Treating Alcoholism

Treating Alcoholism Introduction Alcoholism is defined as a disease that is persistent, progressive and often fatal. It is not a symptom of other diseases or emotional problems; it is its own disorder. Alcohol affects every part of the body even the brain which will eventually adapt to the alcohol use by becoming dependent on it after prolonged use. Genetics and environment are factors that are influenced by this disease. Drinking can reduce life expectancy by 10-12 years and next to smoking is the second most common preventable cause of death in America. The earlier a person starts drinking, the greater their chance is of developing serious illness later on. Once dependant on alcohol, its very difficult to quit. The cause of alcoholism is unknown. Just drinking gradually and consistently over time can produce alcohol dependence and cause withdrawal symptoms during periods of abstinence, but this is not the only cause of alcoholism. To develop alcohol dependence several other factors typically come into play, like genetics, culture and psychology. The signs of alcoholism or a dependence on alcohol vary from person to person and depend on how much the person drinks or how the person drinks. The definition of alcohol use and abuse ranges from moderate drinking, which is defined as equal to or less then two drinks a day for men and equal to or less then one drink a day for women. Hazardous or heavy drinking would be defined as more then 14 drinks per week or 4-5 drinks at one sitting for men or more then 7 drinks a week or 3 drinks in one setting for women or frequent intoxication in either gender. Harmful drinking is when alcohol consumption has actually caused physical or psychological harm or alcohol consumption has persisted for at least a month or has occurred consistently for a year. Alcohol abuse is used when the person either cant fulfill work or personal obligations and/or has recurrent problems with the law. Alcohol dependence is used for people that three or more alcohol related problems in a period of one year that in cludes increased amount of alcohol needed to produce an effect earlier obtained with less alcohol, experiences withdrawal symptoms or drinks to avoid withdrawal symptoms, drinks more then intended, unsuccessfully attempting to cut down or quit, gives up hobbies or leisure activities to drink. Summary Emotional and behavior problems such as depression and anxiety put people at a high risk for alcoholism and often are the reason the elderly turn to alcohol. Problem drinking in this case can be a way to self medicate. People may also use alcohol to become less inhibited in public situations that for some may be a source of great anxiety. Those that have impulsive personalities are also at a great risk for developing dependence to alcohol, due to the fact that they have low impulse control. Alcoholism affects every part of the body causing illness, cancer and with long term consumption can even cause death. Frequent, heavy drinking is associated with a higher risk of death to injury, violence and medical disorders, like pancreatitis, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, nerve damage and even impotence. As people age it takes few drinks to become intoxicated and organs are damaged by smaller amounts of alcohol then younger people. Those that require surgery also have an increased risk of postoperative complications, including infections, bleeding and decreased heart and lung functions, along with wound healing problems. If withdrawal symptoms are present can inflict further stress on the body and delay healing. Neurological or mental disorders can be caused from binge drinking which can cause memory impairment and problems thinking and concentrating. Nerve damage from severe vitamin deficiencies can impair mental function and memory and cause emotion disorders and even psychosis, like Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, that causes loss of balance, confusion and memory loss and can lead to permanent brain damage and even death. Diagnosing alcoholism can be hard, since nearly always people deny the problem. But for most, denial may be the first warning sign that their drinking is out of hand. There are tests to screen for alcoholism, most are short and allow the person to take them on his or her own time. Because people deny their problem or attempt to hide it, the questions relate to problems associated with drinking, rather then the amount of liquor consumed. The quickest test is the CAGE test and is an acronym for: 1. Attempts to CUT (C) down on drinking. 2. ANNOYANCE (A) with criticisms about drinking. 3. GUILT (G) about drinking. 4. Use of alcohol as an EYE-OPENER (E) in the morning. This test is called a Self Administered Alcoholism Screening Test (SAAST) and appears to be the most useful in detecting alcoholism in white middle aged males. Alcoholism, hard to detect in elderly women is sometimes diagnosed as depression and prescribed anti-anxiety drugs that can have dangerous effects when mixed with al cohol conclusion Treatments for alcoholism vary, but the overall goal in treatment is total abstinence, since those that abstain have better success rates then those that dont. Treatment should also, include replacing addictive patterns with satisfying, time filling, behaviors which are able to fill the void in daily activities when drinking has stopped. Because alcoholism is so difficult to treat, most doctors will choose to treat alcoholism as a chronic disease that include relapses and remission periods. Inpatient and outpatient treatments are available to those that would benefit most from these types of treatments. Those with co-existing medical or mental disorders or those that might harm themselves have greater success with inpatient treatments at a psychiatric hospital or alcohol center. Outpatient treatments work best with people that have a good support system and are able to take medications for mild to moderate withdrawal symptoms. Psychotherapy treatments focus on Psychotherapeutic approaches and include cognitive-behavior therapy is used for severe alcoholism and gives people the opportunity to learn to cope and control their behavior, by changing the way they think about drinking and Interactional group psychotherapy that includes group based therapy like Alcoholics Anonymous or AA, 12-step program. Alcoholism is a very real and serious disease that requires medical treatment and those suffering will require lifelong care and support.

