Posted: November 14th, 2022

WEEK 1- Ethical and Legal Implications of prescribing Drugs

Nursing
Title: Assignment: WEEK 1- Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs
Number of sources: 4
Paper instructions:
Please see all instructions and requirements for this paper. APA format has changed and updated and a link is located in the instructions for this paper.

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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? How might different state regulations affect the prescribing of this drug to this patient?
These are some of the questions you might consider when selecting a treatment plan for a patient.

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As an advanced practice nurse prescribing drugs, you are held accountable for people’s lives every day. 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. Additionally, it is important to ensure that the treatment plans and administration/prescribing of drugs is in accordance with the regulations of the state in which you practice. Understanding how these regulations may affect the prescribing of certain drugs in different states may have a significant impact on your patient’s treatment plan. In this Assignment, you explore ethical and legal implications of scenarios and consider how to appropriately respond.
To Prepare
Review the Resources for this module and consider the legal and ethical implications of prescribing prescription drugs, disclosure, and nondisclosure.
Review the scenario assigned by your Instructor for this Assignment.
Search specific laws and standards for prescribing prescription drugs and for addressing medication errors for your state or region, and reflect on these as you review the scenario assigned by your Instructor.
Consider the ethical and legal implications of the scenario for all stakeholders involved, such as the prescriber, pharmacist, patient, and patient’s family. – Best nursing dissertation writers
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, including whether you would disclose any medication errors.
By Day 7 of Week 1
Write a 2- to 3-page paper that addresses the following:
Explain the ethical and legal implications of the scenario you selected on all stakeholders involved, such as the prescriber, pharmacist, patient, and patient’s family.
Describe strategies to address disclosure and nondisclosure as identified in the scenario you selected. Be sure to reference laws specific to your state.
Explain two strategies that you, as an advanced practice nurse, would use to guide your decision making in this scenario, including whether you would disclose your error. Be sure to justify your explanation.
Explain the process of writing prescriptions, including strategies to minimize medication errors.
Reminder: The College of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The College of Nursing Writing Template with Instructions provided at the Walden Writing Center offers an example of those required elements (available at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general#s-lg-box-20293632). All papers submitted must use this formatting.

Explain 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.–

Excellent 23 (23%) – 25 (25%)
The response accurately and thoroughly explains in detail the ethical and legal implications of the scenario selected on all stakeholders involved.

The response includes accurate, clear, and detailed explanations as to how these implications affect the prescriber, pharmacist, patient, and the patient’s family.
Good 20 (20%) – 22 (22%)
The response explains the ethical and legal implications of the scenario selected on all stakeholders involved.
Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs
Introduction
Ethical and legal implications are essential to RN to guide their decisions in prescribing drugs. RN should adhere to the ethical and legal issues to promote quality care and safety of patients. Patients and families trust that RN will utilize their best knowledge to prescribe safe and efficient medication. Failure of RN to adhere to the ethical and legal issues can lead to legal consequences.
Ethical and Legal Implications
RN should adhere to the ethical and legal guidelines in healthcare to promote patient care and safety. One of the ethical issues is a conflict of interest since she is serving as both a wife and a practitioner (Koller et al., 2019). Conflict of interest can trigger impartiality which can put a patient at risk. Another ethical issue is non-maleficence and beneficence, which involves doing no harm and promoting good (Lavan et al., 2016). Prescribing narcotics without adequate diagnostic tests will put the patient at risk. The scenario also overlooks a legal issue that requires a RN to always observe the safety of patients. If a patient experiences adverse effects a RN can be liable for their actions.
Disclosure and Non-disclosure
Disclosure involves providing the necessary information to a healthcare practitioner to protect the health of a patient. The disclosure follows the do-no-harm principle which requires RN to always disclosure information about medical errors (Stratton et al., 2018). Revealing the information will prevent further incidents in the future which can comprise the safety of patients. According to Stratton et al. (2018), the disclosure also involves informing patients that RN must adhere to certain legal and ethical principles. Explaining to patients about the health risks they face is essential in preventing adverse effects. For example, it is unethical and illegal to prescribe medication to patients without adequate diagnostic tests.
Strategies for Decision-making
The first decision is to disclose the malpractice to the relevant nurse leaders. The first strategy is to realize there is an error that can put the life and health of a patient at risk. Humphreys (2018), states that failure to report the incidence is also a way of encouraging such activities in the future. The second strategy is to find the appropriate RN leader to report the issue to (Koller et al., 2019). Reporting the issue to the patient or the RN involved in the issue is also appropriate. The strategies will reduce similar medical errors in the future in the future.
Writing Prescriptions
Writing prescriptions is a critical stage in a treatment plan. RN should only write prescriptions after carrying out diagnostic tests. According to Humphreys (2018), prescription also involves selecting the best medication or therapy among the available options. RN should minimize medical errors by confirming the details of patients and their condition. They should also follow the ethical and legal issues regarding drug prescription to avoid medical errors (Stratton et al., 2018). For example, nurses should avoid conflict of interest or non-compliance of other ethical principles. The first decision is to notify the appropriate nurse leaders of the malpractice. The first strategy is to recognize that there is an error that could endanger a patient’s life or health. According to Humphreys (2018), failing to report the incident encourages similar behavior in the future. The second strategy is to locate the appropriate RN leader to whom to report the problem (Koller et al., 2019). Reporting the problem to the patient or the RN involved is also appropriate. The strategies will help to reduce similar medical errors in the future.
Prescription Writing
Prescriptions are an important part of any treatment plan. After performing diagnostic tests, RNs should only write prescriptions. Humphreys (2018) defines prescription as “the selection of the best medication or therapy from among the available options.” RNs should reduce medical errors by verifying patient information and condition. To avoid medical errors, they should also adhere to ethical and legal issues concerning drug prescription (Stratton et al., 2018). Nurses, for example, should avoid conflicts of interest and noncompliance with other ethical principles.
Conclusion
The role of a RN in healthcare is essential in prescribing medications to patients. The work of prescribing drugs should follow the ethical and legal issues. Ethical issues include conflict of interest, non-maleficence, and beneficence which ensure nurses can hardly make medical errors. RN should follow various steps to ensure they prescribe the best medication to patients while minimizing medical errors. The strategies include following the ethical guidelines and always confirming the details of a patient such as name or condition.

References
Humphreys, K. (2018). Reconciling the Present and the Future in Opioid Prescription Policy: An Ethical Dilemma. Pain Medicine, 19(8), 1514-1515.
Koller, D., Binder, M. J., Alexander, S., & Darch, J. (2019). “Everybody makes mistakes”: Children’s views on medical errors and disclosure. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 49, 1-9.
Lavan, A. H., Gallagher, P. F., & O’Mahony, D. (2016). Methods to reduce prescribing errors in elderly patients with multimorbidity. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 11, 857.
Stratton, T. P., Palombi, L., Blue, H., & Schneiderhan, M. E. (2018). Ethical dimensions of the prescription opioid abuse crisis. The Bulletin of the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists, 75(15), 1145-1150.

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