Assignment 2: Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs

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 a scenario and consider how to appropriately respond.

Assignment Scenario:

AC is a 72-year-old male who is admitted to your ICU after suffering a massive stroke that has left him unresponsive and unable to communicate.  He is currently on a ventilator.  His wife of 48 years is available along with their one adult daughter.  The wife informs you that they don’t have any advanced directives, but she is “pretty sure her husband would not want to live like this.”  However, their daughter is adamant her dad would want to be kept alive in case there is any chance to come out of this.

Write a 2- to 3-page paper that addresses the following:

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  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.
  
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  Describe strategies to address disclosure and nondisclosure as identified in the scenario you selected. Be sure to reference laws specific to your state. ( VIRGINIA)
  
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  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.
  
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  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.