1 ), 74 – 81 H e a l t h M e d i c a l

The Role of APRNs in Prescribing

There are various roles of the APRNs in the safe prescription of drugs. One of them is establishing the need for administration of a specific drug. The professionals carries out diagnostic tests, interpret the results and make clinical decisions in regard to the prescription of a specific drug and the period as well as amounts required (Sánchez-Gómez et al 2019). The idea here is to ensure that there is correct drug prescription to avoid the unnecessary use of a drug or its underuse or overuse. The other role is the monitoring of the usage of drugs that have adverse side effects to ensure that they do not harm the patient. An example is the Opioids that are used for pain relieve but the overuse can lead to dependency (Jukiewicz et al, 2017). In this case the professionals monitor the usage of such drugs to makes sure that the patients do not overuse them. In this case, it is clear that the APRNs have the duty to ensure the appropriate usage of drugs.

There are several barriers that APRNs face in their practice. One of the barriers is the state regulations that may deny the nurses the ability to practice to their full extent (Peterson 2017). As a result, the state laws may prevent the nurses from having a prescriptive authority and thus placing an obstacle to them. Another barrier is hospital by-laws that may prevent APRNs from prescribing drugs (Peterson 2017). Other than the state and federal laws, healthcare institutions may have their own laws at the organizational level and thus preventing nurses from prescribing drugs. Also, the collaborative agreements with physicians may also impose a barrier on the APRNs and thus limiting their prescriptive authority (Peterson 2017). With such information in mind, it is evident that there are a number of issues that may prevent nurses from exercising their prescriptive authority.

References

Jukiewicz D., et al, (2017). Reviewing opioid use, monitoring, and legislature: Nursing perspectives, International Journal of Nursing Sciences, Volume 4, Issue 4,Pages 430-436. Retrieved from https:// M. et al (2019). Benefits of Advanced Practice Nursing for Its Expansion in the Spanish Context. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(5), 680. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16050680