Role Of Nurse Practitioners In Prescribing Medication Discussion
Advanced nurse practitioners are recognized as registered nurse professionals who meet the nursing professional requirements and standards and participate in the healthcare industry by offering clinical services on an advanced level (Kilańska et al., 2022)Role Of Nurse Practitioners In Prescribing Medication Discussion. In addition to being educated in clinical practice, the advanced nurse practitioners received extra training regarding looking after patients. Based on their training and qualification, advanced nurse practitioners make decisions that entail assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients. They can also make medical prescriptions for patients, discharge or refer them to another specialist. This paper provides a detailed analysis of advanced nurse practitioners’ roles and responsibilities in prescribing medication.
The evolution of nursing professionals has seen expanding role of nurse practitioners to include more aspects entailed in primary care delivery, which were exclusively designated for the physicians in the past. With their high level of clinical knowledge and training, advanced nurse practitioners play a crucial role in ensuring patients have access to care. According to Haririan et al. (2022), advanced nurse practitioners possess authority like primary care physicians. This means that the nurses can independently participate in prescribing medication. However, in the United States, there are differences between states. While in some states, the nurses have full powers to prescribe medications, others have limited this prescriptive mandate hence the nurses can only prescribe under supervision Role Of Nurse Practitioners In Prescribing Medication Discussion.
The role and responsibilities of advanced nurse practitioners have become invaluable, more so in the wake of physicians and nurse shortages hence actively participating in medication prescription. This change in role and responsibilities has allowed patients to receive timely care. ANPs have become autonomous regarding making decisions based on their assessment, diagnosis and test interpretation, hence prescribing the appropriate medication. Additionally, as they are close to patients, ANPs can develop positive nurse-patient relations hence being integral players in patient education concerning medication issues (Gionfriddo et al., 2021)Role Of Nurse Practitioners In Prescribing Medication Discussion. They actively liaise with the patients in managing their medications. This includes teaching them dosage, when and how to take medicine, i.e. oral, application etc., possible side effects aligned with the prescribed medication, and self-administration procedures. Additionally, they communicate with patients on when to visit for a refill.
In addition to educating the patients, ANPs review previous medication history before prescribing new medication. This allows them to go through patient treatment, lab results, allergies and contraindications hence being responsible for ensuring proper medication are drawn up and in the correct dosage, to the right patient, on the right route and time. Moreover, it is the role of the ANPs to ensure the medications are mixed to the right volume, such as mixing two vials, such as the case of insulin. With diversity and uniqueness among the patients and their medication needs, it is the responsibility of the nurses to administer and document medications that were given via common routes (oral and topical) and the ones for parenteral routes (intravenous, subcutaneous or intramuscular)Role Of Nurse Practitioners In Prescribing Medication Discussion. Gionfriddo et al. (2021) regarded medication as a critical stage in patient care as it defined the rate and success of care delivery. ANPs participate in medical reconciliation, disposing unused medication following the agency policy and ensuring the medication orders are appropriate regarding patient needs.
Advanced nurse practitioners have become indispensable medical team and care delivery professionals. They collaborate with other professionals to impact patients in the best way possible in terms of care delivery and play a key role in attending to patients’ medication prescription needs. While in some states in the US, their medication prescription may be limited, their role and responsibility in drug prescription remain integral to their contribution. Aligned with their higher-level training and clinical knowledge, their prescription roles entail ensuring patients are given the proper medication and right dosage at the right time and route Role Of Nurse Practitioners In Prescribing Medication Discussion.
References
Gionfriddo, M. R., Duboski, V., Middernacht, A., Kern, M. S., Graham, J., & Wright, E. A. (2021). A mixed methods evaluation of medication reconciliation in the primary care setting. PLoS One, 16(12)https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260882
Haririan, H., Deniz, M. S., Hassankhani, H., Porter, J. E., & Wytenbroek, L. (2022). Nurses, physicians and patients’ knowledge and attitudes about nurse prescribing. BMC Nursing, 21, 1-8. doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-022-00888-0
Kilańska, D., Lipert, A., Guzek, M., Engelseth, P., Marczak, M., Sienkiewicz, K., & Kozłowski, R. (2022). Increased accessibility to primary healthcare due to nurse prescribing of medicines. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(1), 292. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010292 Role Of Nurse Practitioners In Prescribing Medication Discussion