimen: There more than a dozen drugs approved for tuberculosis treatment. Tuberculosis drug regimens include a combination of drugs. Patients who have never had tuberculosis have taken TB drugs for less than a month are categorized as new patients. Most TB regimens are characterized by high initial intensity, followed by the continuation phase. New patients usually are administered with first-line drugs: Isoniazid (H/Inh), Rifampicin (R/Rif), Pyrazinamide (Z/Pza), Ethambutol (E/Emb). This administered for the first two months of intensive TB treatment. According to the World Health Organization, TB patients require at least six months of drug administration. After the acute stage, the continuation phase of treatment begins. This is where the patient is administered with Isoniazid (H/Inh) with rifampicin (R/Rif).
Dosage: The drugs must be taken as a combination due to the risk of the bacteria becoming resistant. The dosage depends on a person’s weight. The following is the recommended dosage: Isoniazid 5 (mg/kg body weight) maximum (mg) 300, Rifampicin 10 (mg/kg body weight) maximum (mg) 600, Pyrazinamide 25 (mg/kg body weight) and Ethambutol 15 (mg/kg body weight). Additionally, the doses must be taken each day and at the recommended times for at least six months (TBfacts.org 2018).
Drug-Resistant TB: Drug-resistant TB occurs when the TB causing bacteria becomes resistant to one of the first-line drugs. There is also a multi-drug resistant TB where the bacteria become resistant to at least one first-line drug that must include rifampin and isoniazid. Treatment of drug-resistant TB is not an easy task. Improper medication administration or management of therapy can lead to potentially life-threatening conditions (CDC, 2016).
Mechanism of action: TB drugs target various elements of the TB, causing bacteria. They are involved in processes such as inhibiting cell wall and protein synthesis. Each drug has content with specific functions. For example, fluoroquinolones prevent the synthesis of DNA in cursors, while nitroimidazoles inhibit mycolic acid synthesis. Ethambutol and thioamides ensure cell wall synthesis is inhibited (NIH).
Side effects: The side effects of TB medication rely on the drug combinations and can range from mild effects to severe impacts. Streptomycin is one drug that is known to have very harsh side effects. In severe cases, the medicine can cause a person to become deaf. For this reason, it is recommended that healthcare workers avoid administering the drug unless it is a case of drugs resistant TB, and only if other options are not available. Patients are generally advised to seek the opinion of their doctor if they experience nausea, vomiting, jaundice, loss of appetite, dark urine, and fever lasting several days after commencing TB treatment.