The Problem Of Substance Abuse And Addiction - 752 Words

Introduction When taking a general psychology class it is rarely mentioned that the founding father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, was an avid user and promoter of cocaine before discovering the true dark nature of this supposed medical marvel. During this time in history cocaine was used medicinally as an analgesic and Freud himself was also researching other uses for this substance until he learned its addictive qualities. Even after he stopped promoting cocaine publically and considered this simply a chapter in his life, his usage did not stop entirely as he continued to use for various expressed reasons. Even in the background of this very subject substance abuse and addiction can be seen whether through research for the greater good that went bad or just addiction in its simple state. Addiction is something that has been an issue since the dawn of time. It is something that does not discriminate against gender, age, race, or economical standing. It is blind to all those facto rs and grabs hold tightly no matter the circumstance. History is dotted with drug abuse- the elephant constantly standing in the room- as it continues to be a predominant issue. It doesn’t matter the time period as trends may change the issue remains. Each generation deals with a different type of main addiction whether it was opium, whole poppy seeds, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and now prescription drugs. â€Å"In 2013, an estimated 24.6 million Americans aged 12 or older—9.4 percent ofShow MoreRelatedAddiction And Sociality : The Problem Of Substance Abuse877 Words   |  4 PagesAddiction begins with a choice, not necessarily a choice to become dependent upon a substance, rather a choice to take a walk through the land of oblivion at least once. A person does not simply wake up one morning addicted to heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine or any other substance. Perhaps a fleeting moment of despair, or the longing for acceptance brings this individual to the doorstep of addiction, prepared to move heaven and earth to find their next fix. Bruce Alexander himself writes, â€Å"I beganRead MoreAddiction And Substance Abuse Is A Serious Problem Among Teenagers806 Words   |  4 PagesAddiction and substance abuse is a serious problem among teenagers. Teenagers begin abusing drugs because of peer pressure, or abuse in their life. Any type of drugs can be abused including over the counter medications. Since teenager’s brain is still growing any type of substance abuse can cause serious harm. The most abused drug is alcohol. Alcohol has a different effect the brain of teenagers different than that of adults. Children raised in a religious family, with religious friends areRead MoreSubstance Abuse And Addiction : Critical Health, Social And Economic Problems816 Words   |  4 Pages Specific Aims. 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However, the combined forces of over -prescription, addiction and subsequent unemployment may mean that coverageRead MoreAddiction Is A Complex Disease978 Words   |  4 PagesAddiction is a complex disease that many people don’t fully understand. Substance abuse is very prevalent around the world, and far too over looked. In fact, forty million people ages 12 and older (or more than 1 in 7 people) have some form of addiction. These addictions involving nicotine, alcohol, or other drugs, and this statistic is just in America alone. This number is more than the number of Americans with heart conditions which is 27 million, diabetes which is 26 million, or cancer whichRead MoreThe Ethics of Drug Use and Drug Abuse1579 Words   |  6 PagesUse and Drug Abuse For any professional working in the substance abuse treatment field, they will very likely come across situations and be presented with dilemmas relating to personal beliefs, judgments, and values. 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This research paper is an overview of the effects that raising a drug addicted child has on parent’sRead MoreSubstance Abuse And Addiction Counselor1393 Words   |  6 PagesSubstance Abuse and Addiction Counselor Substance abuse as well as addiction is a topic many people choose to ignore or tend to believe that it does not affect them. Addiction itself does not seek out certain types of people but can affect anyone, at any time, for any reason. Stress, per pressure, financial trouble, even genetics all play a role in substance abuse and addiction. Unlike others, I don’t see substance abusers as weak willed but instead in need of guidance and someone to talk to aboutRead MoreSubstance Abusers: A Vulnerable Population Essay840 Words   |  4 Pagesprobability of developing health problems (Harkness DeMarco, 2012, p.103). A Vulnerable is important because anyone can become a part of this population. One is going to be describing the characteristics of substance abusers. Next, give the common health issue and needs. Then, give specific resources that Peoria have to offer. Finally, how substance abuse relates to Healthy People 2020. Overall, this will give one an overview of the vulnerab le population such as substance abusers. Characteristics ofRead MoreSubstance Abuse And Addictions Among Adolescence947 Words   |  4 PagesSubstance Abuse and Addictions Among Adolescence Substance abuse and addictions among adolescence is a problem among this age group. Adolescents go through major stages in life and are faced with stressful issues that can lead to experimenting with drugs. Experimenting with drugs can lead to for an adolescent to abuse the substance as well becoming addicted. Not only can a adolescent can become addicted to a substance but he or she can have issues with the brain developing properly. Spiritual development

The Job Of A Security Guard - 1359 Words

