EthicalChallenges for Practicing NPs
EthicalChallenges for Practicing NPs
Anethical challenge can be defined as a situation in which there is adecision to make between two courses of action, neither of whichsettles the situation in an ethically accepted standard. A number ofpatients are getting healthcare services from nurse practitioners(NPs) as well as physician assistants (PAs). In the process ofattending to patients, nurses are often faced with a myriad ofethical issues in their endeavors to balance quality and the demandsof their patients (Sullivan-Marx et al., 2010).
Acommon ethical challenge most nurse practitioners have beenconfronted with is the question of whether to treat their familymembers or not. This issue places the NPs in an ethical dilemma, andthe approach would vary from one practitioner to another. Whereassome practitioners would do a prescription without any delay, otherswould strictly observe a no family and friends guideline (Leila etal., 2013). It is imperative to note that in the case where a nursehas family and friendly ties to the patients, the guidelines shouldnot be relaxed when an emergency occurs. An ethical dilemma in thiscase regards the ABC’s mother attending to her daughter given theurgency of the matter despite the fact that she is not her regularphysician. Moreover, her mother gives in to her request forantibiotics. This is regarded as an unethical practice from hermother as the nurse practitioner (Vidal et al., 2015).
Thelegality of treating friends and family vary from state to state.However, in most states, the law is still open on this matter therebygiving the providers an unclear situation. In as much as it istechnically legal, the practitioners are not encouraged to provideprescriptions for their family and friends. In my state, forinstance, it is considered an unethical for practitioners to make aprescription of controlled substances to friends and relatives(Brenda et al., 2011).
References
Brenda.E. S., Steven. W. & Lisa. M.S. (2011). Too Little? Too Much?Primary Care Physicians’ Views on US Health Care. A Brief Report.JAMAInternal Medicine Journal, 171,1582-1585.
Leila,A., Soodabeth, J., Khorshid, V., & Alireza, B. (2013). Nursingethics priorities from nurses aspects: A national study. Journalof Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, 6(3), 54-63.
Sullivan-Marx,E., & McGivem, D. (2010). Nursepractitioners: The evolution and future of advanced practice, FifthEdition.New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Vidal,E., Silva, V., Santos, M., & Jacinto, A. (2015). Why MedicalSchools Are Tolerant of Unethical Behavior. AnnFam Med,13(2), 176-180.