Assignment Task:
You are working as an EN at a primary health care clinic. You have been supporting a client to access information on options for addressing alcohol dependence and are providing a range of outreach contacts including Alcoholics Anonymous; Beyond Blue; Drug and Alcohol Services SA; and general GP referral.
Your supervising RN asks you to explain your approach, including an evaluation of the programs you have identified. She also asks you whether the client has been formally diagnosed with Alcohol Use Disorder. You acknowledge that they have not. The RN asks a GP to join you and you sit together to determine what the best next step for this client will be.
You recognize that as an EN you have a scope of practice, code of ethics and duty of care to uphold.
The GP asks you to ensure that the client is referred for assessment by a doctor before accessing outreach services. The RN suggests that there may be options for the client to engage in services without a formal diagnosis, and the GP argues that this would disadvantage the client, should they require medical intervention.
As an EN, and taking into account your Ethics, Code of Conduct, Duty of Care, and other legal, ethical, and professional factors, what would you say and do, and why?
- How to manage GP and RN conflict.
- What would be do to solve it
- What we believe is best
- What standard of practice it aligned with legal and ethical practice