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   The medical assistant prescribed the amoxicillin medication to Mrs. Smith but intentionally indicated that it was the family nurse who had prescribed the medication. Further, she did not conduct any tests on Mrs. Smith to determine the nature of her cough; whether it required treatment with the drugs that she decided to give Mrs. Smith or not. For these reasons, the medical assistant breached professional ethics. According to the professional code of ethics, a medical practitioner has to thoroughly investigate and treat clients based on clinical requirements such as tests rather than arbitrarily diagnosing problems over the phone (Pharmacy Board of Australia, 2019). For this reason, the medical assistant behaved unethically and jeopardized the safety of Mrs. Smith by illogically giving her medications without taking her through the recommended medical procedures. The legal implication of her actions is that she can be sued by the patient in case of adverse reactions for diagnosing medication unethically. The family nurse practitioner can also sue her for impersonation.

The nurse practitioner did not behave unethically. This is because she was not aware that the medical assistant had cunningly used her name to conduct unprofessional diagnosis. She had also not been contacted by Mrs. Smith concerning her illness. As such, she did not behave unethically. However, she should behave ethically by reporting the matter to the medical director who will decide on the most appropriate action to take against the medical assistant. Further, the nurse practitioner can take legal action against the medical assistant for impersonation immediately or forgive and warn her against using her name without consent. On the other hand, the medical director has the responsibility to reinforce the rules and regulations in the hospital and to ensure that all employees firmly adhere to professional ethical code of conduct (McGivern et al., 2015). For this reason, the medical director is an unethical leader since he/she seems not to reinforce the ethical code of conduct frequently as required, that is why the medical assistant confidently behaved unethically. The legal implication for the director is that he/she can be sued for neglect of duty in case the drugs have adverse health effects on Mrs. Smith. The ethical implication in the clinical practice is that healthcare workers should exercise high integrity at all times irrespective of their relationship with the patients or knowledge of their chronic illnesses. They should make decisions based on the professional code of conduct. This is because the whole healthcare facility can be closed down due to unprofessional and unethical conduct in case Mrs. Smith goes to court since such unprofessional diagnoses can seriously affect patient care outcomes, and also undermines the integrity of the healthcare profession.

To prevent future episodes of illegal behavior, I would immediately report to the medical director of the illegal event that the medical assistant engaged in. This act of whistle-blowing has been shown to significantly reduce cases of professional misconduct since if disciplinary measures are taken against a practitioner that behaves unethically, he/she and other healthcare workers will be discouraged from behaving unprofessionally (Mannion & Davies, 2015). I will also print large cautionary posters that warn patients against accepting or opting to be treated unprofessionally such as over the phone, or being given drugs without the due clinical procedures as this can induce adverse health effects (McGivern et al., 2015). I will then place the posters in strategic places such as entrances and the queue bay that all patients can view. Further afield, the leadership qualities that I can apply to effect positive changes include: decisiveness, active participation in patient care processes, innovation, being in touch with other health workers frequently, and being exemplary. Being decisive will discourage professional misconduct while being in touch will make it possible to identify possible risks factors (Barr & Dowding, 2019). Innovation will enable improvising effective ways of detecting misconduct or possible misconduct, and will also help in preventing such misconduct through development of appropriate methods of thwarting unprofessional diagnoses.

 

References

Barr, J., & Dowding, L. (2019). Leadership in health care. Boston: SAGE Publications Limited.

Mannion, R., & Davies, H. T. (2015). Cultures of silence and cultures of voice: the role of whistleblowing in healthcare organizations. International journal of health policy and management, 4(8), 503-505.

McGivern, G., Currie, G., Ferlie, E., Fitzgerald, L., & Waring, J. (2015). Hybrid manager– professionals' identity work: the maintenance and hybridization of medical professionalism in managerial contexts. Public Administration, 93(2), 412-432.

Pharmacy Board of Australia. (2019). Code of conduct for registered health practitioners. http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/documents/s17804en/s17804en.pdf