Ethical-Legal influences in APN
The logical cause of action is to ensure that Mrs. Smith health is taken into consideration first. I would begin by asking Mrs. Smith to stop taking the amoxicillin because this can contribute to antibiotic resistance(Ventola, 2015). The study shows that the use of the antibiotic for wrong reasons can contribute to resistance. Antibiotics are designed by targeting a crucial metabolic or any other pathway that is essential for the survival of the pathogen(Ni et al., 2015). This includes targeting an enzyme involved in the synthesis of important raw material, for example, folic acid(Bilinski et al., 2016). The over the use of an antibiotic can cause the development of an alternative pathway other than the one being targeted by the antibiotics. This often results in the survival of the pathogen in the presence of the drug, or resistance.
I would ask Mrs. Smith also to undertake some medical test to determine the actual cause of a cough. Additionally, I would also ask Mrs. Smith to explain her conversation with Stephanie. I would ask Mrs. Smith the diagnosis and treatment provided by Stephanie. I would then call Stephanie in a separate room and ask her to explain everything. It is quite clear that Stephanie was wrong using my name to provide medication to Mrs. Smith using my name. Additionally, I would ask Stephanie to explain in detail the diagnosis and treatment she provided to the patients and how she arrived at providing Mrs. Smith with amoxicillin. It will be key to determine if Stephanie story correlates with that of Mrs. Smith. It would also be important to ask Stephanie if she has ever done this before with other patients. I would then Ask Stephanie not to repeat the same mistakes again. (Bilinski et al., 2016)
Reference
Bilinski, J., Robak, K., Peric, Z., Marchel, H., Karakulska-Prystupiuk, E., & Halaburda, K. et al. (2016). Impact of Gut Colonization by Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria on the Outcomes of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Retrospective, Single-Center Study. Biology Of Blood And Marrow Transplantation, 22(6), 1087-1093. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbmt.2016.02.009
Ni, W., Cai, X., Wei, C., Di, X., Cui, J., Wang, R., & Liu, Y. (2015). Efficacy of polymyxins in the treatment of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Brazilian Journal Of Infectious Diseases, 19(2), 170-180. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjid.2014.12.004
Ventola, C. (2015). The Antibiotic Resistance Crisis: Part 1: Causes and Threats. PubMed Central (PMC). Retrieved 21 March 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4378521/
