Summary Of Jerry Mccall: Ethical Case Study

Jerry McCall- Ethical Case Study
Sandra D. Zieger
HCS/335
December 22, 2014
Beryl Keegan Instructor

Jerry McCall- Ethical Case Study
This is the case of Jerry McCall who works in a doctor’s office as an office assistant. He has professional training for medical assistant and a LPN. While handling the phones during lunch, he receives a call from a patient that is requesting a refill for his Valium called to his local pharmacy right away as he is flying out in thirty minutes. The patient states he is a personal friend of Dr. Williams and he always supplies him with a small amount of Valium when he fly’s. Jerry is alone in the office, the question is, Should Jerry call in this prescription and why or why not (Fremgen, 2009) The answer
The doctor would still have to authorize the refill prior to it being called in. Fregman, 2009, states, “Under the doctrine of respondent superior, or let the master answer, the employer is liable for the consequences of the employee’s actions committed in the scope of employment. The employer may not have done anything wrong, yet still is liable” (Fremgen, 2009). With this being said, if Jerry calls in the refill and something was to happen to the patient, Jerry would not be protected from a lawsuit. Jerry would be acting outside of his scope of practice without the knowledge of the doctor.
Jerry should consider the following advice. He should not call in the refill for the Valium or any other medications without the doctors’ knowledge. He would need to remind the patient about the office refill policy if they have one. Jerry should do what he can to notify Dr. Williams of the need. Jerry would need to tell the patient he is not legally able to call in this prescription without the knowledge and authorization of Dr Williams. Jerry needs to be sure he understands what his scope of practice allows him to do so he does not put himself or Dr. Williams in a situation where they could be
If Jerry decides to call in this prescription for Dr. Williams’s friend, he could loose his nursing license if he has one at this point. If he does not, he may not be able to get one. This would take away his career as a nurse. If Dr. Williams was to be sued, it could affect him not only financially but also damage his reputation. It has been reported that many physicians will suffer emotional anguish with a high percentage contemplating suicide (Kevin, 2011). Ethically Jerry may upset the patient by not calling in the medication who in turn may complain to the doctor about Jerry.
To solve this problem, Jerry could use the Three-step Ethics model by asking himself the question: Is it legal? (Fremgen, 2009). This would be a quick and easy way to make the ethical decision. The quick answer for Jerry would be, no is it not legal for him to call in the prescription for Valium.
Healthcare providers are faced with legal and ethical issues on a daily basis. It is important to know what the scope of practice is where they work. It is important to know job descriptions and what is expected on a daily basis and to be comfortable with what is expected of