Mrs. Smith was seen today in the office for an annual physical. Her last appointment was a year
ago for the same reason. During this visit, Mrs. Smith brought an empty bottle of amoxicillin
with her and asked if she could have a refill. You noted the patient's name on the label, and the
date on the bottle was 1 week ago. You also noted your name printed on the label as the
prescriber. The patient admitted that she called last week concerned about her cough and spoke
to Stephanie. You do not recall having discussed this patient with Stephanie nor do the other
providers in the practice.
Discussion Question:
What is your next logically sound course of action? Provide evidence to support your response.
If I was the nurse practitioner in this situation, I would be upset knowing that a patient somehow
had medication filled under my name and license without my approval or consent. This situation
could have been very dangerous for the patient, especially if the patient was allergic to the
medication. Also, if the wrong medication was taken or the wrong dose prescribed, the patient
can become sicker because of the wrong antibiotic or a super bug could be created. If the patient
was put in danger or injured, the medical assistant, provider whose name was on the medication,
and the office can all be sued.
First, I would look up the scope of a medical assistant. The scope of a medical assistant entails
being able to perform administrative and clinical duties for physicians and providers in a patient
care setting. Some of these administrative duties include answering phones, making patient
appointments, handling correspondence, billing, and bookkeeping. According to the American
Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA), some clinical duties include assistant providers with
procedures, administering medications and vaccinations as prescribed, collecting, prepping, and
performing basic lab tests, and transmitting prescription refills as directed (AAMA, 2018).
Stephanie is clearly practicing outside the scope of her practice. She has not attended school that
allows for her to prescribe medications. It seems as if she spoke with this patient about her
symptoms and prescribed an antibiotic without the patient being seen by a provider and without
any prescription being written for the patient.
I would first and foremost treat the patient and see if the medication prescribed was appropriate
to treat her problem. Since I nor the other providers in the practice remember prescribing this
