Assignment: Issues in Pharmacology- A Nursing Perspective

In a professional nursing practice, you will often have patients whose personal or cultural views on medications may be quite different from your own.

For this assignment, assume that one of the issues below has become a hot topic in your health care organization or community. You have been asked by leadership to prepare a PowerPoint presentation to your nursing colleagues in an effort to raise awareness of the topic. Please view the "Guidelines for Effective PowerPoint Presentations," linked in Resources, as well.

Topic Choices:

• The use of medical marijuana.
• The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) versus traditional pharmacology.
• Experimental drug programs and disease management.
• Mandated vaccinations and the implications for parental choice not to vaccinate.

Instructions To prepare your presentation, research current, peer-reviewed journals for articles that present at least two perspectives on the topic.

Your PowerPoint presentation should include the following:

• Discuss the significance of the topic to your nursing practice and to patient safety.
- What are the common types of diseases and health issues that are impacted by this topic?
- What type of patient is typically impacted by this issue?
- What nursing departments or internal departments are impacted by this issue?

• Present a balanced overview of the issue, including pros and cons, supported by peer-reviewed journal articles.

The focus of this overview might vary depending on the issue but be mindful of the following:

- Community impact.
- Patient outcomes.
- Ethical considerations.
- Health care organization impact.

• Describe how a patient's cultural beliefs can impact the issue.

Additional Requirements

• Length of PowerPoint: 10-12 slides, not including the title slide and reference slide

• References: Use the "presenter notes" section of the PowerPoint to include the references that support your evidence as well as detailed information you would include if presenting this information to an audience.

The last slide of the PowerPoint should include a list of the references.

• Formatting: Follow proper APA style and formatting.