Ethical and Legal Implications Concerning Medical Professionals

Week 5:Ethical and Legal Implications (orig post due Wednesday, responses due Sunday)
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Purpose
Discuss potential complications in a clinical scenario at an out-patient family practice. Students will explore potential effects on patient outcomes and implications for members of the heath care team as a result of conflict among the healthcare team. Students will develop strategies that result in prevention of untoward outcomes that result in a positive practice culture.
Activity Learning Outcomes
Through this discussion, the student will demonstrate the ability to:
Recognize potential areas of conflict in NP clinical practice (CO1)
Determine methods of data collection to assess the conflict (CO3)
Examine corporate compliance and its effect on clinical practice (CO2)
Understand risk management in clinical practice (CO4)
Students must post a minimum of two times in each graded discussion. The two posts in each individual discussion must be on separate days. Posting twice on two different days meets the minimum requirement however for full credit, the student must post at least three substantive posts on three different days. The student must provide an initial post to each graded discussion topic posted by the course instructor, by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT of Week 5. Subsequent posts, including essential responses to peers, must occur no later than the Sunday, 11:59 p.m. MT at the end of Week 5. Students are expected to submit assignments by the time they are due. Threaded discussions are not considered assignments and are not part of the late assignment policy.
A 10% late penalty will be imposed for discussions posted after the deadline on Wednesday of week 5, regardless of the number of days late. NOTHING will be accepted after 11:59pm MT on Sunday (i.e. student will receive an automatic 0).
Total Points Possible: 100
Requirements:
You are a family nurse practitioner working in an outpatient primary care office of a large hospital system. The practice has been operating for over 15 years, and many of the administrative and clinical staff were hired when the practice opened. You have been in the practice for less than 3 months. In that short amount of time, you have witnessed several of the clinical staff engaging in heated arguments with each other, sometimes in patient areas. You overhear an argument occurring today between two staff. You pick up a patient's chart and notice a very low blood pressure that the medical assistant failed to notify you about. When you confront the MA, she states that she was going to report the vital signs to you when she became engaged in the heated argument you overheard and forgot to notify you.
Unfortunately, this pattern of behavior is not unusual in this practice. Working with staff who cannot cooperate effectively can negatively influence your ability to spend time with patients, can impede the flow of patients through the office, and could impact patient safety.
Case Study Responses:
Analyze the case study for potential issues for members of the healthcare team from office conflict. Contrast the potential effects for each member of the healthcare team based upon the required readings from the week. Discuss the potential ethical and legal implications for each of the following practice members:
Medical assistant
Nurse Practitioner
Medical Director
Practice
What strategies would you implement to prevent further episodes of potentially dangerous patient outcomes?
What leadership qualities would you apply to effect positive change in the practice? Focus on the culture of the practice.
DISCUSSION CONTENT
Category
Points %
Description
Potential ethical & legal implications for healthcare team members 30
30%
Provides relevant evidence of scholarly inquiry of the potential ethical and legal implications for each of the practice members. Uses valid, relevant, and reliable outside sources to contribute to the threaded discussion.
Strategies to prevent further dangerous patient outcomes 30
30%
Provides relevant evidence of scholarly inquiry of strategies to implement to prevent further episodes of potentially dangerous patient outcomes. Uses valid, relevant, and reliable outside sources to contribute to the threaded discussion.
Leadership qualities to effect positive change 15
15%
Provides relevant evidence of scholarly inquiry of leadership qualities to apply to effect a positive change in the practice. Uses valid, relevant, and reliable outside sources to contribute to the threaded discussion 75
75%
Total CONTENT Points= 75 pts
DISCUSSION FORMAT
Category
Points %
Description
Interactive Dialogue 20
20%
4 Required Elements:
Responds a minimum of two other posts to peers and/or faculty in the threaded discussion;
Responses to peer/faculty are substantive (adds importance, depth, and meaningfulness to the discussion)
Responds to all direct questions from faculty (if no question asked directly, student responded to questions posed to the entire class)
Summarizes what was learned from the lesson, readings, and other student posts for the week. The summary could be included in one of the three minimum posts.
Grammar, Syntax, Spelling, & Punctuation 5

5%

Grammar, syntax, spelling, and punctuation are accurate. 25
25%
Total FORMAT Points= 25 pts
DISCUSSION TOTAL=100 points