Medical Therapeutics

Medical Therapeutics is an applied course designed to prepare students to pursue careers in therapeutic and nursing services. Upon completion of this course, a proficient student will be able to identify careers in therapeutics services; assess, monitor, evaluate, and report patient/client health status; and identify the purpose and components of treatments. 

Course Standards    

*Red indicates standards already met

1. Therapeutic Careers 

1.1 Career Pathways and Personal Career Aptitudes: Differentiate career pathways within the Therapeutics cluster. Describe the scope of practice and the essential knowledge and skills required for these careers. Complete one or more career aptitude surveys, analyze the results, and relate how personal career aptitudes align with careers in therapeutics. 

1.2 Laws and Ethics Impacting Professional Practice: Analyze specific laws and ethical issues that impact professional practice such as confidentiality, informed consent, and patient self-determination. Determine how these laws and ethical issues impact healthcare professionals. 

1.3 Members of the Patient Care Team and Team-Based Care: Differentiate between the common members of the patient care team summarizing the individual roles and the interrelatedness of the team members as it relates to quality patient care. Explain the concept of team-based care to a patient. 

2. Health Care Communication 

2.1 Communication and Quality Patient Care: Evaluate factors that contribute to effective communication and explain how these factors contribute to the development of quality patient care. Demonstrate practices to effectively manage communication barriers, cultural differences, and clients with special needs. 

2.2 Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication: Differentiate between verbal and nonverbal communication when interacting with patients. Examine specific techniques for effective communication and evaluate how different cultures attach different meanings to communication techniques. 

3. Facility Guidelines for Practice 

3.1 Electronic Health Records: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of Electronic Health Records (EHR). Anticipate barriers and challenges associated with the largescale move to EHR in healthcare institutions. 

3.2 Patient Confidentiality: Explain the differences in privacy of individually identifiable health information, protected health information (PHI), and security rule. Review case studies to identify violations, preventive measures, and penalties that might be levied for violations. 

3.3 Patient Care and Quality Improvement Data: Relate the use of collected data by hospital information systems to the use of collected data in quality improvement initiatives. Determine how data related to sex, race and ethnicity is used to reduce disparities in different types of care such as cardiac care or cancer treatment. 

3.4 Equipment Safety, Quality Control, and Evaluation: Examine policies and procedures related to therapeutic equipment safety, quality control monitoring, and evaluation. Synthesize information to instruct a classmate on the importance of safety practices and the implementation of quality control processes according to policy. 

4. Patient Assessment and Treatment 

4.1 Medical Terminology: Demonstrate an understanding of basic medical terminology to monitor patient/client status through: 

a. history and physical, including but not limited to: family, environmental, social, and mental history; 

b. brief head to toe assessment noting normal vs. abnormal findings; 

c. vital signs assessment (VS); 

d. height/weight, BMI/calculation; and 

e. specimen collection. 

4.2 Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathophysiology: Outline the gross normal structure and function of all body systems and summarize appropriate medical text(s) to relate signs and symptoms of common diseases and disorders associated with each. 

a. integumentary and lymphatic systems 

b. nervous and musculoskeletal systems 

c. cardiovascular and respiratory systems 

d. digestive and urinary systems e. reproductive and endocrine systems 

4.3 Therapeutic Procedures and Treatments: Relate a therapeutic procedure/treatment to a specific body system. Describe the anatomy involved with the treatment, reason for treatment, health care professionals assisting or performing the treatment and patient education, including precautions that should occur prior to the treatment or procedure. 

5. Fundamentals of Patient Care 

5.1 Patient Care Skills: Demonstrate concepts and skills of the following in a clinical/lab setting: 

a. patient positioning, 

b. transfers and ambulation (including injury prevention and body mechanics), 

c. O2 assessment and administration (including fire safety), and 

d. BLS (Basic Life Support). 

6. Fundamentals of Wellness and Disease Prevention 

6.1 Infection Control: Demonstrate mastery of concepts and skills related to asepsis, Universal Precautions, sanitation, disinfection, and sterilization for patient/client care settings citing the rationale for each concept/skill using standards and guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in a lab/clinical setting. 

6.2 Normal Flora and Homeostasis: Correlate the function of normal flora with homeostasis and relate deviation to disease states. Evaluate specific measures to prevent deviation that are aligned with accepted standards of care. 

6.3 Healthcare and Non-Healthcare Associated Infections: Assess the differences between healthcare-associated infections and non-healthcare-associated infections using examples drawn from mock patient documents or case studies. Support explanations with relevant surveillance statistics, preventive measures, and methodologies concerning outbreak detection, management, and education. 

6.4 Health Education Plan: Develop a patient health education plan including health screenings, preventive measures, signs and symptoms of exacerbation of disease/disorder/injury, pharmacological needs, and support systems.