The job of a security guard is to ensure the safety of the area and people that they are hired to protect by actively patrolling or using security systems. There are certain locations that require for security officers to be armed just like many police officers. The job of a security officer can cause them to face many serious responsibilities on a daily basis. As a security guard you must always stay alert in case an emergency comes up (Palmer). Human resources must make sure that all of the new hires have their appropriate license in order to conduct business. Security officers need a D license which is needed for any individual who performs security services. The security office must own or be employed by a licensed Class B security†¦show more content†¦To be a branch office you must have a class â€Å"BB† license which is necessary for each additional location of an agency where security business is actively conducted must obtain a class â€Å"BB† branch office license. Agency managers must have a class â€Å"M† or â€Å"MB† license for any person who directs the activities of licensed security officers at any agency or branch office. A class â€Å"D† licensee, who has been so licensed for a minimum of two (2) years, may be designated as the manager, in which case the Class â€Å"M† or â€Å"MB† license is not required. The manager assigned to an agency or branch o ffice must operate primarily from the location for which he has been designated as manager. Each licensed location must have a designated, properly licensed manager and a licensed manager may only be designated as manager for one location. A security officer instructor needs a Class â€Å"DI† license which is for any individual who teaches or instructs at a Class â€Å"DS† Security Officer School or Training Facility, except instructors who are full-time faculty members and who teach exclusively for public educational facilities are exempt. For security officer school the person must have a Class â€Å"DS† license. Any school or training facility that teaches or instructs applicants Class â€Å"D† licensure must have a Class â€Å"DS† license except those schools that are exempt. Firearms

Ethical Treatment of Prisoners Free Essays

string(73) " policies and if that fails these health professionals should go public\." Ethical Treatment of Prisoners Iris J. O’Halloran Soc 120 Introduction to Ethics and Social Responsibility Brett Cross April 8, 2013 Today there are millions of people in prison throughout the United States; because of this fact the ethical treatment of prisoners is a topic that has been analyzed by many on a constant basis. Many modifications have been made to help accommodate inmates and try and maintain their human rights. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical Treatment of Prisoners or any similar topic only for you Order Now Ethics according to Mosser, K (2010), is the study of moral values of human’s behavior. Ethics are also rules and principles that are meant to control the behavior of humans. According to Mosser K, (2010) there are different theories that philosophers have come up with to explain the meaning of ethics. These theories have different approaches on how to handle the issue of ethical treatment of prisoners. When it comes to the question about the ethical treatment of prisoners, researchers have come up with many answers, but have society done enough regarding the ethical treatment of prisoners or has society made their lives in prison to easy and because of this life in prison is no longer a punishment for inmates? According to an article which was written in the BJpsych by Dr. Luke, Birmingham prisoners encounter numerous maltreatments while in prison. Dr. Birmingham states that one of the major maltreatments prisoners suffer while in prison is the way their mental illness is dealt with while in prison. Mental disorder is more widely among people in prison that it is in the general population. There are prisoners who require being transfer to psychiatric hospitals for treatment, but these prisoners face long delays. According to Birmingham doctors who work in prisons face ethical and legal dilemmas posed by prisoners with mental illness. Another issue that these inmates encounter while in prison is solitary confinement. According to another article written in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, which was written by Doctor Metzner and Fellner Esq, in recent years officials have turned to solitary confinement as a way to manage very dangerous and hard to handle prisoners. Many of these prisoners who are placed in isolation which can be there for years have severe mental illness. The conditions of solitary confinement can make these prisoners more violent or in some instance provoke recurrence. When prisoners are placed in solitary confinement the rules restrict the nature and how much mental health services they can receive. According to Metzner and Fellner another issue is the fact that doctors who work in US prisons face very difficult ethical challenges which rice from poor working conditions, loyalties to patience and employers, and the stress between reasonable medical practice and the prison rules and culture. Doctors are confronting a new challenge in recent years, the prolonged solitary confinement of inmates with severe mental illness; this is a corrections practice that has become prevalent even knowing the psychological harm it can cause these inmates. Doctor Metzner and Fellner believe that solitary confinement can be psychological stressor, that in many cases can be a clinically stressor and it can be as harmful as physical torture. United States prison officials have raised solitary confinement to a mean of punishment and to control difficult or dangerous prisoners. Tens of thousands of inmates spend years locked up 23 to 24 hours a day in very small cells that have solid steel doors. These prisoners live with high surveillance and they do not have simple social interactions, they only have three to five hours a week of recreation alone in caged enclosures. These prisoners have little if any at all educational, vocational, or other purposeful activities. The prisoners in solitary confinement are handcuffed and often shackled every time they leave their cells. According to Metzner and Fullner confinement can cause psychological damage to any prisoner, the severity of the impact depends on the individual, also in the duration, and conditions of the confinement. These psychological effects include anxiety, depression, anger, cognitive disturbances, perceptual distortions, obsessive thoughts, paranoia, and psychosis. The unfavorable effects of solitary confinement are important to a person with severe mental illness. Because of the stress and because these prisoners