Posted: September 2nd, 2022

Advanced Pharmacology

Advanced Pharmacology
Nurses are responsible for the lives of the patients they handle every day. Despite the complexity of diagnosis, prescription and providing timely and accurate treatment, nurses must ensure the safety of patients. One of the ways of enhancing safety is to prescribe the right medication. When the wrong medication is prescribed a nurse is responsible to disclose the error in line with the medical code of ethics (Koehn, Ebright & Draucker, 2016). Nurses should also embrace strategies that are useful in minimizing the level of risk while prescribing medication. The accurate prescription will enhance the safety of patients, improve patient outcomes and boost their satisfaction.
Ethical and Legal Implications
Nurses have a role to promote the safety of patients in all the treatment procedures. Nurses are required to open up about the medical error they have made. In the selected scenario the patient can launch a lawsuit against the nurse. The nurse can also be sued and fined if the patient dies or severely becomes sick. It is ethical to inform the patient or the guardian of the medical error (Koehn, Ebright & Draucker, 2016). The nurse should uphold the principle of doing no harm to patients and thus all attempts should be made to reduce the damage that can be caused by the medication. On the other hand, the patient or guardian should promote good practice by reporting the incidence (Koehn, Ebright & Draucker, 2016). The pharmacist is also responsible since he or she did not confirm the medication before giving it to the patient. Confirmation would have revealed that the medication is for an adult, not a child.
Disclosure and Non-disclosure
The incidence should be disclosed to the various relevant stakeholders involved in the scenario. The patient should be notified to ensure they return the drug and take further assessments to identify any negative effect of the drug (Ling, Yu & Guo, 2019). The supervisors should also be notified. The disclosure should be made in line with beneficence principles which requires nurses to always promote good. If the incidence is not reported the patient may take the medication for a longer time and thus lead to severe complications. The nurse also has the autonomy to act professionally to enhance the safety of a patient. If the nurse is found to have been aware of the incidence and never disclosed the information severe steps can be taken including imprisonment (Ling, Yu & Guo, 2019). The state laws also require nurses to ensure the patients are safe by providing medication that will not cause any possible complications. The Drug Control Act in Virginia State requires that drugs should be controlled to avoid the harm they can cause on the patients or recipients.
Decision-making Strategies
When a medical error has occurred one of the safest routes to take is to disclose the information to avoid further harm. One of the strategies in decision-making is to take a stand. The decision involves taking personal responsibility for the incidence and reporting the scenario with a mission to prevent harm (Ling, Yu & Guo, 2019). The decision to never compromise the standards of treatment will be useful in making the decision. The focus of decision-making should be to uphold the ethical code of conduct while focusing on the safety of a patient.
The decision-making should be based on the accountability of a nurse to the patient. The life of a patient is in the hands of a nurse during the treatment period. It is responsibility of a nurse to remain accountable for the actions and decisions made (Pérez, Fuentes & García, 2019). The decision to remain accountable will help the nurse to confidently report the medical error promptly. It will also be crucial since it will provide information that will determine the steps to be taken.
Writing Prescriptions
The process of writing prescriptions involves identifying a patient with their full credentials and their health condition. The prescription will be based on a therapeutic goal. For example, a therapeutic goal can involve treatment, preventing or relieving a condition. Once the therapeutic goal is clear it is important to consider the non-pharmacological therapies that may be provided to a patient (Pérez, Fuentes & García, 2019). The medication should be provided while giving instructions and warnings. The next step is to evaluate the progress and determine whether to discontinue the drug or not. The prescription should minimize medical errors by using computer-generated scripts, confirming the age of a patient, allergic reactions, and medical history (Pérez, Fuentes & García, 2019). The considerations will ensure that the drug interactions will assist in enhancing the effectiveness of the drug.
Conclusion
Pharmacology requires nurses to always make elaborate considerations while prescribing medication. The life of patients is in the life of nurses. It is thus important to make the right steps to prevent medical errors from occurring. However, when they occur the ethical code of conduct requires nurses to uphold beneficence and do no harm principle. The principle compels them to remain accountable to the patients. It is also their responsibility to report such incidences to prevent further harm to patients. Medical errors, however, can be prevented using computer-generated scripts, confirming patient allergies and drug interactions.

References
Koehn, A. R., Ebright, P. R., & Draucker, C. B. (2016). Nurses’ experiences with errors in nursing. Nursing Outlook, 64(6), 566-574.
Ling, D. L., Yu, H. J., & Guo, H. L. (2019). Truth-telling, decision-making, and ethics among cancer patients in nursing practice in China. Nursing Ethics, 26(4), 1000-1008.
Pérez, C. D., Fuentes, P. S., & García, E. J. (2019). Addressing medical errors: an intervention protocol for nursing professionals. Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP, 53.

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Tags: Advanced Pharmacology