Health Medical Homework Help

• 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.

Judith Smith

St. Thomas University

Discussion 1

What separates a regular registered nurse, and an advanced nurse practitioner is that the advanced nurse practitioner can prescribe medication and diagnose a patient. An advanced nurse practitioner has the knowledge and evidence-based practice when it comes to prescribing medication to a patient. To prescribe the correct medication, the advanced nurse practitioner must first assess the patient and do any diagnostic testing that has to be performed so that they will be able to come up with the correct diagnosis for the patient. In this way, they would be able to treat the patient properly.
When it comes to prescribing medication, there are roles and responsibilities that the advanced nurse practitioners must adhere to. An advanced nurse practitioner must be very certain about the patient diagnosis and the class of drugs that they will prescribe. They have the responsibility of gathering all the pertinent information about the patient, such as their weight, height, age, and if they have any allergies to drugs. These are all important when it comes to prescribing medication to a patient.
Before a medication is prescribed, the advanced practice nurse’s role is to consider some factors such as variations in action, side effects, interactions, ease, storage needs, route of administration, effectiveness, and cost. If this is not done correctly and the wrong drugs are given or prepared incorrectly, then this can lead to serious consequences (Arcangelo et al., 2017, p. 7).
FNPs have absolute legal practice jurisdiction, including prescriptive authority, in 22 states and the District of Columbia. In the remaining states, FNPs must either collaborate with a physician or complete a probationary period before practicing and prescribing. To ensure that patients are protected from injury, FNPs and other providers with the legal authority to prescribe must obey ethical guidelines (Duquesne University, 2020).
Advanced nurse practitioners have the role and responsibility to always further their education when it comes to medications. There are new medications that are being developed now and then, and the nurse practitioner must be very knowledgeable about the new drugs before deciding to prescribe them. An advanced nurse practitioner should collaborate with the doctors as well when they feel unsure about certain prescriptions. There is nothing to be a shame of when asking questions because this can save a life.
In the medical field, it’s always a learning game. The medical field never stays stagnant there is always new things coming up such as equipment, medication, tests, and certain way to do a procedure just to name a few. You learn something new each day. A nurse practitioner’s role is also requiring them to be very committed and being very involved when it comes to taking care of patients. Advance nurse practitioners are highly respected and are considered leaders. I say this because they fill the spot of a lot of working doctors that are not able to give the patients the time that they need to heal. The advance practiced nurse is responsible for patients that are in the hospital, schools, communities, nursing homes, and even jail just to name a few.
It is the Advance nurse practitioner’s responsibility to abide by ethics when it comes to prescribing medication. Patients who seek care, are depending on the nurse to prescribe them something that they think is a cure. Patients may feel that they know what they need, and this can bring a lot of stress and pressure on the nurse practitioner to prescribe. The nurse would have to be stern and educate the patient on the reason you can’t prescribe such medications (Arcangelo et al., 2017, p. 7).

References

Arcangelo, V. P., Peterson, A. M., Wilbur, V. F., & Reinhold, J. A. (2017). Pharmacotherapeutics for advanced practice: a practical approach. Wolters Kluwer.

Duquesne University. (2020, May 20). APRN’s Role in Ethical Prescribing: Duquesne University. Duquesne University School of Nursing. https://onlinenursing.duq.edu/blog/aprns-role-resp…