are kept away from social contact and days without structure this can increase symptoms or provoke recurrence. Cases of suicides occur more often in segregation units than anywhere else in prison. Many of these prisoners will not get better as long as they are kept in isolation. Psychologists often cannot make less harsh the harm that is associated with isolation. Services provided in segregation units are limited. Services such as individual therapy, group therapy, structured educational, recreational, life skill enhancing activities and many other therapeutic options are often not available due to insufficient resources and also the rules that require the prisoners to remain in their cells. According to Metzner and Fellner studies have shown that eight to 19 percent of prisoners have psychiatric disorders, this can result in a large functional disabilities. Another 15 to 20 percent do require some form of psychiatric intervention while in prison. Metzner and Fellner state that a survey done on correctional systems showed that 15 percent or more of their prisoners had been diagnosed with a mental illness. Many correctional health care providers struggle with the lack of resources and the large caseloads that can often limit the services they can provide their patients. The ethical way for these health care professionals to handle these situations is to do the best they can under the circumstances instead of resigning, which would result in less services for these prisoners. According to Metzner and Fellner it is ethical for psychologist to treat inmates who have been abused, and that they should also take measures to end this abuse. These health professionals should not only provide services to mental ill prisoners, but they should also try and change the prison’s system and segregation policies and if that fails these health professionals should go public. You read "Ethical Treatment of Prisoners" in category "Papers" Although going public with these prison issues can be difficult to do for these health professionals because of the risk of losing their jobs, they should not do this task alone. Their professional organizations should help them. These organizations should realize that prolonged segregation of prisoners with severe mental illness violates basic tenets of mental health treatment. The standards of the NCCHC recommend that mentally ill inmates be excluded from extreme isolation, the placement of these prisoners into these conditions can clinically deteriorate their condition and it will not improve. These are only a recommendation done by NCCHC. Because very few APA and AMA physicians have experience or have knowledge about correctional mental health care, they are not familiar with the difference between general population housing unit and a segregation nit, therefor the recommendations cannot be made mandatory instead of optional. Metzner and Fellner state that a serious educational effort must be established so that none correctional mental health practitioners have a better understanding of the world in which their correctional co-workers work in, and to better understand the challenges they face, including the isolation of severe mental ill patients for month at a time and sometimes years. According to Metzner and Fellner studies have shown that prisons can operate safely and they can be securely without putting prisoners that have mental illness in segregation. In some prisons mentally ill prisoners are given more time outside their cells, and they are also provided with group therapy and other therapeutic interventions. These improved clinical responses to prisoners with mental illness have been achieved with little sacrifice to needed control of prisoners who willfully violate prison rules. Mental health organizations should acknowledge that is unethical to keep silence about the conditions of confinement and the harm that this confinement cause inmates, and violates human rights. These organizations should also make sure that practitioners provide ethical services to segregated prisoners with mental illness, and they should also strive to change harmful segregation policies. The organizations should also make use of their institutional authority to press for nationwide rethinking of the use of isolation. By doing this the medical commitment to ethics and human rights would be well served. According to another article which was written in the National Academy of Science, the conditions of confinement in today’s prisons have the same features that were of concern to the national commission for the protection of human behavioral research about 30 years ago. However new factors have emerged that will require consideration. These factors are the correctional population has grown from 1. million to almost seven million between 1978 and 2004, because of tougher sentencing laws and the war against drugs. According to the article due to the closing of large state mental institutions, prisons have become the new mental illness asylums. Health care in some of these prisons is very poor. Many class actions have been put in place about the inadequate of state prisons health-care system. According to the article a high number of prisoners suffer from infectious deceases, chronic diseases, a nd mental illness. A three year study that was requested by congress and that was done in May 2002 by the National Commission of correctional health care revealed that thousands of prisoners are being released into communities every year with deceases that were not diagnosed and were not treated while they were in prison. According to the article while in prison white inmates were more likely than black and Hispanic inmates to receive mental health treatment. Without the necessary treatment mentally ill prisoners suffer painfully symptoms and often their condition deteriorates. The article states that prisons were never intended to be mentally ill facilities, yet that is one their primary role today. Often man and woman that cannot afford to get mental illness help in their communities are swept away into criminal justice system after they commit a crime. In the United States there three times more mentally ill people in jail than in mental hospitals, inmates have mental issues that are two to four times higher than members of the