The Impact of Prescribing Drugs for Anxiety Disorder to Individual who are not Patient at the Clinic

Psychopharmacology Decision Tree  Seeing my colleague, who is a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP), prescribing an Ativan for her 72-year-old mother with generalized anxiety disorder and not a patient at the clinic is not a good thing. Indeed, it is unethical since prescriptions should be given to patients who are registered at the hospital. The first decision I would make regarding the scenario is to approach my fellow health professional and ask the person the reasoning for prescribing medicines to patients who are not registered to the clinic. I would be calm when asking and ensure that no other person will know about it at the moment. After listening to how the individual says, I would tell the person that next time he or she should bring his or her mother to the clinic to be treated and get prescriptions for the anxiety disorder. Since my colleague has done this only once, I would not report him or her to the management but instead, give the person room to change. As a PMHNP, the two primary strategies that guide my decision-making include considering one’s career and the safety of patients. In the scenario at hand, my colleague does not need to be blamed since his or her mother has an anxiety disorder and might not be doing well financially. In that light, my fellow PMHNP might prescribe Ativan since the person knows that the medicine will help her mother overcome anxiety disorder (Abuzour, Lewis, & Tully, 2017). By considering the individual's career, it might be ruined if I report the issue to the managem...