Investigating the communication mistakes of blood pressure medications: Week 4
Swagat D -
Hello There! Thanks for coming back for my blog post!
This week is probably one of my favorites, as I spent more time with the patients and learned more about the kidneys.
First, I spent more time with the patients, as Dr. Sharma wanted me to talk to them and understand what they were going through. After the medical assistant left and I took my data of medication errors, I spent some time talking to patients, asking about the weather, what kidney issues they have, talking about my college hopes, and so on.
Many patients enjoyed their time with me, as they often pointed out that some doctors don’t know how to speak with patients properly, which can weaken the doctor-patient relationship and create additional problems with the diagnosis and medication treatments. Thus, I made sure to speak clearly and provide a welcoming presence to others!
Additionally, I learned more about kidneys and CKD (chronic kidney disease/disorder) from Dr. Sharma. Each kidneys are made up of a million filtering units called nephrons, which are made up of 2 components: glomerulus and a tubule. The glomerulus filters the blood by separating nutrients from the excess waste, and the tubule ensures that the essential nutrients for the blood return to our body and creates urine from the excess.
When the kidneys begin to fail, that is where chronic kidney disease comes in. Since the kidneys need to constantly filter our blood, nephrologists measure this rate via the estimated glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR for short. 90-120 is great, as it means your kidneys are functioning normally. Anything lower means that you have chronic kidney disease. With there being 5 stages of CKD, the nephrologist’s job is to make sure that the kidneys don’t further deteriorate by conducting labs, ultrasounds, and so on. Thanks again to Dr. Sharma for explaining this to me!
Thanks to everyone who read my blog post, and I’ll see you at the halfway mark!