general public. The New York Times conducted a yearlong examination of prison health services; this examination revealed that in many instances the medical care was inadequate and lethal. According to the National Academy of Science the New York City department of health and mental hygiene showed that at Rikers Island and at a jail in lower Manhattan the prison health failed to earn a passing grade on 12 of 39 performance standards, these performance standards are set by the city to evaluate the treatment of inmates. The prison health did not meet standards on practices from HIV and diabetes therapy to timely distribution of medication to properly conducting mental health evaluations. An article written in the American Bar Association, standard of treatment of prisoners, (2010) states that in February 2010, the ABA House of Delegates approved a set of ABA criminal justice standards on treatment of prisoners. The new standards supplant prior ABA criminal justice standards. Standard 23-2. 5, Health Care Assessment, this standard states each prisoner should receive a comprehensive medical and mental health assessment and these should be done by a qualified medical and mental health professional and it should be provided no later than 14 days after admission to a correctional facility. This medical treatment should be done periodically thereafter, and it should include mental health screening. Dental examinations should also be done by a dentist or trained personnel directed by a dentist and they should be done within 90 days of admission this if the prisoner’s confinement exceeds one year and it should be done annually thereafter. Standard 23-2. 6 Rationales for Segregated housing, states correctional authorities should only place prisoners in segregation if it relates to discipline, security, and ongoing investigation of misconduct or crime, protection from harm, medical care, or mental health care. This segregation should be for a brief time and under the least restrictive conditions practicable. When necessary due to an investigation, correctional facilities should be permitted to confine an inmate to segregation for a period of no more than 30 days. Standard 23-2. 8, Segregated housing and mental health, this standard states no inmate who is diagnosed with serious mental illness should be placed in long term segregated housing. The implementation of these few standards has improved the treatment of inmates across the country, but there are still many correctional facilities that require more improvements. According to Mosser, K (2010) there are different ways in which the ethical treatment of prisoners can be dealt with. Mosser states that there are different theories that philosophers have come up with to explain ethics. Three main theories are Utilitarianism, Deontology, and Virtue ethics. There are also three different approaches to these ethics theories, Relativism, Emotivism and ethical Egoism. All of them give a different approach and a different solution to the ethical treatment of prisoners. The Utilitarianism is the theory that one should choose to do that which produces a better outcome for the largest number of people. This theory evaluates whether an act is wright of wrong in terms of the acts consequences. Mosser, (2010). Deontology states that are ones duty an obligation to threat other people with respect, human beings have dignity and we must take that dignity into consideration when dealing with them. Deontology can lead to results that contradict common sense and the conception of right and wrong. Another theory is Virtual ethics this theory looks at the character of the person performing the act. There are three different approaches to the theories according to Mosser, K. (2010), these are Relativism, Emotivism, and Ethical Egoism. Relativism according to Mosser is ones beliefs and values are understood in terms of one’s society, culture, and one’s individual values. Emotivism according to Mosser, it sees our moral evaluations as the expression of whether we respond to a given act by liking it, or not liking it. This approach involves emotional feelings. Ethical egoism, this approach contrast with ethical theories of utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, and most religions. Ethical egoism according to Mosser states that our moral evaluations should be made in terms of our desires and goals. After evaluating all of the different theories and approaches to these theories, I would have to agree with the theory of Utilitarianism as being the best approach as how to solve the ethical treatment of prisoners. I would also have to agree with the Deontology theory, because I strongly agree that even though prisoners have committed a crime they should be treated with dignity after all they are still humans. From the three approaches to the main theories, relativism, emotivism, and ethical egoism, I would say relativism would help resolve the problem with a more positive outcome. Because relativism indicates that one’s beliefs and values are understood in terms of one’s society and culture, the majority of our society believes that if you commit a crime you should pay for it. The theory of Utilitarianism states that the moral worth of an action should be determined by its usefulness in increasing utility and reducing negative utility. The ethical treatment of prisoners has for the most part improved. Standards have been put in place to aid these issues and help the improvement of the treatment of prisoners. For the most part the whole world has a moral code on how people should behave themselves, and what is wrong and wright. It is a worldwide fact that to commit murder is wrong, it is wrong to steal, and to intentionally hurt another human being physically. The utilitarian theory can be used in jails to help prisoners correct their behavior, and when prisoners do not have a life sentence they can come out into society with a better look on life and not a negative one like when they first went into prison. I know that some crimes can be horrific in nature and once we have looked at those horrific crimes we can become outraged and very angry, but if we can keep an open mind and be humanitarian towards those criminals we can find some kind of peace in our hearts. References Jeffrey L. Metzner. M. D and Jamie Fellner Esq. Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness in US prisons: A challenge for medical ethics. www. jaapl. org/content/38/1/104. full Mark, Earthrowl, John, O’Grady, and Luke Birmingham. Providing treatment to prisoners with mental disorders: development of a policy. Bjp. rcpsych. org/content/182/4/299. short Standards on Treatment of Prisoners. http://www. americanbar. org/publications Mosser, K. (2010). Introduction to Ethics and Social Responsibility. San Diego, CA: Bridge point Education, Inc. Banks, C. (2004) Criminal Justice ethics: theory and practice. SAGE How to cite Ethical Treatment of Prisoners, Papers

