Week 4 DQ 1 NR 510 - Week 4 DQ 1 NR 510 According to Elder...

Week 4 DQ 1 NR 510
According to Elder et.al (2014), a medical assistant does not have the authorization to
prescribe medication. Medical assistants may call in routine refills that are exact and have no
changes in the dosage levels. However, this must only be done under the direct supervision of a
physician or a nurse practitioner. Medical assistants do not have the authorization to call in new
prescriptions or any prescriptions that aren’t routine or have changes. The physician or nurse
practitioner must be careful when determining what tasks their medical assistants are allowed to
perform. The authority to prescribe or refill prescriptions is only granted to licensed personnel or
those authorized by the law to do so (Chiarello, 2014). A refill must be documented in the
patient’s chart as a standing order. Regardless if it’s a nurse practitioner or a doctor, all
prescriptions must be authorized by one or the other in order to be considered legal.