Medication assistance scenario

Medication assistance scenario

Medication assistance scenario:

1. Read the scenario below (in green font). You may also view the scenario via this PDF download.
2. Then, review and follow the assignment instructions (located towards bottom of page).

Case #2: AW is a 29-year-old female who presented for evaluation of intractable headache.

“I’ve had headaches for years now. They were usually worse around the time of my period, but a few months ago I woke up with a headache that has never gone away. Sometimes it gets so bad all I can do is go to bed, even bending over just puts my pain in a tailspin.”

History of Present Illness: Patient had headaches beginning in college in her late teens and early 20’s, which centered on her menstrual cycle occurring 2 to 3 days per month and treated with ibuprofen with fair results. She did have a mild whiplash injury at age 20 with worsening headaches for a couple of months but then resorted back to her usual headache pattern related to menses and responding to ibuprofen. She never sought medical treatment for these headaches and they have remained stable without escalation. She did however describe this as moderate to severe headaches with nausea, light and noise sensitivity, and aggravated by activity consistent with migraine headaches. Six or 7 years prior, she had a couple of months where she had 5 to 6 headaches during her menstrual cycle and was evaluated with neurological consult and MRI, both were negative. Subsequent to that her headaches have decreased back to 3 or less days per month responding to ibuprofen with fair response. Her headaches around menses were consistent with migraine usually on one side or the other and associate with nausea, light and noise sensitivity, sensitivity to odor, exacerbated by activity, and usually moderate to severe intensity and could last all day if not treated, but responding fairly well to over-the-counter NSAIDs.

Beginning in June 2009 patient awoke with a headache and continued to have headache daily since that time. She had no prior escalation of medications, no trauma temporally related to headache, no preceding fever or chills or known infectious process, but she did relate some increased work stress, though not exceedingly different than usual. In terms of severity the “new headache” was less severe than her menstrual headache but occasionally would be associated with nausea and light noise sensitivity consistent with migraine. This new headache was bilateral, occipital or frontal, aggravated by exercise, and unrelenting. She continued to work but altered her activities becoming very frustrated and irritable. She denies history of depression other than frustration with daily headache. She continues to work full time. Patient did have a family history of migraine in maternal grandmother as well as headaches in 2 male siblings

The patient was begun on the medication TRAMADOL 50 mg tid and told to return in a month to be evaluated by her primary care physician.

She was referred to the BHS for evaluation of her eligibility for prescription assistance program since she did not have any insurance coverage for prescription drugs.

She tells the BHS that the doctor told her that there are a lot of side effects of Tramadol and she needs to call the office if she experiences any.  She asks the BHS to help her remember what some of those side effects are and if she should be worried about anything when taking Tramadol.  What would you tell her?

Assignment instructions:

1. Based on the medication assistance case scenario download, conduct an online search to investigate the medication Tramadol prescribed to your client. Go to MedlinePlus (Links to an external site.) and research the medication.
2. Then, write a two (2) to three (3) page summary that includes the following:
   1. A description of the medication’s potential effects on the patient’s diagnosed condition (s) and potential side-effects
   2. Any special considerations important to be explored for the specific patient in your case example. Go online at NeedyMeds(Links to an external site.) to verify if there is a prescription assistance program for this drug.
   3. A brief discussion of you have learned from this activity.

Summary Format:

• Students should use the student paper format, including a cover page. For more information: refer to Chapter 2 of APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition, the APA Style Paper Format resource, and the APA Student Title Page Guide.
• Student papers do not include a running head. For more information: refer to page 30 of the APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition, and this APA Style Header resource.
• This summary should NOTinclude an abstract, table of contents, or appendix.
• The summary should be double spaced and include 1″ margins throughout.

Font Type and Size:

• • A variety of font choices are permitted in APA Style. Use the same font throughout the text of the summary. Options include:
    • Sans serif font: 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 10-point Lucida San Unicode
    • Serif font: 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, normal (10-point) Computer Modern
  • For more information: refer to page 44 of the of APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition, and thisAPA Style Font resource.
  • Ensure the font type and font size of your page numbers are consistent with the rest of your summary.

Summary Length:

• Your summary should be a maximum of three (3) pages.
• The cover page will not be part of the total page count for this assignment. You will not lose points for including a cover page.

In-Text Citations and References:

• Citations are not needed for this assignment.