Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs

Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs

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.
Question:
1. Post on 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.
2. Describe two strategies that you, as an advanced practice nurse, would use to guide your decision making in this scenario.
To prepare:•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.
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.
Readings
•Arcangelo, V. P., & Peterson, A. M. (Eds.). (2013). Pharmacotherapeutics for advanced practice: A practical approach (3rd ed.). Ambler, PA: Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins.
◦Chapter 1, “Issues for the Practitioner in Drug Therapy” (pp. 2–14)
Crigger, N., & Holcomb, L. (2008). Improving nurse practitioner practice through rational prescribing. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 4(2), 120–125.
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.
American Nurses Association. (2001). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Nursing World. Retrieved from
http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of-Ethics-For-Nurses.html
Anderson, P., & Townsend, T. (2010). Medication errors: Don’t let them happen to you. American Nurse Today, 5(3), 23–28. Retrieved from
http://www.americannursetoday.com/assets/0/434/436/440/6276/6334/6350/6356/8b8dac76-6061-4521-8b43-d0928ef8de07.pdf
Drug Enforcement Administration. (n.d.). Mid-level practitioners authorization by state. Retrieved from August 23, 2012,
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugreg/practioners/index.html
Drug Enforcement Administration. (2006.). Practitioner’s manual. Retrieved from
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/manuals/pract/index.html
Drugs.com. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.drugs.com/
Institute for Safe Medication Practices. (2012). ISMP’s list of error-prone abbreviations, symbols, and dose designations. Retrieved from
http://www.ismp.org/Tools/errorproneabbreviations.pdf
Optional Resources
•Byrne, W. (2011). U.S. nurse practitioner prescribing law: A state-by-state summary. Medscape Nurses. Retrieved from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/440315
•Drug Enforcement Administration. (n.d.). Code of federal regulations. Retrieved August 23, 2012, from
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/21cfr/cfr/1300/1300_01.htm
•Drug Enforcement Administration. (n.d.). Registration. Retrieved August 23, 2012, from
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/Registration.html

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