Frost and Wordsworth Essay

Robert Frost (L) and William Wordsworth (R)Syed Naquib Muslim Robert Frost is often designated by students and critics as the American poetical parallel of William Wordsworth, the forerunner of the Romantic Movement in England. It is widely believed that Wordsworth exerted profound influence on Frost in writing his poems, especially those on nature. In philosophy and style, Frost and Wordsworth appear both similar and dissimilar. Both Wordsworth and Frost wrote in the ordinary language of ordinary people. Frost’s poetry, to use his own words, â€Å"begins in delight and ends in wisdom†, whereas Wordsworth’s poetry â€Å"begins in delight and ends in delight. † Frost’s wisdom is best reflected in the immortal line in Mending Wall: â€Å"Good fences make good neighbors. † In Byron’s view, Wordsworth is â€Å"dull, over-mild and flat like a sauce into which the cook had forgotten to shake pepper. † Unlike Wordsworth, Frost is less egotistical and he maintains what Eliot terms as ‘artistic detachment. † Except in elegies, Frost does not always involve himself in the subject matter of his poetry. Both poets consciously avoided the rhetorical extravaganza of William Shakespeare and grandiloquence of John Milton. Frost was able to capture the natural tone of human conversation. His poem, A Boy’s Will, captures the reader’s attention not only for the theme but also for plainness of expression. Ideas, emotions and feelings are expressed in ordinary speeches. The same is true of Wordsworth. My views about Frost are a bit different. Frost is deceptively plain whereas Wordsworth is genuinely simple. Frost’s poetry contains plain words but complex thoughts whereas Wordsworth’s poetry has plain words and plain thoughts. Wordsworth is plain both in manner and matter. He is never pretentious, covert and deceptive. Both Wordsworth and Frost are democratic in style as they speak â€Å"to men in the tongue all men know because they are men. † Wordsworth is more comparable to Whitman than Frost. In Frost, plainness is present but it is a deceptive plainness. In deceptive simplicity, Frost reveals the complexities of rural life in the garb of plain words. Many of his monosyllabic words were difficult to comprehend as these were charged with symbolic meanings. The body of his poetry wears an ordinary garment but beneath it remain messages that need one to introspect for clear understanding. Frost uses symbols taken from nature to express the intended meanings or messages. For Wordsworth, poetry is the outcome of personal spiritual or mystical experience experience is the antecedent and poems are the consequent. In fact, experience causes expression, and expression becomes a spontaneous outburst. For Frost, poetry begins consciously and it ends unconsciously. In Wordsworth’s poetry, nature is supreme, where humans and nature forge an intimate communion; humans and nature are never found hostile to each other. In Frost, rural people are supreme and nature has been made subordinate to humans. It is hard to describe Frost as the poet of nature, if we determine Wordsworth as the standard. Frost himself admits: â€Å"We have had nature poetry for a hundred years. † He is interested in locating the relations between nature and humans. It is true that both poets sought to find solace and delight in nature. The poem Birches offers the best example of how the poet blends observation and imagination, fact and fancy, feeling and wisdom. Like the poetry of Thomas Hardy, the subjects of Frost’s poetry are local or regional. Their poetry springs from specific areas. The subjects of Wordsworth’s poetry are universal, and are true of all people of the world. Frost wrote about ordinary people farmers and workers were the subjects of his poems. Woods, flowers, birches, weeds, birds and trees showed up frequently in his poems. The rural landscape and wildlife form the content of his poetry. Because of his unfeigned interest in and love for rural people, Frost emerged ultimately as a national bard and a poetic sage of America. Frost