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Profile: OpheliaBrook

Your personal background.
Holistic medicine is a
new emerging system of health care science that is gaining its popularity at tremendous pace.
It primarily promotes a supportive relationship among all those involved, and leads towards the most favorable realization of the emotional,
social and physical aspects of health. For holistic medicine doctors, a patient
undergoing through holistic therapy is not just a body, but is a normal human being having mental, emotional and spiritual consciousness as well.
Therefore, it emphasizes on the need to look at the whole
person, and includes analysis of nutritional, physical, social, spiritual and lifestyle values.
It primarily focuses on the responsibility for personal efforts to
achieve mental and physical balance and well being. In fact, it won't
be wrong to consider it as an art and medical science of healing that
addresses the whole person's spirit and mind.


It integrates alternative therapies to cure disease, and most importantly promote optimal health.
If we try to understand the field of holistic medicine then we
may even find it very broad and diverse as well. In fact, these days there are various techniques and approaches
in this system of medicine that varies depending
on the person and the illness. However, each of them stresses on the treatments that majorly support the body's natural healing system.

Adding to this, at times it also involve the use of conventional and alternative therapies
and emphasize on changes in day-to-day lifestyle as
well. The key feature that has made this form of medical therapy more popular is it primarily encompasses safe and suitable modalities of diagnosis and treatment.

Following your studies under Holistic Medicine Doctor medicine
program let you get trained in various essential elements like nutrition, naturopathy,
anatomy thus running all tubing laterally on the limb in the direction of the motion. You can prevent
the tubing from coiling or tangling by "going with the flow" of the body.
40. Stress tape to prevent accidental yanking.


Use one or two stress tapings to avoid a direct pull from an IV
site if the tubing is snagged. Do not tape
down excessive loops or coils which shorten the
length of the tubing. One should not tape on the proximal side
of a flexing joint; it’ll just be removed easily.

Do not wrap the tubing around a digit when taping it
because when the patient clenches his fist, it can easily
pull out or alter the flow of the catheter. A double-back of the tubing with a short loop will secure it well.
41. If it leaks. If a small leak occurs at the point and moment of insertion, the vein may still be usable
if the catheter tip can be fully advanced proximal to the leakage.
Observe a test infusion of non-irritating fluid for any extravasation carefully before another use.



42. Do not probe for a vein. Also called "fishing" or "vein searching"-this
is painful especially when the nurse unintendedly probes
into muscle or tendon. If you don’t get a flashback, don’t
let your needle dig for a vein by moving it around.
When this does happen, this may be a sign that you’ve missed your target, and your needle
has been deflected by a rolling or hard veins. Sometimes, you may only need to pull back the needle and insert in another direction, doing
so is better than starting the procedure over again. Not all
veins are the same, different people with different conditions have different veins, so
here are some special IV therapy tips and considerations you need to note.



43. For older patients and pediatric patients. They have smaller and fragile veins than normal adults do.

Use small gauges that can still aid proper venous flow.
Choose the right site for insertion. Probably the safest location is
in the hands, but be sure to stabilize it because pediatric patients are fond of gesticulating, and elderly patients
are prone to falls. You can read more IV therapy tips and tricks
for pediatric patients in this post: 12 Pediatric and Neonatal Intravenous (IV) Therapy Tips.

44. For patients who have a dark skin tone. You can use
a blood pressure cuff and inflate it to visualize the
vein more clearly due to distention.
The trick of wiping a cotton swab in the direction of the vein also helps to visualize the vein better for pediatric, elderly, and dark-skinned patients.
45. For veins with valves, use the floating technique.



There are some people with prominent valves in their veins that can hinder insertion.
These valves feel like little bumps along the vein’s track and are common among weightlifters and sculptors.
If you have difficulty inserting the catheter to this kind
of vein, use a floating technique to open the valves.
Floating method is done by attaching a primed extension tubing
to the cannula and gently flushing the tubing with normal saline via a syringe while advancing the catheter.
46. Bifurcating veins. These veins have a noticeable inverted V-shape and are
less likely to roll during insertion. However, the vein should be accessed below the bifurcation with the highest probability of cannulation success.

47. Call the "vein whisperer".


After some reasonable unsuccessful attempts to insert the IV catheter, it would be best for the
patient that the nurse calls for another healthcare provider to try inserting the
IV. Staff in NICU, Anesthesia, or vascular surgeons are sometimes needed for some patients.

