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NR 506 Week 2: Organizational Change and Ethical-Legal
Influences in Advanced Practice Nursing Case Study
Case Study Questions:
1. What are the potential ethical and legal implications for each of the following
practice members?
In the case study presented, there are both ethical and legal implications for all members of the
interdisciplinary team involved. The medical assistant has an ethical duty to practice
nonmaleficence to each patient. This includes only participating in behaviors that “do no harm”
in patient care. Medical assistants are responsible for patient record keeping and collection of
patient data and lab specimens, in most primary care settings. Legally, all medical assistants
must be overseen in a hierarchy-fashion by either a nurse practitioner or attending physician,
respective to individual state laws. In the case study, the medical assistant, Stephanie, acted
outside of her scope of practice both ethically and legally. Stephanie was unethical because she
made a medical decision to prescribe Mrs. Smith amoxicillin without the appropriate medical or
nursing training, of which could have caused unwanted patient harm resulting in maleficence to
the patient (ex. allergic reaction, inappropriate dose, adverse event, etc.). Stephanie was entirely
beyond legal practice boundaries because she falsified a nurse practitioner’s identity, likely
forged the APRN’s signature for the script, and she used the nurse practitioner’s license to
misuse the power of diagnostic and prescriptive authority to treat Mrs. Smith. For these
behaviors, Stephanie could potentially experience the following consequences: suspension or
revocation of her license to practice as a medical assistant, monetary fines, jail time, and the
inability practice as a medical assistant in additional states (Office of Professional Licensure and
Certification, 2017).
The nurse practitioner would also be at fault and has ethical and legal implications for
malpractice. The nurse practitioner has ethical implications in the situation because justice was
not practiced. Justice pertains to the notion that all patient are treated equally and fairly. The
nurse practitioner failed to oversee the actions of the medical assistant to ensure that patient care
was being performed fairly and within reason. Legally, it is the nurse practitioner’s wrong-doing
that she did not supervise the actions of the medical assistant. If the nurse practitioner had
evaluated and verified the prescription renewal requests per the practice’s protocols as should
have been completed for all of the patients, perhaps the medical assistant’s actions could have
been prevented. Legal implications for the nurse practitioner include liability for negligent
supervision (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, 2017).
This study source was downloaded by 100000839311665 from CourseHero.com on 02-02-2022 14:43:36 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/67527572/NR-506-Week-2docx/
NR 506 Week 2: Organizational Change and Ethical-Legal
Influences in Advanced Practice Nursing Case Study
Case Study Questions:
1. What are the potential ethical and legal implications for each of the following
practice members?
In the case study presented, there are both ethical and legal implications for all members of the
interdisciplinary team involved. The medical assistant has an ethical duty to practice
nonmaleficence to each patient. This includes only participating in behaviors that “do no harm”
in patient care. Medical assistants are responsible for patient record keeping and collection of
patient data and lab specimens, in most primary care settings. Legally, all medical assistants
must be overseen in a hierarchy-fashion by either a nurse practitioner or attending physician,
respective to individual state laws. In the case study, the medical assistant, Stephanie, acted
outside of her scope of practice both ethically and legally. Stephanie was unethical because she
made a medical decision to prescribe Mrs. Smith amoxicillin without the appropriate medical or
nursing training, of which could have caused unwanted patient harm resulting in maleficence to
the patient (ex. allergic reaction, inappropriate dose, adverse event, etc.). Stephanie was entirely
beyond legal practice boundaries because she falsified a nurse practitioner’s identity, likely
forged the APRN’s signature for the script, and she used the nurse practitioner’s license to
misuse the power of diagnostic and prescriptive authority to treat Mrs. Smith. For these
behaviors, Stephanie could potentially experience the following consequences: suspension or
revocation of her license to practice as a medical assistant, monetary fines, jail time, and the
inability practice as a medical assistant in additional states (Office of Professional Licensure and
Certification, 2017).
The nurse practitioner would also be at fault and has ethical and legal implications for
malpractice. The nurse practitioner has ethical implications in the situation because justice was
not practiced. Justice pertains to the notion that all patient are treated equally and fairly. The
nurse practitioner failed to oversee the actions of the medical assistant to ensure that patient care
was being performed fairly and within reason. Legally, it is the nurse practitioner’s wrong-doing
that she did not supervise the actions of the medical assistant. If the nurse practitioner had
evaluated and verified the prescription renewal requests per the practice’s protocols as should
have been completed for all of the patients, perhaps the medical assistant’s actions could have
been prevented. Legal implications for the nurse practitioner include liability for negligent
supervision (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, 2017).
This study source was downloaded by 100000839311665 from CourseHero.com on 02-02-2022 14:43:36 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/67527572/NR-506-Week-2docx/
