Sunday, April 18, 2010

Right drug, right reason

I have noticed a poster on the board on one of my units. It was a "new" protocol a few months ago for nursing. There were 5 "rights" that has now become 7. 2 were "right' drug to the "right" patient for the "right" reason. This change was likely implimented so that people could make certain that they were medicating patients in the proper doseages for the proper reason.

I was thinking about this and some of the decisions that we make in life. It has always been important that my decisions are based on the right reasons. Often we make decisions that seem right for that moment, but in hindsight we regret it. And once implemented cannot by changed..with huge consequences.

The difficulty related to our decisions/actions and the seemingly right motivation, I think, is that we tend to make decisions either from an intellectual reasoning... or an emotional reasoning. Or in the "heat of the moment". But more often than not, people do not consider the rationale or consequences of their actions at all. No one wants to admit that they are wrong about something that they did... or didn't do.

Back to the "right drug, right reason" premise -- the idea is to consider why we are performing the action. Rather than because this is how it is done, or this is what we have always done... (not considering all factors to a decision..) I think this applies to other decisions in our lives as well. Some are mundane, (what to have for breakfast, what to wear), to monumental (what I believe about the world, how I treat other people) and while overthinking is not recommended, it is still good to pause from time to time and consider the rationale to our actions.

Am I doing this for the right reason at the right time? ( and at times, you have to trust your instincts, and act on faith.)

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