is an environmentalist, and Wordsworth is a pantheist. In New Hampshire, Frost declares: â€Å"The more the sensibilist I am The more I seem to want my mountains wild. † Both Wordsworth and Frost are optimistic in their attitude to life. As Jonathan Swift had all complaints against humankind, Frost had all the complaints against nature. But still he would seek recourse to nature, when he becomes weary of urban life. In Birches, he says: â€Å"Earth’s the right place for love,  I don’t know where it’s likely to go better. â€Å" Poetry, to Frost, was a record of personal experience. To Wordsworth, it was â€Å"the image of man and nature. Its object is truth, not individual and local but general and operative; not standing external testimony but carried alive into the heart by passion. † Thus Wordsworth’s poetry is a direct revelation of reality, an authentic version of human phenomena. To Wordsworth, nature was the source of learning, ideas, power and values; nature was the fountain of inspiration and solace in times of mental agony. Nature appears to him as his ‘guardian, nurse’ and teacher. In times of despair and suffering, nature acts as the spring of moral strength and confidence for psychic survival. In nature Wordsworth feels â€Å"a presence that disturbs† him with â€Å"the joys of elevated thoughts. † To Frost, nature is unfriendly, malevolent and malignant; it creates barriers to the smooth fulfillment of human and social obligations. From this perspective, Frost is comparable to Thomas Hardy and W. B. Yeats. Nature is a menace and discomfort. Although, to Frost, the woods are â€Å"lovely, dark and deep,† humans should not stay there for long, as they have duties elsewhere, they â€Å"have miles to go† before they sleep. In the poem Come In, Frost promises: â€Å"But no, I was out for stars: I would not come in. † To Frost, there are barriers between humans and nature, between humans and humans, and between the creator and Creation. Yet he does not cease to work; he rather tries to adjust himself with the barriers created by nature. Like Wordsworth, Frost could not feel in nature â€Å". . . a sense of something far more deeply interfused. † Amid nature and even with a human companion, Wordsworth was ever solitary; he could create solitude in the midst of a multitude. Wordsworth is the poet of thought and meditation whereas Frost is one of activity, work, obligation and duty. Frost was pragmatic, worldly and anti-Romantic.. Wordsworth was a transcendentalist, romantic and mystic. Unlike Wordsworth, Frost keeps himself confined within earthly region, with mundane phenomena; he is not willing to transcend the boundary of this earth. Frost goes to rural areas to drink of the delight of nature and also withdraws from nature to respond to the call of duty social, familial, official. As he says: â€Å"But it was no reason I had to go because they had to go.† Frost is always in favour of ceaseless mobility, of activity and action. To him suffering is action, action suffering. Love between man and woman is present in Wordsworth but it seems to be missing in Frost. In Frost’s poetry, â€Å"words have become deeds. † To him, life is duty; every human being has to fulfill the duties or obligations assigned to him or her by God or by fellow-humans. In his poems Mending Wall and The Road Not Taken, he shows that although he takes recourse to nature for delight or pleasure, he at once withdraws himself from nature and returns to the place of work. In New Hampshire he says: â€Å"I’d hate to be a run-away from nature. † The poet is not willing to depart from the world so soon because he has more duties to fulfill. It is not justified to leave this earth early without meeting the obligations to society, to country, and to the earth. Wordsworth has taught us how to be friendly to nature and how to obtain solace from it in times of psychic crisis, and Frost has taught us how to engage in ceaseless work and also to seek transitory relief by being away into wildlife and communicating with the innocent unacknowledged rural people.