Call on those who may have the best chance before all veins are used up.

48. On the use of restraints. Infant and children may need to have their
limb splinted or restrained before starting the IV as
they may be uncooperative during the insertion. Do not forget to place
your tourniquet before securing the splint as not to have to delve it through beginning the venipuncture.
49. Restraining using Papoose or Mummy wrap.
It can be wise to restrain using a "Papoose" or a "Mummy" wrap for some children whom agitation and potential combativeness cannot yet be safely relieved.




Though unsettling to the family, explain that you want to make the best possible chances of
success in the first effort. 50. Learn the art of distraction. Children can be uncooperative during procedures
and use of distraction methods like letting the patient blow bubbles,
sing or count are sufficient techniques. 51.
Starting an intraosseous line. During an emergency, the best
way to deliver drugs and fluids to a critically ill child (if you can’t start an IV line) is by using an intraosseous line.
An intraosseous line goes directly into the bone marrow cavity, an excellent point of entry for fluids, blood products,
and drugs.


The bone marrow also serves as a non-collapsible vein, thus fluid infused into the marrow cavity
enters the circulation via a network of venous sinusoids.
52. Detecting infiltration in a patient who’s obese or has edema.

Compare the limb’s skin turgor and size with the opposite extremity and meticulously inspect
the site for swelling, coolness, blanching, discoloration, and leakage at the needle’s insertion point.

If you’re still unsure, place a tourniquet proximal to the
venipuncture site and make it tight enough to restrict venous flow.
If the infusion continues without assistance from a mechanical pump device,
you’ve confirmed infiltration. 53. Evaluate for infiltration.
Occlude the vein proximal to the IV site, if the IV fluid continues to flow, the cannula is probably outside the vein;
if the IV flow stops after the occlusion of the vein, the device is still in the vein. 54.
Check for patency. You can also check for patency by lowering the IV
fluid container below the IV site and monitor the appearance or backflow
of blood in the IV tubing. If blood appears, the
IV device is still in the vein. 55. In case of infiltration.
Remove the IV device immediately and elevate the
extremity. Application of warm or cold compress over the affected area
also helps. Restart the IV device in the opposite extremity.



Glutathione is
widely known for its skin-related benefits - lighter and younger looking skin, reduced pigmentation, and helps prevent acne, just to mention a few.
It is also popular for its antioxidant and anti-aging
properties. But did you know that Glutathione also has other health-related benefits you may never
have heard of? Continue reading to find out.
"Researchers aren’t entirely sure what causes autoimmune disease, although it’s believed that leaky gut is involved. In the past, leaky gut was believed to be a symptom of autoimmune disease, but now scientists think that it plays a far bigger role in these conditions.


This heightened intestinal permeability enables bacteria, toxins and antigens to get into the bloodstream, where they trigger autoimmune reactions and spur acute inflammation. Leaky gut is indicated by diarrhea, allergies, weight gain, obesity, chronic fatigue syndrome, ulcers, and inflammatory bowel diseases. There are lots of factors that can contribute to leaky gut, including environmental toxins, a high-sugar diet, GMOs, stress, and bacterial imbalances in the digestive system. How well the body can recover from leaky gut is now believed to be dependent on the body’s ability to efficiently recycle glutathione, an important antioxidant used by every cell in the body.


Since glutathione is known as the master antioxidant, it is very important that a healthy level is maintained. "Glutathione helps every cell in our body to grow and repair healthily.
As part of this, glutathione has a vital role in cell apoptosis.
Apoptosis refers to the programmed death of cells in our body,
and despite how it sounds, this is a good thing. For example, we
have billions of cells in our body, and many of these get damaged over time.
Apoptosis removes these damaged cells from our body and thus
prevents them from potentially causing problems in the
future.


To illustrate the importance of apoptosis;
our body relies on it for the destruction of cancer cells.
Studies have shown that Glutathione is effective in fighting the influenza
virus. "N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is derived from the amino acid L-cysteine and is an essential component of the antioxidant glutathione (GSH). Because NAC supplementation increases cellular GSH, it is frequently used in medicinal therapies for chronic respiratory bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cancers of the respiratory tract. Additionally, NAC has also been shown to reduce the progression of diseases caused by cellular oxidative stress. In the research publication: "Attenuation of influenza-like symptomatology and improvement
of cell-mediated immunity with long-term N-acetylcysteine treatment" a study of 262 subjects was conducted at multiple Italian health centers. The authors concluded that long-term NAC supplementation yielded little to no side effects and was well tolerated by the study participates.


