SAFETY • Extremes in temperature affect comfort,

→ Freedom from psychological and physical injury productivity and safety

→ A patient's environment includes physical and • Ex: Frostbite, hypothermia
psychosocial factors that influence or affect the life
and survival of that patient PHYSICAL HAZARDS
→ A safe environment protects also the staff, which 1. MVA
allows them to work optimally  Vehicle design and equipment (seatbelts, air
Vulnerable groups: infants, children, older adults, ill bags, and laminated windshields)
person, physically and mentally disabled, the  Risk of MVA is higher among 16-19 y/o drivers
illiterate and the poor (CDC)
Safe Environment Includes: 2. Poison
1. Basic needs  Any substance that impairs health or
• Oxygen destroys life when ingested, inhaled, or
• Nutrition absorbed by the body.
• Temperature  Health Care Providers- risk for chemical
2. Reducing physical hazards (cleaning agents)
• Motor Vehicle Accidents  Home accidental poisoning greater risk for
• Poison toddlers, pre-schoolers and young school-
• Falls age children
• Fire  Poison control center is the best resources
• Disasters for patient and parents who needs
3. Transmission of pathogens information about the treatment of
• Immunization accidental poisoning
4. Controlling pollution
3. Falls
BASIC NEEDS  Among adults 65 years and older; leading cause
1. Oxygen of fatal and nonfatal injuries (CDC 2015) due to
 Supplemental 02 is sometimes required to meet reduced vision, orthostatic hypotension, lower-
a patient's oxygenation needs. It is not extremity weakness, gait and balance problems,
flammable but it is combustible urinary incontinence, improper use of walking
2. Nutrition aids and effects of medications (e.g.
 Meeting nutritional needs adequately and safely anticonvulsants, sedatives, hypnotics)
requires environmental controls and knowledge.  Fall reduction programs includes a fall risk
Commercially processed and packaged foods are assessment of every patient conducted on
subject to FDA regulations: admission and routinely until patient's
3. Temperature discharge. (e.g. Yellow color-coded wristbands)
 A patient's comfort zone between 18.3 and 23.9  Restraints: confused or disoriented patients,
degree celsius (65 - 75 degree F) who wander or fall repeatedly, or who try to
 remove medical devices. (temporary restraint;
NURSING-ACCESSIBLE THERAPIES
preferably use alternatives)
• Meditation and breathing
• Relaxation Therapy
(restraining needs doctors order, possible alternative is to
• Imagery
watch or let their family member watch them)
Relaxation Therapy
4. Fire
 Relaxation response: is the state of generalized
Fire intervention guidelines:
decreased cognitive, physiological, and/or
 Keep the phone number for reporting fires
behavioral arousal
visible on the telephone at all times
 Relaxation helps individual develop cognitive
 Know the fire drill and evacuation plan of the
skills to reduce negative ways in responding to
agency
situation within their environment. Cognitive
 Know the location of all fire alarms, exits,
skills:
extinguishers, and oxygen shut-off in your work
area
Focusing - the ability to identify, differentiate,
 Use the R-escue and remove all patients in
maintain attention on, and return
attention to
immediate danger
simple stimuli for an extended period
 Activate the alarm. Always do this before
Passivity - the ability to stop unnecessary goal-
attempting to extinguish even a minor fire
directed and analytic activity
 Confine the fire by closing doors and windows
Receptivity - the ability to tolerate and accept
and turning off oxygen and electrical equipment
experiences that are uncertain, unfamiliar, or
 Extinguish the fire with an appropriate paradoxical
extinguisher
i. Disasters Meditation and Breathing
 Meditation is an activity that limits input by
directing attention to a single unchanging or
repetitive stimulus so the person is able to
become more aware of self
 Relaxing the body; stilling the mind
 Purpose is to become "mindful' increasing the
ability to live freely and escape destructive
patterns of negativity
 Involves slow, relaxed, deep, abdominal
breathing that evokes a restful scare

COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES Imagery

 Visualization is a mind-body therapy that uses
→ An array of health care approaches with a history of
the conscious mind to create mental images to
use or origins outside of mainstream medicine.
stimulate physical changes in the body, improve
→ Complementary therapies: are therapies used in
perceived wellbeing, and/or enhance self-
addition to or together with conventional treatment
awareness
recommended by a person's health care provider

2
 Guided imagery: concentrating on an image or
series of images to treat pathological conditions
TRAINING-SPECIFIC THERAPIES
• Biofeedback
• Acupuncture
• Therapeutic touch
• Traditional Chinese Medicine
• Natural products and Herbal Therapies
Biofeedback
 Is a mind-body technique that uses instruments
to teach self-regulation and voluntary self-
control over specific physiological responses
(E.g. electronic or electromechanical
instruments
 Provides person with visual and auditory
information about autonomic physiological
functions of the body (muscle tension, skin
temperature, and brain wave)
 Helpful for stroke recovery, smoking cessation,
ADHD, epilepsy, headache disorders, and variety
of Gl and urinary tract disorders
Acupuncture
 Regulates or realigns the vital energy (qi), which
flows like a river through the body in channels
that form a system of 20 pathways called
meridians
 Safe therapy when practitioner has the
appropriate training and uses sterilized needles
 It modifies the response of the body to pain and
how pain is processed by central neural
pathways and cerebral function
Therapeutic Touch
 Placing a practitioner's open palms either on or
close to the body of a person
Five phases: centering, assessing, unruffling,
treating and evaluating
 It affects the energy fields that surround and
penetrate the human body with the conscious
intent to help or heal
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
 An ancient healing tradition in the 1st century AD
focused on balancing yin/yang energies.
 A set of systematic techniques and methods,
(acupuncture, herbal medicines, massage,
acupressure, moxibustion - use of heat from
burning herbs. Qi gong - balancing energy flow
through body movement, cupping and massage)
 Fundamental concepts are from Taoism,
Confucianism, and Buddhism
Natural Products and Herbal Therapies
1. Aloe - skin disorders, including inflammation and
acute injuries (used topically)
2. Chamomile - Inflammatory diseases of Gl and URTs;
generalized anxiety disorder - calming agent
3. Echinacea - stimulant for immune system (URTI)
4. Feverfew - anti-inflammatory (wound healing):
inhibition of serotonin and prostaglandins (arthritis)
5. Garlic - elevated cholesterol level: Hypertension
6. Ginger - nausea and vomiting
7. Gingko Biloba - Azheimer's disease and dementia
8. Ginseng - age-related diseases
9. Licorice - GI disorders (gastric ulcer and Hepa C
10. Saw palmetto - benign Prostatic Hyperplasia;
Chronic pelvic pain
11. Valerian - sleep disorders, mild anxiety and
restlessness