Code of Ethics Paper Essay

Most professional healthcare organizations have defined a mission statement, a code of ethics, and core values. These three documents must be agreement with each other and work together to define the organization. A mission statement communicates the overall purpose of the organization, and uses concepts such as philosophy or distinctive factors (Babnik, Breznik, & Dermol, 2014). A code of ethics is defined as â€Å"one of the characteristics of a profession. It is defined by the profession through the professional association and serves to inform members of that profession and society about the profession’s expectations in ethical matters† (Kikuchi, 2005). Finally, core values are the chosen principles or virtues on which importance is placed (Fremgen, 2009). Here we will discuss these aspects of the American Nurses Association (ANA), as well as the relationship between the organizations goals, social responsibility, and the congruence between the ethical values and those of the professionals who belong to the organization. The nurse, in all professional relationships, practice with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems. The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group or community. The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety and rights of the patient. The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth. The nurse participates in establishing, maintaining and improving health care environments and conditions of employment conducive to the provision of quality health care and consistent with the values of the profession through individual and collective action. The nurse participates in the advancement of the profession through contributions to practice, education, administration and knowledge development. The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public promoting community, national and international efforts to meet health needs. The profession of nursing, as represented by associations and their members, is responsible for articulating nursing values, for maintaining the integrity of the profession and its practice, and for shaping social policy. The relationship between an association’s nurse’s culture, ethical behavior and decision making can be divided into severe parts. According to the Ethics Resource Center when serving the health care industry place more emphasis on profit, they risk losing their integrity. Health care practices that are more concerned with their place in the market often face greater challenges in maintaining ethical standards. Administrators, doctors and other health care workers provide ineffective care when their priorities become skewed. Care eventually is eroded when the organization’s culture promotes greed and power over patient-centered care. Now there are seven guidelines in making ethic decision making when individuals find themselves in the position to make decisions, they should first consider some of the guidelines associated with ethical decision-making, and keep these in mind throughout the entire decision-making process. Nurses deal with people during some of the most vulnerable times in their lives. It is therefore critical that there be a clear description of the duties and obligations that are an integral part of being a nurse. A high standard of ethics and personal responsibility is imperative. The American Nurses Association Code of Ethics is a nine-part that defines the expectations and responsibilities of the professional nurse. A code of ethics makes the primary values, obligations, and goals of a profession explicit. The American Nurses Association code of ethics serves a few purposes. It is a succinct statement of the ethical obligations and duties of every individual who enters the nursing profession. It is also the professions nonnegotiable ethical standard. The American Nurses Association code of ethics is also an expression of nursing’s own understanding of its commitment to society (ANA, n. d. ). Part of the statement of purpose, or mission statement, is that the American Nurses Association is dedicated to ensuring that an adequate supply of highly skilled and well educated nurses are available. The American Nurses Association is committed to meeting the needs of nurses as well as health care consumers. The code of ethics for nurses was established as an example for handling the responsibilities as a nurse in a behavior consistent with quality nursing care and the ethical responsibilities of the occupation. One ethical theory the American Nurses Association bases their code of ethics on is ethical relativism. They believe that people’s opinions vary from society to society and what one person believes is right is not necessarily what another person believes. This relates particularly to autonomy due to the fact that each individual is allowed to make their own decisions based on their care. The patient has the choice to accept or decline the care offered by their medical provider. the medical team has to abide by the patients choice whether or not they agree with it. another ethical theory that the American Nurses Association stands behind is deontology. Deontology, according to American Nurses Association (2014), â€Å"examines a situation for the essential moral worth of the intention of act, or rightness or wrongness of the act†. This theory correlates well with beneficence because it essentially means to be compassionate. As a nurse it is important to attempt and do well in every aspect of your job but it is most important to strive to help each individual to the best of ability. Most codes of ethics have little to say regarding charter and virtue, as such moral values are difficult to methodize than rules and principles of behavior. The American Nurses Association code is arguably unique in its relative emphasis on virtue and character, most especially the virtue of compassion. Most ethicists today recognize the importance of virtue and character in concert with the recognition of rules and principles in order to achieve a more complete and fulfilling moral life and in order to more sincerely and authentically discharge one’s moral duties. Even in the American Nurses Association code, the primary intended interpretation is likely to have been deontological and contractarian, but the importance of character and virtue is not ignored either.

