Pregnancy represents a unique condition that introduces an even more vulnerable group to the population that is already prone to major risk factors, namely, women. As a health status, pregnancy represents a unique condition that exposes a woman and a fetus to an array of risk factors, which calls for an especially careful approach to drug prescription. By taking into account the factors such as the increased plasma volume and the possible increase in uterine contractions that may cause premature birth, affecting the mother and the infant, one will be able to prescribe drugs for pregnant women safely.
To follow ethical standards of patient beneficence and non-maleficence, one must remove any threat of blood infections, issues with heart function, and the possible rise in blood pressure. The specified changes in a pregnant woman’s health status jeopardize not only her, but also the fetus, with the resulting possibility of a miscarriage, maternal or infant death, and severe birth complications (Dhalwani et al., 2019). Therefore, the risks associated with the mismanagement of drug prescriptions for pregnant women must be mitigated.
To develop a strategy for avoiding instances of errors in drug prescriptions for pregnant women, healthcare practitioners must incorporate precautionary measures geared toward checking the prescription details carefully. Namely, healthcare practitioners must make a habit of verifying barcodes for medications when prescribing them to patients in question, specifically, pregnant women (Kochhar et al., 2019). Furthermore, involving patients in the process of drug prescription is another step toward reducing the probability of an error. The idea of introducing patients to the process of verifying the accuracy of a prescription might seem inappropriate; however, in fact, it is likely to lead to significant improvements. Apart from promoting patient education by explaining the direct effects of the prescribed drugs to patients, the idea of their involvement will allow pregnant women to outline possible issues with the drug intake that a healthcare practitioner might not be fully aware of, such as individual intolerance of specific drugs or their components (Price et al., 2018). Moreover, a patient may point out the discrepancy between the information introduced to them by the healthcare practitioner and the data written in the prescription.
The proposed framework aligns with the idea of patient teaching. As a healthcare expert, one must explain in an accessible and understandable manner the mechanism of a particular medication’s effect on a patient’s health status. Thus, the target audience, namely, pregnant women, will be able to control medication intake and be aware of the key factors that define their health vulnerability. Thus, as a follow-up, it will be reasonable to check whether the patient has been complying with the proposed dosage and the suggested methods of medication intake.
To ensure that prescriptions for pregnant women are safe, one must take into consideration that plasma volume increases during pregnancy substantially, leading to greater distribution of drugs and that certain drugs may cause uterine contractions, which suggests that prescriptions must be approached with due care and caution. Specifically, the proposed ethical approach to the process suggests that critical measurements and assessments are undertaken to identify the most suitable amount of medication as precisely as possible. In addition, proper patient education must be provided to allow the patient to control the intake of medications independently, preventing possible risks. Thus, one will align the prescription process with critical ethical considerations, ensuring patient safety and complying with the principles of non-maleficence.
References
Dhalwani, N. N., Szatkowski, L., Coleman, T., Fiaschi, L., & Tata, L. J. (2019). Stillbirth among women prescribed nicotine replacement therapy in pregnancy: Analysis of a large UK pregnancy cohort.Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 21(4), 409-415. Web.
Kochhar, S., Edwards, K. M., Alvarez, A. M. R., Moro, P. L., & Ortiz, J. R. (2019). Introduction of new vaccines for immunization in pregnancy–Programmatic, regulatory, safety and ethical considerations. Vaccine, 37(25), 3267-3277. Web.
Price, H. R., Collier, A. C., & Wright, T. E. (2018). Screening pregnant women and their neonates for illicit drug use: Consideration of the integrated technical, medical, ethical, legal, and social issues.Frontiers in Pharmacology, 9, 961. Web.