Needle Injuries in Nursing for Hypodermic Syringes - myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theNeedle Stick Injuries in Nursing for Hypodermic Syringes. Answer: Issues and hazards at workplace are very common occurrences in the modern times. One such issue evident in the nursing sectors is the issue of needle stick injuries. Needle stick injuries generally refer to the wounds caused by the accidental needle punctures on the skin (Himmelreich et al., 2013). These are known to be hazardous for the people who work with the hypodermic syringes or other equipment that involve needles. These injuries generally happen at any time while the concerned person uses, disassembles or disposes the needles. These injuries refer to the penetration of the skin by a sharp object generally a needle. The penetration generally takes place by the needles that have been in contact with the tissues, blood or any other fluid of the body before being exposed to the environment. These injuries majorly affect the health care workers (Seng et al, 2013). The other professionals that are affected by these injuries are the tattoo artists, laborers, agricultural workers, pr eparers of food and the enforcers of law. These injuries may be responsible for the transmission of several blood-borne diseases that are infectious. Some of these diseases include human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, hepatitis C or HCV and the hepatitis B or HBV (Wicker et al, 2014). There have been recorded 25 different blood-borne viruses that have been caused in the laboratory personnel and the health care professionals due to the injuries caused by the needle sticks. According to the estimations, maximum occupational injuries caused by the needle sticks are not reported as the physiological effects of these injuries are generally negligible in degrees of their acuteness (Shalmani, Ranjbar Alizadeh, 2013). The following essay looks into the hazards that are faced due to the needle stick injuries that take place in the hospitals and other such organizations that deal with the uses of needles and syringes. The essay reflects on an incident of needle stick injury that took place at a hospital in Saudi Arabia. The reflective essay then proceeds with the reflection and explains the incident from the point of view of the nursing staff and facilities. The composition then goes on to assess the incident using the Kolbs reflective cycle, a model used in the study of nursing. A self-evaluation follows the above mentioned discussion. In this self-evaluation is mentioned the precautionary measures or the methods that can be used to avoid such situations in the future. The self-evaluation also brings to the limelight some of the impacts that we had faced due to the occurrence. The essay finally concludes with some recommendations as to how these types of incidents can be avoided in the future times . There has been reported several cases of the needle stick injuries in the profession of nursing. A six-month long study that had been carried out among the health-care workers in the Maternity and Childrens Hospital, Najran, Saudi Arabia had revealed that these incidents of needle stick injuries were a commonplace occurrence (Hashmi, Al Reesh Indah, 2012). The subjects of this study included all the health care workers who were involved with the hospital. The group of study took into consideration even the resident, specialist and consultant doctors, the nurses, the other allied staff related to the health care departments, the people who were hired to take care of the disposal of the waste generated during the medical procedures and the cleaning staff (Memish et al, 2013). The injuries that were taken into account were the injuries caused due to the sharp needles like those that were used in the pathology departments for collecting blood along with the hypodermic needles, suture ne edles, the intravenous cannulas, the intravenous sets that used winged needles, the needles that are used to connect the different parts of the intravenous delivery systems. This study also took into consideration the injuries that were caused due to the scalpels (Who.int, 2017). The members who took part in the survey were asked to asked to report to the Infection Control Nurse on the timings of the occurrences of the incidents of the injuries. An acquaintance of mine had been directly involved in one such case of needle stick injury. She was an employee in the emergency department of the hospital. She had been entrusted with the activity of collecting blood samples from a patient who had come in to get tested for hepatitis B. She had already withdrawn the amount of blood that was needed as a sample for testing the patient. While sheathing the needle-tip after the collection, the needle accidentally had penetrated the skin of the collector resulting in a needle stick injury in the hospital. There has also been similar reporting of injuries by the nurses who are in charge of the patients admitted in the hospital. A nurse had reported one such incident where she had faced an injury while applying the intravenous saline syringe on a patient in the emergency department. According to her, the needle had accidentally penetrated her fingers resulting in a negligible amount of blood loss. A nurse who was posted in the ICU section o f the emergency department of the hospital had reported another such incident where the needle that had penetrated her finger was meant for injecting intravenous medicines to the patient. She was in a hurry as this injection had to be applied within a stipulated period of time otherwise the patient would face severe consequences. She