Factors when prescribing medicines

Question 1

What is a diagnosis?

Answer 1

• Before a health professional administers medication to a patient they need to make sure that they make the most accurate diagnosis
• if a doctor gives the wrong diagnosis, the medication that they may prescribe may not help or it may even make the condition worse
• Doctors need to be able to prescribe to help the real problem and not making the problem worse

Question 2

What are the factors which need to be considered when prescribing medicines?

Answer 2

• Risks
• History
• Patient history
• Side effects

Question 3

What are the risks?

Answer 3

• Before a doctor prescribes a medicine to a patient they will have to consider the risk of the medication and they should also discuss these risks to the patient
• The doctor should consider:
• what are the side effects to the medication
• How does the patient interact with the current medication that they are on?
• Will the medication react to the current medication that they are on?

Question 4

What is the history?

Answer 4

• Before a doctor prescribes a medicine, they must consider the patients history such as:
• Whether the patient is on any other medications which may cause a reaction if they take a certain medicine
• Whether the patient has had side effects to this medication before - can the doctor give an alternative
• Family history: the doctor must consider whether family members have reacted badly to a certain medication as it may be advised that they don’t get prescribed this medication
• Whether the patient has a fear of needles - if the medication is given via needles the doctor will have to suggest an alternative

Question 5

What are the patient factors which need to be considered?

Answer 5

• Pregnancy - if the patient is pregnant the doctor will have to consider whether the medication will have an effect on the pregnancy and if it does, they must avoid that and give an alternative
• Age - the medication which is prescribed may react differently depending on peoples age e.g. babies can’t have the same dosage of medication as adults as it will affect their organs and it could be life threatening
• Kidney function - the doctor will have to consider whether the medication will affect the kidney function as the kidneys filter the blood and the medication may cause a kidney infection if it is strong
• Gender - the medication may react differently depending on the different hormones within the body
• Liver - if the medication given is strong it could put more pressure on the liver which may cause jaundice

Question 6

What are the side effects which needs to be considered?

Answer 6

• Side effects are problems that occur after taking a medication
• Side effects are also known as adverse effects or adverse reaction
• The doctors will prescribe the medications even though there are side effects as at the end the patient will become better