Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs
Assignment: Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Nursing Essay
Assignment: Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Nursing Essay
What type of drug should you prescribe based on your patient’s diagnosis? How much of the drug should the patient receive? How often should the drug be administered? When should the drug not be prescribed? Are there individual patient factors that could create complications when taking the drug? Should you be prescribing drugs to this patient?
These are some of the questions you might consider when selecting a treatment plan for a patient. As an advanced practice nurse prescribing drugs, you are held accountable for people’s lives on a daily basis. Patients and their families will often place trust in you because of your position. With this trust comes power and responsibility, as well as an ethical and legal obligation to “do no harm.” It is important that you are aware of current professional, legal, and ethical standards for advanced practice nurses with prescriptive authority. In this Discussion, you explore ethical and legal implications of scenarios and consider how to appropriately respond.
Scenario 1:
As a nurse practitioner, you prescribe medications for your patients. You make an error when prescribing medication to a 5-year-old patient. Rather than dosing him appropriately, you prescribe a dose suitable for an adult.
Scenario 2:
A friend calls and asks you to prescribe a medication for her. You have this autonomy, but you don’t have your friend’s medical history. You write the prescription anyway.
Scenario 3:
You see another nurse practitioner writing a prescription for her husband who is not a patient of the nurse practitioner. The prescription is for a narcotic. You can’t decide whether or not to report the incident.
Scenario 4:
During your lunch break at the hospital, you read a journal article on pharmacoeconomics. You think of a couple of patients who have recently mentioned their financial difficulties. You wonder if some of the expensive drugs you have prescribed are sufficiently managing the patients’ health conditions and improving their quality of life. E
To prepare for this Assignment: Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Nursing Essay :
- – Review Chapter 1 of the Arcangelo and Peterson text, as well as articles from the American Nurses Association, Anderson and Townsend, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Philipsend and Soeken.
- – Select one of the four scenarios listed above.
- – Consider the ethical and legal implications of the scenario for all stakeholders involved such as the prescriber, pharmacist, patient, and the patient’s family.
- – Think about two strategies that you, as an advanced practice nurse, would use to guide your ethically and legally responsible decision-making in this scenario. Assignment: Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Nursing Essay
With these thoughts in mind:
Post an explanation of the ethical and legal implications of the scenario you selected on all stakeholders involved such as the prescriber, pharmacist, patient, and the patient’s family. Describe two strategies that you, as an advanced practice nurse, would use to guide your decision making in this scenario.
– This work should have Introduction and conclusion
– This work should have at 3 to 5current references (Year 2012 and up)
– Use at least 2 references from class Learning Resources
The following Resources are not acceptable:
1. Wikipedia
2. Cdc.gov- nonhealthcare professionals section
3. Webmd.com
4. Mayoclinic.com
Required Readings
**Arcangelo, V. P., Peterson, A. M., Wilbur, V., & Reinhold, J. A. (Eds.). (2017). Pharmacotherapeutics for advanced practice: A practical approach (4th ed.). Ambler, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
- Chapter 1, “Issues for the Practitioner in Drug Therapy” (pp. 3–14)
This chapter introduces issues relating to drug therapy such as adverse drug events and medication adherence. It also explores drug safety, the practitioner’s role and responsibilities in prescribing, and prescription writing. - Chapter 59, “The Economics of Pharmacotherapeutics” (pp. 1009-1018)
This chapter analyzes the costs of drug therapy to health care systems and society and explores practice guideline compliance and current issues in medical care. - Chapter 60, “Integrative Approaches to Pharmacotherapy—A Look at Complex Cases” (pp. 1021-1036)
This chapter examines issues in individual patient cases. It explores concepts relating to evaluation, drug selection, patient education, and alternative treatment options.
**Crigger, N., & Holcomb, L. (2008). Improving nurse practitioner practice through rational prescribing. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 4(2), 120–125.
Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
This article explores issues relating to prescription drugs, specifically the frequency in which drugs are prescribed to patients. It also examines factors to consider before beginning drug therapy plans with patients. Assignment: Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Nursing Essay
**Philipsen, N. C., & Soeken, D. (2011). Preparing to blow the whistle: A survival guide for nurses. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 7(9), 740–746.
Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
This article examines issues that nurses encounter when reporting errors in medical settings. It also outlines the role of ethics and the responsibility of nurses to notify all individuals who are impacted by a medical error.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION;
Introduction
The ethical and legal issues surrounding prescribing drugs are numerous, complicated, and constantly changing. The internet is abuzz with talk of physician misconduct, such as when doctors are disciplined for improper prescribing or patients are harmed by the actions of their physicians. However, there have also been cases of general medical boards citing physicians who were victims of drug diversion or fraudulent prescriptions. The more you know about these issues the better equipped you will be to help your patients navigate through them successfully.
Physicians being disciplined for prescribing controlled substances.
Physicians are being disciplined for prescribing controlled substances.
Prescriptions written for non-medical purposes.
In some cases, your doctor may write a prescription for a drug that is not medically necessary. For example, if you need an antibiotic to treat an infection but there isn’t any evidence that it will help you, or if it’s not recommended by your regular doctor because of side effects such as stomach upset and headache. You should ask the pharmacist whether he or she can recommend an alternative treatment for this condition instead of writing out an unnecessary prescription for antibiotics.
It’s also important to recognize when prescriptions are written for non-medical purposes in order to avoid becoming involved in them yourself:
Improper use of prescription drugs by patients.
Prescription drug abuse is a serious problem, and it can lead to addiction. If you or someone you know is abusing prescription drugs, please seek help immediately. It’s illegal for patients to use these medications without a doctor’s prescription. Abuse of any kind has lethal consequences that affect everyone in society.
Unsafe prescribing practices.
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Physicians should follow guidelines for prescribing drugs.
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Doctors should have a good understanding of the drug they are prescribing, and its potential side effects.
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Doctors should be aware of the potential interactions between drugs, including over-the-counter medications and other prescription or nonprescription products.
Medical boards citing physicians for negative patient outcomes.
Medical boards are concerned about the safety of patients and want to protect the public. They also want to protect physicians from lawsuits, which could be costly and time-consuming if a patient dies as a result of an adverse drug reaction (ADR). In addition, medical boards are interested in protecting the reputation of physicians by investigating any complaints against them or deaths that may have occurred during their care of patients.
Drug diversion by patients and caregivers.
Drug diversion by patients and caregivers is the illegal act of obtaining a prescription drug for non-medical purposes. It can be done in several ways, including:
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The patient or caregiver asking their pharmacist or doctor for extra pills when filling out the prescription
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Stealing from a pharmacy or doctor’s office
Forgery and fraud related to prescriptions.
Forgery and fraud related to prescriptions are serious crimes. Prescription fraud is a crime, but the problem of fraudulent prescriptions goes beyond this one incident.
Prescription drug abuse can lead to addiction, which may mean that you need more than one prescription in order to meet your needs or get through withdrawal symptoms. This can result in large amounts being spent on drugs that aren’t readily available over the counter.
Doctors who are the victims of drug diversion or fraudulent prescriptions.
Drug diversion is the illegal and improper use of drugs by a patient. It can be intentional and/or accidental, but it’s typically caused when someone else steals your prescription and gets it filled at a pharmacy.
Drug diversion happens when:
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The doctor writes out several prescriptions for you, but only one goes to you or your family member who needs them. This could happen if there’s an error in writing or signing off on prescriptions; for example, if the doctor missespells your name on one line because he was distracted by another patient (or vice versa). Or perhaps someone else has written down their own fake name as “John Smith” instead of yours! Or maybe someone just made up some random excuse about why you should get more medicine than usual today so that they could do this without getting caught themselves – something like “You said yesterday I should get these two pills every day starting now until further notice… Now let me see… Yes yes yes! Here we go many many days later here are more pills!”
there are many ethical and legal issues surrounding prescribing drugs
Prescribing drugs is a legal and ethical issue for physicians. Physicians are held to a high standard when prescribing drugs, but ethics issues are often overlooked in the rush to get patients treated.
When a physician prescribes a drug for another person, he or she is acting as an agent for that person and thus must take on all of his or her responsibilities related to this role. This includes ensuring that there are no conflicts between your interests as an individual doctor and those of other people who rely on you for care (e.g., patients). When prescribing certain medications such as opioids or benzodiazepines (such as Xanax), your role involves more than simply recommending them; it also involves making decisions about what doses will be safe enough so that they can be used safely without causing harm and then actually administering them correctly!
Conclusion
Ultimately, there are many ethical and legal issues surrounding prescribing drugs. Doctors must be vigilant and aware of these issues to ensure that they do not become victims themselves or harm patients in any way. The best way to avoid these problems is to take the time to research the medications you want to prescribe so that you can make sure they are safe for patients and appropriate for their particular conditions.
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