Essay Example on Ethical & Legal Implications in Nursing Practice

Introduction

The nursing profession is faced with many ethical and legal challenges as a result of its complexity. A nurse practitioner (NP) has an obligation of gathering data before prescribing any medication to patients (Kissam, 2010). The NP should take the health history of the patient and also perform a physical examination. The NP will thus be able to offer the right diagnosis to the patient as well as a suitable treatment plan. The aim of this paper is to explain ethical and legal implications in the selected scenario regarding all the stakeholders in the case. It will also discuss strategies that can be applied by an advanced practice nurse in guiding decision making.

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Ethical and Legal Implications of The Scenario

In this scenario, several stakeholders have been involved that include the nurse practitioner, the pharmacist, and the husband. The nurse practitioner faces ethical and legal pressures when prescribing this medication (Tingle & Cribb, 2013). The NP should consider the advantages and disadvantages of prescribing medication of narcotics. It is mainly to her husband and still scrutinizes whether the practice is aligning with the set rules and regulations of the state. The NP act also put the license of the physician that she is working under at risk. Also, the pharmacist is a possible stakeholder whose role is when the medication is taken at the pharmacy. Their primary purpose is educating the patient on how to use the prescribed medication, including its incongruities.

Strategies to Address Disclosure and Nondisclosure

Looking at this scenario, the best thing could be to report the issue, although it has a complication of fearing to lose the job and possible positioning of NP as being the whistleblower. A whistleblower can be said to be the person that hearsays insider information of unlawful actions that occur in an institution (Kenton, 2018). There is a possibility of suffering reprisal, and I may feel uncomfortable to go on working with the individual. Before I report the NP, I will ensure a have talked to her first regarding her act of prescribing a narcotic medication to her husband, together with the possible risks of the action.

Strategies Involved Making My Decision

Within the healthcare professions, many ethical situations are faced by nurses while they try to do what is right to get the best outcome. Firstly, NP should assess the patient thoroughly and collect useful data before offering prescriptions and medications. The second strategy is knowing the law and regulations as per the state you are practicing. In Texas state, the NP must register with the U.S Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). She should register with this agency before she prescribes any controlled substances. NPS also has a prescription monitoring program (PMP), operating in restricted practice settings, having an agreement with other physicians to prescribe the said drugs (Tingle & Cribb, 2013).

The Process of Writing Prescriptions and Strategies to Minimize Medication Errors

The main thing to be done by the NP is evaluating as well as identifying all the problems faced by her patient so that she may have the right diagnosis of the patient. The therapy's first line is reviewing the disease pathophysiology followed by selecting the suitable medication required for the prescription. The prescription should have the name, date, address, and date of birth of the patient. There should be a drug name that is written, the dosage regime, and the legible administration route. NP should be responsible for identifying the medication allergies and the type of reactions of the patient. The dose is then calculated correctly, being keen on "sound-alike" and "look-alike" drugs, using the 5 R's (Tingle & Cribb, 2013). Electronic prescriptions can be used to minimize medication errors (Arcangelo et al., 2017). The right drug information software program like Epocrates will also significantly reduce errors (Gallagher, & Mahony, 2016). The medication errors, as well as adverse effects, will be minimized after using these extra precautions.

Summary

The federal law and regulations have given the NPs the mandate of prescribing, dispensing, and administering narcotic medication. The nurse practitioners face ethical and legal pressures when prescribing medications. Their main role is educating the patient on how to use the prescribed medication, including its incongruities. Before reporting any NP, it is good to first talk to them on the risks of their actions. The NP should assess the patient well and collect good data before offering the prescription and medications. The dose should be calculated correctly, and the NP should be keen on the type and name of the medication prescribed.

References

Arcangelo, V. P., Peterson, A. M., Wilbur, V., & Reinhold, J. A. (2017). Pharmacotherapeutics for advanced practice A practical approach (4th ed.). Ambler, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=EaP1yJz4fkEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA3&dq=Arcangelo,+V.+P.,+Peterson,+A.+M.,+Wilbur,+V.,+%26+Reinhold,+J.+A.+(2017).++Pharmacotherapeutics++for+advanced+practice+A+practical+approach+(4th+ed.).++Ambler,+PA:+Lippincott+Williams++%26+Wilkins.&ots=3WtbEEk8z8&sig=Ar63gJ87XfdwWRj1tpoAWg2WThc

Kenton, W. (2018). Whistleblower. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/whistleblower.asp NURS 6521 Assignment: Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs

Kissam, P. C. (2010). Physician's Assistant and Nurse Practitioner Laws: A Study of Health Law Reform. U. Kan. L., Rev., 24, 1. Retrieved from https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/6853/Kissam%2024KanLR1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Lavan, A. H., Gallagher, P. F., & Mahony, D. (2016). Methods to reduce prescribing errors in elderly patients with multimorbidity. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 11, 857-866. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S80280

Tingle, J., & Cribb, A. (Eds.). (2013). Nursing law and ethics. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=aXyAAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT20&dq=Nurse+practitioner+laws+%26+rules.++&ots=rWkz8FDAYk&sig=R01-sBzUs335Yqw0yIiguYj4eXQ