The Ethical and Legalities of Medication Disclosure Error
In nursing, it is quite uncommon that patients are sometimes exposed to risks of particular harms. Such harms may be erroneous and unintentional. The errors in a sense may be unpredictable and a proper informed consent may not be easily obtained. Some prescription errors might not necessarily materialize to harm while others could be fatal. This paper is going to look into the ethical and legalities of prescription disclosure error by a nurse and the proper way to write a prescription while minimizing the possibility of a nurse running into an error.
When an error occurs during the process of prescribing medication, the biggest dilemma faced by nurses is whether or not to disclose the error to the patient. It is always ethical as a nurse to do the right thing, and in this case it will mean to disclose the error. This is because it will enhance the trust levels of your patients and they would be reassured in their overall care. The principle of beneficence correctly states that in the medical practice, a medical attendant should always perform at his or her best to prevent any possible errors (Lachman, 2007). Moreover, the principle of non-malfeasance suggests that an individual should not cause harm to oneself or others (Lachman, 2007). These two principles are among many in the code of conducts that nurses should adhere to.
According to the federal law, a patient - as a citizen of the country - is entitled to be protected by the bill of rights which demands full disclosure of any error during medication. Moreover, apart from just enhancing the trust levels of a patient, disclosure of error in drug prescription may also prevent unnecessary law suits on to the particular hospital. Laws in states such as New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, California, Nevada, Vermont, and Oregon have gone an extra mile and made it mandatory to disclose any unanticipated outcomes or errors to patients by medical attendants (Patient Safety Network, 2014). Furthermore, patients may be owed compensation for extra heath care cost or even lost wages in addition apology; which might be just the minimum recoveries.
As an advanced practice nurse if I make a mistake in the prescription, I would follow the code of conducts and disclose the error at all times; whether the error posses some harm or not. The disclosure of the errors will be stimulated by factors such as honesty, trust, accountability, and reducing the risk of malpractice. First and foremost, before the disclosure I will try to get rid of any barriers that may hinder the disclosure of errors to be made to the patient. These barriers include guilt, humiliation, professional repercussions, and even lack of anonymity. I would chose to call for a formal verbal apology; preferably a person-to-person conversation with the patient. I would then explain how the error occurred and possible ways to correct it, if possible.
Some of the common medication errors include drug product nomenclature, ambiguous designation on labels, illegible handwriting, inaccurate dosage calculation, labeling errors, just to name a few (Aronson, 2009). The best way of writing an error-free prescription should include the following tips: firstly, organize your workplace so that like looks neat and clean and create time to properly store the medicines. Always reduce distractions such as music and chatting when prescribing medication. Finally, ensure that you have the correct and complete prescription. Always beware of look-alike and sound-alike drugs at this point.
In conclusion, as an advanced practiced nurse, you encounter a number of medications errors in your profession. Literature and ethics strongly suggest that errors should be openly disclosed to patients. Unfortunately, the practice of disclosure is minimally practiced most probably because these cases are individual issues. Therefore, beyond the job duty of a nurse to the patient and to the hospital, nurses have a responsibility to themselves to practice honest and responsible nursing.
References
Aronson, J. (2009). Medication errors: what they are, how they happen, and how to avoid them. QJM, 102(8), 513-521. doi:10.1093/qjmed/hcp052
Lachman, V. D. (2007). Patient Safety: The Ethical Imperative. Ethics, Law, and Policy, 16(6), 401-403.
Patient Safety Network. (2014, August). Error Disclosure. Retrieved from (https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primers/primer/2/error-disclosure
