COURSE  

NR506 Healthcare Policy and Leadership

Preparing the Discussion

You are a family nurse practitioner employed in a busy primary care office. The providers in the group include one physician and three nurse practitioners. The back office staff includes eight medical assistants who assist with patient care as well as filing, answering calls from patients, processing laboratory results and taking prescription renewal requests from patients and pharmacies. Stephanie, a medical assistant, has worked in the practice for 10 years and is very proficient at her job. She knows almost every patient in the practice, and has an excellent rapport with all of the providers.

Mrs. Smith was seen today in the office for an annual physical. Her last appointment was a year ago for the same reason. During this visit, Mrs. Smith brought an empty bottle of amoxicillin with her and asked if she could have a refill. You noted the patient’s name on the label, and the date on the bottle was 1 week ago. You also noted your name printed on the label as the prescriber. The patient admitted that she called last week concerned about her cough and spoke to Stephanie. You do not recall having discussed this patient with Stephanie nor do the other providers in the practice.

Preparing the Discussion

You are a family nurse practitioner employed in a busy primary care office. The providers in the group include one physician and three nurse practitioners. The back office staff includes eight medical assistants who assist with patient care as well as filing, answering calls from patients, processing laboratory results and taking prescription renewal requests from patients and pharmacies. Stephanie, a medical assistant, has worked in the practice for 10 years and is very proficient at her job. She knows almost every patient in the practice, and has an excellent rapport with all of the providers.

Mrs. Smith was seen today in the office for an annual physical. Her last appointment was a year ago for the same reason. During this visit, Mrs. Smith brought an empty bottle of amoxicillin with her and asked if she could have a refill. You noted the patient’s name on the label, and the date on the bottle was 1 week ago. You also noted your name printed on the label as the prescriber. The patient admitted that she called last week concerned about her cough and spoke to Stephanie. You do not recall having discussed this patient with Stephanie nor do the other providers in the practice.

Case Study Questions: 

1. What are the potential ethical and legal implications for each of the following practice members?
   • Medical assistant
   • Nurse Practitioner
   • Medical Director
   • Practice
2. What strategies would you implement to prevent further episodes of potentially illegal behavior?
3. What leadership qualities would you apply to effect a positive change in the practice?  Be thinking about the culture of the practice.
4. A scholarly resource must be used for EACH discussion question each week

SOLUTION 

1. What are the potential ethical and legal implications for each of the following practice members?
   • Medical assistant

Each patient owes it to the medical assistant to act in a manner that does not hurt them. For instance, they must avoid activities that might endanger the patients under their supervision. In most primary care settings, medical assistants are in charge of keeping track of patients’ medical histories and collecting patient data and test specimens (Nittari et al., 2020). Every medical assistant must answer directly to a nurse practitioner or doctor by law. In the case study, Stephanie, the medical assistant, transgressed both the law and ethical standards. Stephanie prescribed amoxicillin to Mrs. Smith without the appropriate medical or nursing qualifications, which was unethical and might have caused patient harm and malevolence. Since Stephanie pretended to be a nurse practitioner, used the APRN’s license without authorization, and presumably falsified the APRN’s signature on the prescription, Stephanie’s treatment of Mrs. Smith was entirely unlawful. Stephanie can have her medical assistant license suspended due to her behavior.……..please click the icon below to access entire solution at $10