APRN Role In Ethical Prescribing Discussion

APRN Role In Ethical Prescribing Discussion

Abstract

Advanced nurse practitioners have an important role to play in the process of prescription. In some states and regions, advanced nurse practitioners have the authority to prescribe medications and controlled substances and offer medical services. Their role in such cases involves ensuring patient safety as they use these prescribed medications and manage the complications that may result from using these drugs. In addition, they need to provide patients with information concerning drug use, give clear and proper instructions on drug use, and observe ethics in drug use. Follow-up care must be done for patients prescribed opioid medications to avoid addiction and possible substance abuse. It is therefore important for advanced nurse practitioners to observe a high degree of competence in patient assessment, diagnosis and prescription of appropriate and effective medication APRN Role In Ethical Prescribing Discussion.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

Roles and Responsibilities Played by Advanced Nurse Practitioners in Prescribing

Advanced nurse practitioners play an important role in ensuring quality patient care and patient safety in medication use. These highly qualified professionals have various degrees of authority in making medication prescriptions and controlled substances, medical devices and offering medical services (Osho,2019)APRN Role In Ethical Prescribing Discussion. They need to understand their ethical obligations in addition to knowing the legal implications of medication prescription, especially considering the ongoing opioid crisis. The nurses can make autonomous decisions based on patient assessment, diagnosis and interpretation of the test results.

Ethical prescription is an important aspect that needs to be considered by advanced practice nurses when prescribing medications. With the continuous increase in the number of patients with lifestyle diseases and other infections, medication use has considerably increased. A person taking more medications is more likely to have a medication error (Duquesne University School of Nursing,2022)APRN Role In Ethical Prescribing Discussion. Advanced practice nurses, therefore, play a role in ethical prescription by examining each patient’s distinct needs before making a prescription.

Management of prescription errors is also an important role that advanced practicing nurses need to take into consideration. These errors can be life-threatening and must be managed with utmost care. The nurses should aim to prevent prescription errors by ensuring a proper evaluation and definition of the patient’s problem, determining the therapeutic objectives of the drug therapy and selecting an appropriate medication to manage the patient. The patient should also be provided with adequate information regarding the prescribed drug use. Some available tools, including prescribing Software and electronic drug references, should be used by the nurses to reduce prescription errors.

In cases of prescription errors, the nurses should be prompt in alleviating the harmful effects of the prescribed medication. They should explain to the patient how the error happened, explain the harmful effects of the error and give a step-by-step explanation of measures that will be taken to ensure that such errors do not occur in future. In such cases, monitoring the patient is vital before, during and after administering the medication antidote.

The opioid crisis has resulted in a drug addiction epidemic, which has claimed thousands of lives in many parts of the world. As much as advanced practice nurses have autonomy in medication prescriptions, and some states even legally authorize them to prescribe controlled substances such as opioid pain killers, care should be taken in prescribing and administering these drugs (Koienga & Wilkinson, 2017)APRN Role In Ethical Prescribing Discussion. Before prescribing and administering the drugs, advanced practice nurses need to conduct a comprehensive pain assessment and probe the patient for past efforts to manage the pain, examine a range of treatment options besides the use of opioids and educate the patient on the risks associated with opioid use. A vigilant follow-up should be conducted afterwards to mitigate possible abuse of the drugs and prevent cases of addiction.

Advanced nurse practitioners are in a better position to ensure medication safety by aligning practice, developing policies and conducting research to optimize treatment and minimize adverse drug events. Such policies also ensure the safe use of pain medications and minimize the risk of opioid use. Introducing policies and guidelines regarding medication safety provide proper channels for addressing issues that may arise from prescription errors and inappropriate use of pain medications. As a result, patient safety is observed in all stages of prescription APRN Role In Ethical Prescribing Discussion.

References

Duquesne University School of Nursing. 2022. APRN’s Role in Ethical Prescribing | Duquesne University. [online] Available at: <https://onlinenursing.duq.edu/blog/aprns-role-responsibility-ethical-prescribing/> [Accessed 2 July 2022].

Osho, Y. (2019). The Role of the Advanced Nurse Practitioner. Retrieved 2 July 2022, from https://www.independentnurse.co.uk/blogs-article/the-role-of-the-advanced-nurse-practitioner/213167/

Kooienga, S., & Wilkinson, J. (2017). RN Prescribing: An Expanded Role for Nursing. Nursing Forum, 52(1), 3-11. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12159 APRN Role In Ethical Prescribing Discussion