Fact is, Glutathione levels drop with normal aging. "Unsurprisingly, healthy, young people have glutathione
in abundance. Levels begin to drop at about age 45, with illness, injury and stress taking
a toll. The very lowest levels are found among hospital patients who
are both ill and elderly. Low levels of glutathione are
associated with a dizzying array of health problems including cancer, diabetes,
autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease, dementia, autism, arthritis
and asthma - and more. There are ways to increase your glutathione levels naturally
such as consuming sulfur-rich and selenium-rich foods, or
foods that are naturally rich in glutathione. However, patients with digestive disorders may only get
little benefit. Our recommendation is to get a glutathione iv therapy where the much-needed nutrients are directly delivered to the bloodstream for immediate use.



Frequently I have cared for patients with challenging veins.

I prefer to call them "challenging," rather than "bad." No one
wants to be poked and prodded to have their blood drawn or have their IV therapy initiated.

It can be both painful and scary, as a patient, being advised that
your veins are "bad" can actually be taken as an insult.
The patient may just feel that the nurse is "bad" at doing the sticking.
To me, psychologically, it's better to begin with the right
terminology to put the patient
at ease. I have some techniques that have allowed me to have an extremely high rate of IV start
success with challenging patients, but as a patient--there are some things that you can also do.
Here is my advice .


1. Push fluids 24 hours prior to your blood draw or IV therapy.
Of course this is not always possible. But many patients DO know that they will be needing a blood draw or a scheduled infusion on a regular basis.

In such cases, really pushing oral fluids the day
prior to the IV stick will make a difference.
UNLESS you are on fluid restriction, for some reason,
try to take in at least three full glasses of water the
day prior. That extra fluid can make a wonderful difference in plumping up challenging veins.
2. "Dangle" your hand or arm prior to the IV stick.
Gravity is your friend when it comes to dangling your
hand or arm. 3. Apply heat to your veins.



Nurses and phlebotomists know that heat applied to the skin above
the vein will dilate the vein, making it plump up with blood
and helping you have an easier stick. However, you can't rely on a heating pad or
any such helpful device actually being available to the staff.

What you can do as a patient is use a hot water bottle that you have prefilled at home--keep it applied to your typically "best" veins to encourage a successful experience.

As an infusion nurse, I always had a heating pad tucked away for a particular patient--or on a day when the weather was so cold
that "everyone" seemed to have hiding veins.


Again, that is
not something you as a patient can depend on . Do ask if there is a blanket warmer available wherever
you happen to be (ER usually has those)--wrap a pre-warmed blanket
around the arm, and you can get some very good results.

4. Suggest a vein, but allow your nurse to give a professional opinion. When I get blood drawn,
I usually point and say, "Right there." But I have great veins, so no problem.
When an experienced provider starts looking at your
veins, they make pretty quick judgments about where to go
for the IV stick.


5. Just breathe. Some patients are better
than others about relaxing during their venipuncture.
Some patients go so stiff and tense when the needle touches their skin, that it feels
as if their arm has turned to stone. When very anxious, doing some deep cleansing breaths (getting oxygen to the brain) can only help.
6. Be cautious with the IV. It seems ridiculous to have to
recommend caution, but I have seem some patients who have a hard time with the IV start, soon after start rummaging through
their purse and dislodge the catheter! Please,
don't be that person. I'm not suggesting you sit completely still--just suggesting that you are extra
careful for the duration of your infusion.


Generations at Applewood offers customized intravenous or IV therapy for our residents in a
comfortable environment while guaranteeing
a high level of care and service. What is IV Therapy?
Intravenous therapy (or IV care) is used to help maintain the right fluid balance, to monitor
drug effectiveness, to treat infection, and to relieve pain. IV therapy consists of using liquids that are introduced directly into
a vein. The treatment can be intermittent or continuous and is the
fastest method for delivering pharmaceuticals to a patient.
Who Should Participate in IV Therapy? Intravenous or IV
infusion therapy may be needed for patients who require help maintaining
the right fluid balance, monitoring drug effectiveness, treating infection, or relieving pain. Why Choose Generations at
Applewood for IV Therapy? Generations at Applewood has experienced staff
that ensure you receive compassionate care.
Our highly trained nurses work closely with our patients’ physicians to speed recovery and maximize comfort.
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