had to apply the medication within the short window of time that was provided to her. She had accidentally inserted the needle tip into her fingertip which resulted in blood loss of the concerned nurse. The patient however had received the medication at the proper time. The cases of needle stick injuries have also been reported by the cleaning staff of the hospital. The workers who are involved in the disposal of the equipment that have been in use in the various activities of the hospital, are not educated enough to know the various conditions that may arise from the seemingly innocent needle stick injuries. The cleaning staff members have often reported the incidents where they had to face these types of injuries. These incidents are not generally reported thereby avoiding required treatment. One such incident was faced by a worker while disposing off a syringe that was used to collect the blood sample of a person who had been found to have responded positively to the test for human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. According to him, the needle had accidentally pierced in the peripheral vein of his left hand. The worker did not report of the injury as he did not consider the incident to be dangerous. The worker did not even know that the needle had b een in use for the collection of the blood sample of a patient who had come in to get tested for HIV. The employee, on reporting the incident, had his blood-test conducted to make sure that he had not been suffering from the disease. Staff had been hired to help in the disposal of the used needles and other such disposable equipment that had been in use in the operation theatre. One of those staff had reported to have got injured due to a scalpel. This equipment had been used to operate on a lady who had been suffering from hepatitis B. The cleaning person had been very stressed out on the fact that he might have contracted the disease. He was relieved only when a test conducted on his blood sample revealed that he had not contracted it. The most common type of the injury caused by these sharp instruments are the sceptic injuries. These may result when a deep needle wound is created and the injury reaches the inner blood vessels. The concerned victim of the needle stick injury may contract diseases that are caused by the blood borne viruses. These injuries may also occur in the emergency department of the hospital or other nursing facilities and may prove to be fatal if not looked into at the appropriate time. The equipment used in the nursing professions should be handled carefully in order to avoid such injuries. These equipments mainly include the sharp needles like those that were used in the emergency departments for collecting blood for the proper diagnosis of the disease so as to provide the correct treatment to the patient. Apart from these, the instruments also refer to the hypodermic needles, suture needles, the intravenous cannulas, the intravenous sets that used winged needles, the needles that are used t o connect the different parts of the intravenous delivery systems (Leigh et al., 2017). The other instruments that are considered to be involved in this menacing hazard are the scalpels and other instruments that are used in the conduction of surgeries and in the pathological laboratories. There may be cases of broken glass equipments that may cause contamination if brought in contact with the blood of the sufferer. In all the above mentioned cases, it is seen that the conditions could be avoided if the victims would have been a bit more careful with their own self. In case of the first incident, my acquaintance could have avoided the incident if she had been a bit more careful while sheathing the needle after withdrawing the blood of the lady who had come in for the test of hepatitis B. The accidental pricking of the needle tip could have caused the infection caused the contamination of her blood thereby causing the disease that is caused by the transfer of the virus. The nurse in the next case could have prevented the injury had she been a bit more careful in the application of the intravenous saline channel. The same may be advised in case of the other nurse who had been appointed to inject the intravenous medication in case of the emergency patient who was admitted in the ICU. The cleaning staff also must be made aware of such happenings. They should be careful enough in their handling of the medical equipments that need to be disposed after usage (Askarian et al., 2012). This generally refers to the needles that have been used to collect the blood samples that needs to be examined for the detection of any disease that the patient is doubted to have been suffering from. These needles may also be used to collect any other bodily fluid and may be the apt medium through which the viruses and other disease causing elements may gain entry into the body system of a healthy person. The employees also have to keep a keen eye on the fact that broken equipment is got rid of very carefully. These are also the potential sources through which blood contamination is possible. If the broken piece of equipment had resulted in the blood loss of a patient suffering from a blood borne disease, the person who is disposing the broken equipment should take extra care so that he does not get hurt or have any cuts or other wounds from the same. This may lead to him contracting the disease too. Extra care should be taken so as to avoid injuries while cleaning and sterilizing the medical equipments that are used in the surgical operations. These instruments include the instruments that either use needle tips or require the attachment of a needle-tip in order to function properly. These instruments may also prove to be great carriers of the blood borne diseases if they come in contact of the blood of the affected. In order to prevent such occurrences where the medical staff may co ntract the disease, the hospital authorities have assured measures whereby the staff are provided with the medications that prevent the staff from contracting diseases that may prove to be fatal in the course of time. The medical staff who are in charge of the cleaning of these instruments must be trained well enough as to how to handle these sharp instruments like the needles and not injure