Health Insurance And The Health Care System - 855 Words

According to Martocchio (2014), health insurance covers the costs of a variety of services that promote sound physical and mental health, including physical examinations, diagnostic testing, surgery, dental treatments, and corrective prescription lenses for vision deficiencies. More than two centuries ago, the presence of the health care system emerged when mining and railroad companies hired doctors to provide medical services to their employees. As a result of the catastrophic World War I, many health providers were left providing services with the prospect of not receiving payments for the services being rendered and many Americans faced with the financial burdens of these escalating health care costs. The essential for the development of a health care system was not established for no apparent reason. The health care system was developed due to the staggering number of Americans whom where unable to pay soaring medical bills. With no government intervention, the private sector of health insurance was established as a means for Americans to pay medical expenses. â€Å"In 1927, the American Medical Association (AMA) formed a Committee on the Costs of Medical Care to report on options for helping Americans pay for their medical services. The Committee concluded that private insurance was the best solution† (â€Å"HNN’s History of Healthcare Reform†, 2012). This empirical succession is what commenced the evolution of health care in the United States. For the next decade andShow MoreRelatedHealth Care Trends and Perceptions Regarding the Insurance System1790 Words   |  7 PagesHealth Care Determine what correlations can be made regarding the increase in population and the public perception of the health insurance system. Be sure to present your thoughts in a credible manner that is non-offensive yet factual. The population has been steadily increasing in the United States since its founding. For a long period the US led the industrialized world in its fertility rate however, though this rate has slowed in recent generations with Americans having few babies per householdRead MoreHealth Care Systems Are Different In Every Country Around1603 Words   |  7 PagesHealth care systems are different in every country around the world. There are four main components that complete a health care delivery system, described by Shi and Singh (2015) as the quad-function model, which includes insurance, financing, payment and delivery of care (p. 5). Along with the components of the quad-function model it is important to analyze a countries access to care, their health outcomes and how public health is integrated into the health care delivery system. The United StatesRead MoreThe Universal Health Care System1712 Words   |  7 PagesEvery country vision is to have a universal health care system. A sys tem that is not necessary â€Å"free† but a system where everyone has equal opportunity to get the best health care being offered without any partiality. Canada successfully implemented the universal health care to its citizens, but it is not perfect in any sense. Individuals’ citizens are provided with preventive care and medical treatment from primary care physicians as well as access to hospitals. There are still many services thatRead MoreThe Us Health Care System1104 Words   |  5 Pages1. The first characteristic of the US health care system is that there is no central governing agency which allows for little integration and coordination. While the government has a great influence on the health care system, the system is mostly controlled through private hands. The system is financed publically and privately creating a variety of payments and delivery unlike centrally controlled healthcare systems in other developed countries. The US system is more complex and less manageable thanRead MoreHealth Care Utilization Paper1332 Words   |  6 PagesHealth Care Utilization Paper In recent years, health care has been a huge topic in public debates, legislations, and even in deciding who will become the next president. There have been many acts, legislations, and debates on what the country has to do in regards to health care. According to University of Phoenix Read Me First HCS/235 (n.d.), â€Å"How health care is financed influences access to health care, how health care is delivered, the quality of health care provided, and its cost†. RecentRead MoreSingle Payer System : Japan1302 Words   |  6 PagesSingle Payer System Japan is one of the countries that have a single payer system for their health care coverage. In Japan the cost for its citizens to have a health insurance is very cheap. Japan’s population is very healthy due to the fact that everyone in Japan has health care. In this country most insurance plans will include coverage for medical and dental care. People in Japan will less likely to get sick comparing to other countries. That is largely due to lifestyle factors, such as lowRead MoreHealth Care Systems Of Canada908 Words   |  4 Pages Health Care Systems Health care in the United States has been an ongoing dispute and a major concern to all involved from the provider to the consumer. There have been other countries who have a demonstrated success in providing better health care practices at an economical cost for providers and consumers. Currently the United States spends more per person on health care comparatively speaking to other countries. Perhaps taking a looking at what has worked for other counties and their currentRead MoreHealth Insurance and Health Care in America1341 Words   |  6 Pageschose is Health Care. We have broken that down into different sections to research, so I picked health insurance. I chose health insurance because it is something that is wildly discussed all over the world, it is a very broad topic, so many people have different opinions, and there is so much to talk about. It’s hard to believe that in America not all jobs provide health insurance, no matter how high the person’s salary may be, they should always be awarded health insurance. Health care in AmericaRead MoreCanada s A Single Payer1492 Words   |  6 PagesWhen discussing health care systems, Canada’s is often used as a possible model for the US. The two countries systems are very different being that Canada has a single payer, mostly publicly funded system, while the US has a multi-payer, heavily private system. So much of the appeal of the Canadian system is that is does more for less. They provide universal access to health care for its citizens, while almost one in five non-elderly Americans are uninsured. Many of these findings come from theRead MoreImproving America s Current Health Care System1270 Words   |  6 PagesImproving America’s Current Health Care System The health care system of the United States is dysfunctional and broken. While many upper and middle class Americans have nothing to worry about since they can afford health care insurance, the lower class are neglected and pushed to the side. Including funding and performance, the costs of the health care insurance has caused current political evaluations. Yes, Medicaid does cover the poor Americans, but you do not receive the same treatment and coverage