• You should respond to your peers by extending, refuting/correcting, or adding additional nuance to their posts.
• All replies must be constructive and use literature where possible.

Jessica Dedge

NUR-600-AP4 Week 1 Discussion- Main Post

Advanced practice nurses (APNs) are nurses who have completed advanced education, training, and clinical practice requirements, which allows them to function as a provider. Advanced practice nurses offer services to patients, ranging from primary and preventive care to women’s health, anesthesia, and mental health. Due to the severe shortage of physicians in the United States, the need for advanced practice nurses is on the rise. Advanced practice nurses “provide primary, acute, and specialty health care across the lifespan through assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of illnesses and injuries” (American Nurses Association, 2020, para. 3). A large part of how advanced practice nurses treat their patients lies in the prescription of medication.

According to (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021), 73.9% of patients seen by providers in office settings in the United States are given prescription medications and 79.5% receive medications in hospital emergency departments. It is essential that prescribers possess the best and most up-to-date knowledge about the principles of prescribing medications. When developing a treatment plan for a patient that involves drug therapy, the practitioner prescribing the medications has a duty to consider the best and safest way to achieve the goal of safe, appropriative, and effective medication therapy (Arcangelo, Peterson, Wilbur, & Reinhold, 2017). Some of the aspects that should be considered by the provider when prescribing medications to a patient are drug safety, product safeguards, the practitioner’s role and responsibilities, the process of prescribing medications, how to write the prescription, as well as measures that should be used to follow-up after the treatment is initiated (Arcangelo, Peterson, Wilbur, & Reinhold, 2017).

When prescribing medications to patients, the practitioner is essentially giving consent and authorization for the patient to take the medication. Prior to initiating drug therapy for a patient, the practitioner has the responsibility of gathering relevant data by conducting a thorough history and physical examination for the patient. After collecting the appropriate data and evaluating it, a diagnosis or diagnoses should be determined. Once a diagnosis is given, then a treatment plan may begin to be developed by the practitioner (Arcangelo, Peterson, Wilbur, & Reinhold, 2017). Great responsibility lies in the prescribing of medications and therefore, it should be taken very seriously by the practitioner. After conducting a risk-benefit analysis for each drug chosen for treatment, the practitioner should base their decision for treatments on thorough, accurate, and current knowledge of the patient’s diagnosis/diagnoses, as well as the various types of treatment available. Ethical considerations also play a part in the task of choosing medications for treatment. As always patient education is of utmost importance. Care provided should always be patient-centered and patients have the right to understand their conditions and disease processes, as well as the risks and benefits of each treatment option. After being given all of the accurate information, the patient should then be allowed to make a decision that they feel is best for them and their families. Allowing the patient to be a part of their plan of care and treatment plan allows them to feel a sense of control in a situation where they typically have very little control.

References

American Nurses Association. (2020). Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN). Retrieved from American Nurses Association: https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/workf…

Arcangelo, V., Peterson, A., Wilbur, V., & Reinhold, J. (2017). Pharmacotherapeutics for Advanced Practice: A Practical Approach (Fourth ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, March). Therapeutic Drug Use. Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/drug-use-therapeu…