Discussion Post Week Two NURS6565, N-5 As an advanced practice nurse (APN), one will likely face many ethical dilemmas throughout his or her career. Therefore, the APN must abide by the state policies and laws and create a personal set of ethical guidelines. For the purpose of the discussion this week I will give an explanation as to whether APNs should treat themselves, family, and friends. I will also evaluate the laws regarding this issue for the state of Pennsylvania. Case Study The case study talks about Mrs. ABC, a 35-year-old woman who has a sore throat that she thinks is strep because her five-year-old daughter just received treatment for strep throat. However, she is unable to obtain an appointment with her physician, and she must leave for a business meeting by 6:00 pm that day, it is currently 08:00 am. Therefore, she calls and schedules an appointment with a nurse practitioner (NP) at a practice five minutes from her house, that just so happens to be her mother. However, her mom was surprised to see her at the office. …show more content…
However, APNs will encounter ethical dilemmas such as the situation like the above case study. The APNs moral obligations may further the ethical dilemma and affect the decision-making process (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O’Grady, 2014). In the case study, the mother appeared to feel obligated to give her daughter the antibiotic even though she had a negative rapid stress test. The fact that the NP was a close family member caused an ethical dilemma for her. First, she did not know that her child was even coming to the practice. Also, the daughter was begging her for medication, which puts the NP in an awkward position. The provider most likely did not want her daughter to be upset with her. Therefore, she wrote the prescription for the antibiotic even though it was not