themselves in the process. They should be advised to report any case of injuries that occur due to these injuries. They should be provided with anti-viral medications in advance so as to avoid contracting fatal diseases that may be caused due to the viruses that get transferred through the injuries that involve the sharp objects such as the needles, scalpels and other such instruments that are used in the profession of nursing. The medical staff that are in charge of using these instruments must be careful enough to let the cleaning person know if there are any items that should be disposed with extra precaution. They should always make it a point to mention if there are any sharp instruments that may be the source of a blood borne viral infection which may prove to be fatal in the course of time. In order to evaluate the incident that had been faced by the acquaintance of mine during the needle stick injury I have used the Kolbs cycle of reflection. This model is based on the many activities of reflection that has been undertaken in some professional contexts. The practice of nursing has systems which are well-established. It also involves the processes that encourage the matters of self-reflection. This process involves four different steps that are interconnected with each other. These are the formation of a first-hand experience. This step is followed by the reflection or the reviewing of the first-hand experience. The conclusions and the learnings that have been drawn from the experience follow the reflections of the observer. The learnings that have been acquired during the stage of conceptualization find their implications in this final stage of active experimentation. This step is proceeded by the first step of forming an experience which needs to be reflected on. The theory of the Kolbs reflective cycle is a well-known learning theory that is used majorly in the fields of learning. According to this theory, we get educated over the plethora of experiences that we gain over the everyday incidents that occur through our life. This theory also considers reflection to be an integral part of the process of learning. The first step of the cycle deals with the experiences that we encounter during the course of our life. In this incident of my acquaintance, the experience of the needle stick injury had been a tensing one. The needle had just been used to draw blood from the vein of the patient who was suspected to have been suffering from the dreadful disease of Hepatitis B. The careful sheathing of the needle could have avoided the injury in the first place. She had been ignoring the vaccination for the Hepatitis B. Thus, it is evident that she had been quite tensed when the needle which had just penetrated by the veins of the lady who had come in f or the test for the hepatitis B. In case of the worker who had injured himself while disposing the needle used for drawing blood from the patient who was suspected to have been suffering from the deadly disease of HIV, the injury could have been avoided had the worker paid extra attention to the fact that the needle had been sheathed properly. On looking back at the incident of the needle prick injury of the acquaintance of mine, it may be said that the carelessness on her part that had been responsible for the injury. The injury caused a feeling of trauma in the mind of the nurse as she had not been taking her vaccinations at the proper time and thus, had been vulnerable to contracting the disease very easily. She had to take immediate vaccinations in order to prevent the condition of contracting the disease. The experience had been very traumatic for the collector herself. She had been very tensed until the time that her blood test reports had revealed that she had not contracted the disease. The experience had been an incident that served as a lesson for the other employees in the same department. The other employees were seen to have grown more aware about the vaccinations that they were supposed to have. They started to have their regular health checkups done just in time. This was a highly needed measure that needed to be employed. The cleaning member had been under stress for a longer than usual period after he had come to know of the fact that the needle that had pierced the peripheral vein of the posterior side of his left palm was used to collect the blood sample of a patient who was suspected to have been suffering from the medical condition that was caused by the human immunodeficiency syndrome or HIV. He had been stressed ever since he had come to know of the fact. He had not thought that the accidental injury caused by a needle prick could be serious enough to cause complicated health issues. Thus, he had never reported the injury. He was not educated enough to know of the hazards that might occur due to the needle stick injuries that are seemingly innocent. Thus he underwent a huge amount of stress till the time his pathology results were out. The stress that he had been facing was released only when he tested negative for the disease of HIV (Green Griffiths, 2013). According to Kolb, we are able to create a hypothesis based on the situation or the incident that we have gone through in our lives. In this stage, we conclude on the facts that we have learned from the experiences that have been acquired from the instances that we have gone through. My acquaintance had learned a huge lesson to be more careful in her handling of sharp instruments such as needles that are mostly used in the pathology and emergency departments. She had learned that these needles that were used in the emergency departments should be handled carefully enough to avoid the transmission of the disease-causing agents. According to the Infection Control Nurse, the maximum number of the injuries that have been incurred in the emergency department have been a reason for the concerned staff to get stressed for a long period of time. The staff should be made more aware of the after-effects of the needle-stick injuries. It must also be brought to the limelight that medical equipme nt such as sharps, scalpels and the other various medical instruments that are used in the surgeries should also be handled with care. The cleaning staff must also be made aware of the fact that the needles should be handled with