Consider the following scenario:

A 16-year-old male presents for a sports participation examination. He has no significant medical history and no family history suggestive of risk for premature cardiac death. The patient is examined while sitting slightly recumbent on the exam table and the advanced practice nurse appreciates a grade II/VI systolic murmur heard loudest at the apex of the heart. Other physical findings are within normal limits, the patient denies any cardiovascular symptoms, and a neuromuscular examination is within normal limits. He is cleared with no activity restriction. Later in the season he collapses on the field and dies.

To Prepare  Consider how you would diagnose and prescribe treatment for the patient.

Patient factors: genetics

Reflect on how the factor you selected might impact diagnosis and prescription of treatment for the patient in the scenario.

Post a description of how you would diagnose and prescribe treatment for the patient in the scenario. 

Then explain how the factor you selected might impact the diagnosis and prescription of treatment for that patie

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.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Caiaimage

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.
• 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.

4 references not more than 5 years

zero plagiarism

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)

DUE WEDNESDAY 7/16/19  minimum 350 words

Some have argued that the data-to-wisdom continuum cannot be used to define the scope of clinical practice because computers cannot process wisdom. Identify and describe whether this is a fallacy.

Some have argued that the data-to-wisdom continuum cannot be used to define the scope of clinical practice because computers cannot process wisdom. Identify and describe whether this is a fallacy.

Review the IOM report, “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health,” and explore the “Campaign for Action: State Action Coalition” website. In a 1,000-1,250 word paper, discuss the influence the IOM report and state-based action coalitions have had on nursing practice, nursing education, and nursing workforce development, and how they continue to advance the goals for the nursing profession.

Read “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health,” located on the National Academies of Sciences Engineering Medicine website, as needed to complete your assignment.

URL:

http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health.aspx

Include the following:

1. Describe the work of the Robert Wood Foundation Committee Initiative that led to the IOM report, “Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.”

2. Outline the four “Key Messages” that structure the IOM Report recommendations. Explain how these have transformed or influenced nursing practice, nursing education and training, nursing leadership, and nursing workforce development. Provide examples.

3. Discuss the role of state-based action coalitions. Explain how these coalitions help advance the goals specified in the IOM report, “Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.”

4. Research the initiatives on which your state’s action coalition is working. Summarize two initiatives spearheaded by your state’s action coalition. Discuss the ways these initiatives advance the nursing profession.

5. Describe barriers to advancement that currently exist in your state and explain how nursing advocates in your state overcome these barriers.

You are required to cite to a minimum of three sources to complete this assignment. Sources must be published within the last 5 years and appropriate for the assignment criteria and relevant to nursing practice.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the LopesWrite Technical Support articles for assistance.

A critical component of any policy design is evaluation of the policy’s results (Laureate Education, 2018). However, some nurses may be hesitant to get involved with policy evaluation. The preference may be to focus on the care and well-being of their patients. In doing so, some nurses may feel ill-equipped to enter the realm of policy and political activities. However, as examined previously, nurses are better placed to advocate for patients and effective programs and polices than any other healthcare workers (Glasgow, Lichtenstein, & Marcus, 2003). This discussion gives a reflection on the role of professional nurses in policy evaluation.

The largest group of healthcare workers/providers are nurses, and it is rightly so because nurses can provide (engage in) effective evaluation of healthcare policies and programs. There are many opportunities that currently exist for RNs/APRNs to actively engage in policy review. They can do so through professional nursing associations or their employers’ policy committees. The ANA has many visions and missions among which include “lobbying the government for changes on nursing and health-related issues (Milstead & Short, 2019).”

Nurses’ influence on health policy, through policy evaluation, protects the quality of care by access to required recourses. Access to resources helps nurses to be aware of the happenings in health care policy including within their states (Laureate Education, 2018). This kind of knowledge will help nurses to provide effective feedback to employers or governments to help provide good shape for health policies and programs. For instance, a nurse can book appointments with their local legislators to present an evaluation report on a program/ policy with a focus on measurable outcomes and the policy’s effectiveness while offering their expert opinion on the policy (Ryan & Rosenberg, 2015).

While these opportunities give nurses an upper hand in policy review, they can present challenges to the nurses. For instance, the RNs/APRNs may find it difficult to obtain required or comparative resources for a policy or program that has been implemented, particularly when it is a new policy/program that lack appropriate data to make comparisons (Milstead & Short, 2019). Additionally, nurses may face the challenge of limited resources to complete an evaluation of a program/ policy. These challenges can make it difficult to evaluate the outcome and impact of a policy/program. Nurses can try to find evidence-based data and information related to the policy or conduct new studies to combat such lack of data. the nurse can also request for funding or scholarships to enable them get enough resources to conduct policy evaluation.

How can nurses better advocate for or communicate the existence of these opportunities? As an RN/APRN, you may consider recommending the incorporation of health policy advocacy/evaluation as a course in the nursing curriculum that nursing students should complete to get their license. Secondly, I may consider using Social Media platforms to run campaigns on the opportunities available for nurses to participate in policy evaluation. Campaigns and advertisements can be carried out on social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and blogs. Additionally, Nursing associations and organizations can also use their websites, on-line chat platforms or webinars to advocate for these opportunities among nurses and inform nurses of the policies/programs that need to be evaluated so that nurses can provide the individual expert opinion on the policies/programs.

References

Glasgow, R. E., Lichtenstein, E., & Marcus, A. C. (2003). Why don’t we see more translation of health promotion research to practice? Rethinking the efficacy-to effectiveness transition. American Journal of Public Health, 93(8), 1261–1267.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). The Importance of Program Evaluation [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning

Ryan, S. F., & Rosenberg, S. (2015). Nurse practitioners and political engagement: Findings from a nurse practitioner advanced practice focus group & national online survey.