At the state level, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) controls the prescription of different drugs. At the Arizona state, for instance, drugs are classified into five schedules with each specific mid-level practitioner assigned conditions under which he or she can prescribe such drugs to a patient. The purpose of such nature of control is to reduce any ethical issue that may arise during prescription. The aim of such control is also to reduce the level of the medical errors that can arise due to such prescription (“ Mid-Level Practitioners Authorization by State,” 2019).
The medical staff needs to understand that cases of medical errors are punishable by legal laws. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) laws guiding prescriptions, it is the legal obligation of medical staff to ensure that at all time, a patient receives a correct prescription. Further, it is a legal duty of the medical practitioner to ensure that a patient is safe. From this case, it is the legal obligation of the nurse to ensure that he or she prescribes the correct drug less he or she faces charges for medical negligence and wrong prescription. According to the ethical principle of Non-maleficence, it is the duty of the medical practitioner, in this case, to ensure that she or he protects the patient and avoid any harm. In this case, the patient is five years old. It implies that the drug prescribed for this patient can harm the patient. Ghazal, Saleem & Amlani (2014) assert that the medical practitioner, in this case, has thus failed to protect the patient against harm, thus acting unethically.
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According to Nikki Giovanni, "mistakes are a fact of life; it is the response to the error that counts.” It implies that the way the nurse reacts to the error is essential. The law that governs discloser and non-disclosure of prescription errors varies from one state to another. The nurse, in this case, for instance, can use Arizona State's disclosure and non-disclosure laws to handle the case. The laws in this state are clear that the appointed nurse practitioners (NP) participate in the hospital Patient Safety Program and report adverse events. In this case, therefore, the nurse is needed to ensure that she or he reports such prescription errors to the relevant authorities. The laws in Arizona state concerning this matter further demands that in case of any mistake of such nature, quality assurance, and other medical review committees share information and take any appropriate actions. The nurse in the scenario thus should disclose this error for a proper solution to help the patient ( Bates & Slgiht, 2014).
First, disclosing the error will be appropriate for this case. I will base my argument on legal and ethical rationales. On the right side, I will consider the fact that I risk facing legal consequences and ruining my career if the drugs harm the patient. It is my duty as a nurse to ensure the patient's safety. On the ethical view, I will consider the fact that I have the obligation to ensure that I do not harm the patent. It will also be immoral on my side to try and save my reputation at the expense of harming the patient.
A nurse must understand the current patient’s regimen, medical history, and allergies to make accurate and balance prescription (Anderson, 2013). A proper prescription must include the following, date; name, date of birth, and address. Further, it needs to include a nurse name and phone number. Also, physicians should use the drug’s name and its route of administration, either allowable substitutions or refills. According to American Association of Nurse Practitioners, a nurse need to use the identifiers for the right patient, right drug, right dosage, right time, and right route to minimize prescription mistakes.
References
Anderson, P. (2013). Medication errors: Don't let them happen to you. American Nurse Today , 8 (6), 23–28. Retrieved from https://americannursetoday.com/medication-errors-dont-let-them-happen-to-you-2/
Bates, D. W., & Slgiht, S. P. (2014). Medication errors: What is their impact?
Ghazal, L., Saleem, Z., & Amlani, G. (2014). A medical error: To disclose or not to disclose. Journal of Clinical Research and Bioethics, 5 (2), 1-3. http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2155-9627.1000174
Mid-Level Practitioners Authorization by State. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugreg/practioners/index.html
