NURS6521 Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Paper

Based on your patient’s diagnosis, what type of medication should you prescribe? How much medication should the patient be given? How frequently should the medication be taken? When should the medication be avoided? Are there any particular patient factors that could cause difficulties with the medication? Should you give this patient medication? What impact might differing state rules have on prescribing this medicine to this patient?

These are some of the questions you might consider when selecting a treatment plan for a patient.

Every day, as an advanced practice nurse providing pharmaceuticals, you are held accountable for people’s lives. Because of your position, patients and their families will frequently repose their trust in you. This trust brings with it power and duty, as well as an ethical and legal commitment to “do no harm.” It is critical that you are aware of the most recent professional, legal, and ethical requirements for advanced practice nurses with prescribing authority. NURS6521 Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Paper

Furthermore, it is critical to ensure that treatment plans and drug administration/prescribing are in conformity with the legislation of the state in which you practice. Understanding how these rules may affect the prescribing of specific pharmaceuticals in various jurisdictions may have a substantial impact on your patient’s treatment plan. In this Assignment, you investigate the ethical and legal consequences of scenarios and evaluate how to respond correctly..

To Prepare

Review the Resources for this module and consider the legal and ethical implications of prescribing prescription drugs, disclosure, and nondisclosure. NURS6521 Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Paper
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.
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.
Discussion

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. NURS6521 Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Paper
Explain the process of writing prescriptions, including strategies to minimize medication errors.

Assignment Scenario:

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.

Required Readings

Rosenthal, L. D., & Burchum, J. R. (2018). Lehne’s pharmacotherapeutics for advanced practice providers. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Chapter 1, “Prescriptive Authority” (pp. 1–3)
Chapter 2, “Rational Drug Selection and Prescription Writing” (pp. 5–9)
Chapter 3, “Promoting Positive Outcomes of Drug Therapy” (pp. 11–16)
Chapter 4, “Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Drug Interactions” (pp. 17–40)
Chapter 5, “Adverse Drug Reactions and Medical Errors” (pp. 41–49)
Chapter 6, “Individual Variation in Drug Response” (pp. 51–56)

American Geriatrics Society 2019 Beers Criteria Update Expert Panel. (2019). American Geriatrics Society 2019 updated AGS Beers criteria for potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 67(4), 674–694. NURS6521 Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Paper

doi:10.1111/jgs.15767
American Geriatrics Society 2019 updated AGS Beers criteria for potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults by American Geriatrics Society, in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Vol. 67/Issue 4. Copyright 2019 by Blackwell Publishing. Reprinted by permission of Blackwell Publishing via the Copyright Clearance Center. NURS6521 Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Paper

This article is an update to the Beers Criteria, which includes lists of potentially inappropriate medications to be avoided in older adults as well as newly added criteria that lists select drugs that should be avoided or have their dose adjusted based on the individual’s kidney function and select drug-drug interactions documented to be associated with harms in older adults.

Drug Enforcement Administration. (n.d.-a). Code of federal regulations. Retrieved February 1, 2019, from https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/21cfr/cfr/1300/…
This website outlines the code of federal regulations for prescription drugs.

Drug Enforcement Administration. (n.d.-b). Mid-level practitioners authorization by state. Retrieved May 13, 2019 from http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugreg/praction…
This website outlines the schedules for controlled substances, including prescriptive authority for each schedule. NURS6521 Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Paper

Drug Enforcement Administration. (2006). Practitioner’s manual. Retrieved from http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/manuals/pra…
This manual is a resource for practitioners who prescribe, dispense, and administer controlled substances. It provides information on general requirements, security issues, recordkeeping, prescription requirements, and addiction treatment programs.

Drug Enforcement Administration. (n.d.-c). Registration. Retrieved February 1, 2019, from https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugreg/index.h…
This website details key aspects of drug registration.

Fowler, M. D. (2015). Guide to the code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements: Development, interpretation, and application. Silver Spring, Maryland: American Nurses Association, 2015.

This resource introduces the code of ethics for nurses and highlights critical aspects for ethical guideline development, interpretation, and application in practice. NURS6521 Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Paper

Institute for Safe Medication Practices. (2017). List of error-prone abbreviations, symbols, and dose designations. Retrieved from https://www.ismp.org/recommendations/error-prone-a…
This website provides a list of prescription-writing abbreviations that might lead to misinterpretation, as well as suggestions for preventing resulting errors. NURS6521 Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Paper

Ladd, E., & Hoyt, A. (2016). Shedding light on nurse practitioner prescribing. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 12(3), 166–173. doi:10.1016/j.nurpra.2015.09.17

This article provides NPs with information regarding state-based laws for NP prescribing. NURS6521 Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs Paper

Sabatino, J. A., Pruchnicki, M. C., Sevin, A. M., Barker, E., Green, C. G., & Porter, K. (2017). Improving prescribing practices: A pharmacist‐led educational intervention for nurse practitioner students. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 29(5), 248–254. doi:10.1002/2327-6924.12446