extreme care so as to avoid incidents that involve the contraction of a blood borne disease in the victim. The last stage of the Kolbs reflective model deals with the stage where the hypothesis formed in the previous stage is experimented upon. The experiences that are acquired from these stage help to decide whether or not is the hypothesis acceptable.in the concerned case, the hypothesis refers to the theoretical condition of training the staff regarding the hazards that might have their roots in the needle stick injuries that are seemingly innocent. There may arise situations whereby the delay in the reporting of the injury may result in the medical complications to arise in a patient. These medical conditions may have been avoided if the injury had been treated in a proper way at the proper time. In the concerned case of the acquaintance of mine, she had reported the injury at the first chance to do so thereby it was easier for the nursing staff to detect the presence of the concerned virus that might have gained entry into her blood stream through the needle stick injury that she had incurred. The cleaning staff, on the other hand had no knowledge of the needle that had been used in drawing blood from the lady who had come in to get treated for HIV. The low levels of education of the employee had led him to stress more over the fact that he had contracted the disease. In order to avoid these situations, the concerned staff must be conscious enough to report the slightest of injuries that they have undergone while working with the sharp needles or the other equipment that may result in injuries involving blood loss. The staff at the pathology center should be trained enough to know the hazardous conditions that may result from the seemingly innocent needle stick injuries (Bhardwaj et al., 2014). The staff responsible for the disposal of the used pathological and surgical instruments should receive more training on the conditions that may arise if they get infected from an injury that results in blood loss. They should be asked to report to the concerned authorities as soon as possible regarding the injury if they encounter any. These incidents may be avoided if the nurses and the sample collectors who work with sharp needles are more careful in the use of these instruments. The nurses should not hurry while sheathing a needle or while injecting an intravenous medicine into the system of the patient. They should always be more careful and cautious in the handling of such equipment thereby leading to the reduction of such injuries. They should be vaccinated at regular intervals of time so as to avoid any kind of fatal injuries (Cdc.gov, 2017). The hospital authorities should look into the fact the staff that has been appointed for the job of disposing the instruments that have been used at the pathology center or the at the operation theatre, should be well-trained on the issue of the hazards of the injuries that may be caused due to accidental hurts that are resulted due to the improper handling of these equipments. My feelings in this context do not vary from the one who has experienced the incident of a first-hand basis. I can very well relate to the stress that they face due to the risk of them having contracted the blood borne diseases that may have been present in the patient. In order to avoid these incidents, the hospital authorities should commence a blood borne pathogen control program that fulfils all the requirements of the standard blood borne pathogen indexes (Osha.gov, 2017). The usage of needles should be avoided in conditions where there are effective and safe alternative methods available (Bhargava et al., 2013). The authorities should provide the staff with the needled devices that have certain safety features. The authorities should provide the staff with containers to store the sharps (Rohde et al, 2013). All the cases of the injuries should be investigated thoroughly in order to get to the main cause of the problem thereby attempting to address the cause at the very root levels of it. The authorities should make sure that the concerned medical staff is provided with the necessary medical treatment and evaluated properly on receiving the report of any such incident. The staff who handle these instruments must avoid the use of these wherever they may avail alternate instruments. The staff should avoid bending or recapping the needles that might be contaminated. The employees must look into the fact that the needles are handled safely and got rid of in a safer way in order to avoid the conditions of contracting any fatal disease. The staff must follow the standard precautionary measures, the preventive measures that should be undertaken to avoid the spread of infections and other general practices of general hygiene on a constant basis in order to avoid the hazards of these injuries. In order to gather more information about the hazardous situations that may arise due to these types of injuries, the employee must participate in the training programs that are arranged by the concerned authorities. In conclusion to the above discussion it might be said that the needle stick injuries must be reported at the earliest possible timings in order to reduce the fatality of the disease if contracted by the concerned staff. The nurses and other staff that deal with these instruments must make it a point to help the authorities to select the devices that are safe to be used. The staff must report any cases of injuries that they might be facing while working with the instruments like the needled instruments or other sharp instruments that may enhance the risks of contracting a blood borne disease. An employee should wash the area of injury immediately with soap and water on experiencing a needle stick injury. They are advised to flush the affected area with water. The incident should be reported on an emergency basis and the concerned person should be granted access to immediate medical treatment in order to avoid further complications in the conditions. References Askarian, M., Malekmakan, L., Memish, Z. A., Assadian, O. (2012). Prevalence of needle stick injuries among dental, nursing and midwifery students in Shiraz, Iran.GMS Krankenhaushygiene interdisziplinr,7(1). 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