Self Care General Terms

Self-care

the independent act of preventing, diagnosing, and treating one’s illnesses with or without seeking professional advice

7 Pillars of Self-care

health literacy, self-awareness of physical/mental condition, physical activity, healthy eating, risk avoidance/mitigation, good hygiene, and rational and responsible use of products, services, diagnostics, and medications

Integrative Health

Brings conventional and complementary approaches together in a coordinated way that treats the whole person rather than an organ system

MTM

Medication Therapy Management

CMR

Comprehensive Medication Review

DUR

Drug Utilization Review

LASA

Look-Alike, Sound-Alike (Hydrocortisone/hydrocodone)

Tall Man Lettering

helps differentiating between LASA (hydrOXYZINE and hydrALAZINE)

Side Effect

Effect secondary to drug or medical treatment (nausea or drowsiness) Usually does not require intervention

Adverse Event

Unexpected or harmful reaction to drug or medical treatment, May require medical attention or intervention

Allergy

Immune response to drug or medical treatment (swelling, rash, etc.) May require medical attention or intervention

Anaphylaxis

Severe potentially life-threatening immune response to drug or medical treatment (swelling of airway, severe rash, drop in BP), Medical intervention required

Points to Limit Medication Errors

• Whole numbers should be shown without a decimal or terminal zero (write “4” not 4.0)

• Quantities less than 1 should have zero preceding decimal (write “0.2” not .2)

• Space should be placed between number and unit (10 mg NOT 10mg)

• Try to use whole numbers when possible (100 mg instead of 0.1 g)

• Write full names of drugs not abbreviation (“Hydrochlorothiazide” instead of “HCTZ”

• Spell out units (“100 units” not “100u”)

• Spell out frequency (“every day” instead of “qd”)