NURS – 6521N Week 1: Fundamental Pharmacotherapeutic Concepts and Ethical/Legal Aspects of Prescription

NURS – 6521N Week 1: Fundamental Pharmacotherapeutic Concepts and Ethical/Legal Aspects of Prescription

What is the mechanism of action of beta-blockers? How do antibiotics specifically affect targeted bacteria? What impact does an antidepressant have on blood circulation?

Queries of this nature pertain to the underlying processes of pharmacotherapeutics, namely pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. For advanced practice nurses, a comprehensive grasp of these foundational pharmacotherapeutic principles is vital to ensure the safety and efficacy of the prescription drugs recommended for patient treatment and symptom management. Furthermore, as advanced practice nurses, adhering to the ethical and legal standards governing drug prescription is crucial to enhance patient safety.

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This week, you will delve into factors influencing a patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes, evaluating personalized care plans based on these influencing factors and patient history. You will also scrutinize the ethical and legal ramifications of drug prescription, encompassing disclosure and nondisclosure practices, and examine prescription-writing procedures to mitigate medication errors.

Educational Goals

Students will:

Scrutinize factors influencing pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes in patients.
Assess patient characteristics and medical history to devise tailored care plans.
Evaluate ethical and legal considerations associated with drug prescription.
Analyze ethical and legal practices related to drug prescription.
Explore approaches to addressing disclosure and nondisclosure.
Justify strategies for advanced practice nurses to inform prescription drug decisions.
Analyze the prescription-writing process to prevent medication errors.

Learning Resources

Compulsory Readings (expand/collapse)

Compulsory Multimedia (expand/collapse)

Discussion: Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics

For advanced practice nurses assisting physicians in diagnosing and treating disorders, it is imperative to not only comprehend the impact of disorders on the body but also the influence of drug treatments. The interactions between drugs and the body can be elucidated through pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.

Pharmacokinetics delineates how the body processes drugs through absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, while pharmacodynamics elucidates the effects of drugs on the body.

DNP-815A Reflective Analysis Case Report Component Paper

Image Credit: Getty Images/Ingram Publishing

When selecting drugs and determining dosages for patients, it is crucial to consider individual patient factors that may affect their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes. These patient-specific factors encompass genetic makeup, gender, ethnicity, age, lifestyle choices (e.g., diet, nutrition, smoking, alcohol, illicit drug use), and potential physiological changes due to underlying diseases.

In this discussion, you will reflect on a patient case from your recent clinical experiences and contemplate how the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes may have influenced their response to a prescribed drug.

Preparation

Review the Resources for this module and reflect on the principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
Contemplate your experiences, observations, or clinical practices from the past five years and ponder how pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic factors may have impacted a patient’s expected response to a drug.
Consider the various factors that could have influenced the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes, including genetics (including pharmacogenetics), gender, ethnicity, age, lifestyle, and potential pathophysiological changes resulting from a medical condition.
Construct a personalized care plan, taking into account these influencing factors and the patient’s history, within the context of your case study.

By the third day of Week 1

Share a description of a patient case from your recent experiences, observations, or clinical practice within the past five years. Subsequently, expound upon the factors that might have influenced the patient’s pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes. Conclusively, elucidate the intricacies of the personalized care plan that you would formulate based on the influencing factors and the patient’s history in your case. Be precise and furnish concrete examples.
By the sixth day of Week 1

Read a selection of your peers’ responses and engage in discussions with at least two of your peers on two different days. Provide additional insights into patient factors that could potentially affect the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes of the patients they describe. Furthermore, contemplate how the personalized care plan might require modifications if the patient’s age or if the patient has a concurrent condition such as renal failure, heart failure, or liver failure.

Note: For this discussion, you are required to submit your initial post before gaining access to your peers’ contributions. To begin, select the “Post to Discussion Question” link, followed by “Create Thread.” Once submitted, posts cannot be edited or deleted, and anonymous posting is not allowed. Prior to submitting, review your post carefully.

Submission and Evaluation Information
Evaluation Criteria

To access the evaluation criteria:

Week 1 Discussion Evaluation Criteria

Submit Your Assignment by the Third Day of Week 1 and Respond by the Sixth Day of Week 1

To participate in this Assignment:

Week 1 Discussion

Task: Ethical and Legal Implications of Drug Prescription

What type of medication should you recommend based on the patient’s diagnosis? What is the appropriate dosage for the patient? How frequently should the medication be administered? Under what circumstances should the medication be withheld? Are there specific patient attributes that might complicate medication intake? Is it suitable to prescribe this medication to the patient? How might varying state regulations impact the prescription of this medication to the patient?

These are some of the considerations that come into play when formulating a treatment plan for a patient.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Caiaimage

As an advanced practice nurse involved in prescribing medications, you bear the responsibility for people’s well-being every day. Patients and their families often place their trust in you due to your professional standing. This trust endows you with power and responsibility, as well as an ethical and legal obligation to “do no harm.” It is paramount to be cognizant of the current professional, legal, and ethical standards applicable to advanced practice nurses with prescribing authority. Additionally, ensuring that treatment plans and medication prescription align with state regulations is essential. Understanding how these regulations may impact the prescription of specific medications in different states can have a profound effect on a patient’s treatment plan. In this assignment, you will explore the ethical and legal implications of various scenarios and contemplate appropriate responses.

Preparation

Examine the resources provided for this module and contemplate the legal and ethical considerations concerning the prescription of medications, including disclosure and nondisclosure.
Review the scenario assigned by your instructor for this assignment.
Research the specific laws and standards governing medication prescription and addressing medication errors in your state or region, and factor in this information as you review the scenario provided by your instructor.
Deliberate on the ethical and legal consequences of the scenario for all stakeholders involved, including the prescriber, pharmacist, patient, and patient’s family.
Ponder two strategies that you, as an advanced practice nurse, would employ to steer your ethically and legally responsible decision-making in this scenario, including your approach to disclosing any medication errors.

By the seventh day of Week 1

Compose a 2- to 3-page paper addressing the following:

Elaborate on the ethical and legal implications of the scenario you have chosen for all parties involved, such as the prescriber, pharmacist, patient, and patient’s family.
Describe strategies for addressing disclosure and nondisclosure as identified in the scenario you have chosen, making reference to the specific laws in your state.
Explain two strategies that you, as an advanced practice nurse, would employ to guide your decision-making in this scenario, including whether you would disclose any errors. Justify your rationale.
Describe the process of prescription writing, incorporating strategies to minimize medication errors.

Reminder:

The College of Nursing mandates that all submitted papers include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The College of Nursing Writing Template with Instructions, available at the Walden Writing Center (https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general#s-lg-box-20293632), offers an example of these required elements. All submitted papers must adhere to this formatting.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed assignment for assessment and grading, follow these steps:

Save your assignment with the following naming convention: “WK1Assgn+lastname+firstname.(extension).”
Review the grading criteria for the assignment by clicking on the “Week 1 Assignment Rubric.”
Access the assignment link for Week 1. You will also have the option to view the rubric for grading criteria from this location.
From the “Attach File” area, click the “Browse My Computer” button. Locate the document saved as “WK1Assgn+lastname+firstname.(extension)” and click “Open.”
If applicable, check the box for “I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database” in the Plagiarism Tools section.
Click the “Submit” button to complete your submission.

Grading Criteria

To access the grading criteria:

Week 1 Assignment Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity

To check your assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 1 assignment draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by the Seventh Day of Week 1

To participate in this assignment:

Week 1 Assignment