Fitzgerald Health Education Associates

Click to View Previous Issues... Look for bold orange text for clickable web links. Our "i" information icon is a clickable web link. Avoiding Malpractice: A Case Analysis A Twist on the Consequences of Not Following Payer Rules Carolyn Buppert, NP, JD I am apprehensive when I hear about nurse practitioners who practice in organi- zations that have not dotted every "i" and crossed every "t" to conform to the letter of the law when it comes to rules about provider supervision, board cer- tifications, and Medicare and Medicaid payer rules. Everyone may be blissfully ig- norant—until something goes wrong. Here is a case that justifies paying attention to all these legal details. CASE A teenager was having behavior problems in school and the school referred her to a mental health clinic for counseling. Medicaid covered the girl's healthcare. The school notified the parents that the girl would not be allowed to take classes unless she saw a psychiatrist. At the clinic, the patient was referred to a cli- nician, "Dr. O," who is a nurse practitioner. The NP diagnosed bipolar disorder and prescribed oxcarbazepine, an anticon- vulsant. The girl had an adverse reac- tion to the medication. Her parents tried to call the NP twice, but phone calls were not returned. The parents decided to stop the girl's medication, and she had a seizure, which required hospitalization. After speaking with the NP, the girl resumed the medication. Five months later the girl had another seizure and died. The parents filed complaints with various state agen- cies, and, in doing so, learned that the NP was not a psychiatrist. State regulations re- quire that a psychiatric NP be supervised by a board-certified psychiatrist and that Inside Avoiding Malpractice ...... 1 Diagnostic Challenge........ 5 Review Courses ................ 8 Certification Q& A ............. 9 Update: STD Treatment Guidelines.........................15 News Briefs ..................... 19 2015 Live Courses Pharmacology Update (2-day course) The Art of Wound Repair (1-day course) NP Essentials (4-day course) NP Certification Exam Review Course Tracks Family, Adult-Gerontology, and Adult Primary Care Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Pediatric Primary Care Psychiatric-Mental Health Women's Health Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc. fhea.com Committed to the success of nurse practitioners 1 Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc. 978•794•8366 Volume 15, Issue 6, June 2015 Look for bold orange text for clickable web links. Our "i" information icon is a clickable web link. ALLERGY & ASTHMA CONSULT Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis: A Blooming Nightmare This Year! Christy Yates, MSN, FNP-BC, NP-C, AE-C D id this year's allergy season seem to be particularly severe for your patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis or perhaps even for you? Was there something unique about this season's pollen load? Did you have a harder time provid- ing allergy symptom relief for your patients this year? If so, you are not alone. I have provided care for patients with allergies and asthma for the past 15 years, both in specialty practice and in primary care, and this allergy season seemed particularly severe for my patients. An unusually wet fall in 2014 followed by an unusually wet and cold winter in 2015 primed the plants and root systems to produce more pollen this spring and summer. Whether or not a "pollen vortex" occurred this year is debatable, but the weather pattern did lead to more pollen produc- tion and therefore a worse allergy season. Once again, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foun- dation of America, Louisville, KY, where our prac- tice is located, was in the top five Spring Allergy Capitals this spring. Many other cities across the country were hit hard this year. Whatever the severity of the allergy season, I hear many questions and comments from pa- tients about their allergies. These are some of the most common. I am 54 years old and have never had allergy symptoms. Can I suddenly develop allergies at my age? Inside Allergy & Asthma Consult ............................. 1 Certification Q& A ............. 7 Review Courses ................ 8 Avoiding Malpractice .... 13 News Briefs ..................... 18 2015 & 2016 Live Courses Pharmacology Update (2-day course) The Art of Wound Repair (1-day course) NP Essentials (4-day course) NP Certification Exam Review Course Tracks Family, Adult-Gerontology, and Adult Primary Care Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Pediatric Primary Care Psychiatric-Mental Health Women's Health Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc. fhea.com Committed to the success of nurse practitioners 1 Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc. 978•794•8366 Volume 15, Issue 7, July 2015 continued on page 3... Look for bold orange text for clickable web links. Our "i" information icon is a clickable web link. Certification Q&A; Assessing Patient Decision-Making Capacity in Clinical Practice Margaret A. Fitzgerald, DNP, FNP-BC, NP-C, FAANP, CSP, FAAN, DCC AS A STUDENT, I learned that a patient must be considered capable of making decisions in order for informed consent to be valid. How do I determine whether a patient has the ability to make an informed decision in daily clini- cal practice? Respect for a patient's right to make autonomous choices regarding his or her health care is a fundamental ethical principle underlying all healthcare interac- tions between clinician and patient. Clinicians show respect for autonomy by ob- taining informed consent, whereby the patient makes an autonomous decision to undergo or forgo a procedure or treatment or to take part in research. For informed consent to be valid, the patient must have the ability to make healthcare decisions, a concept known as decision-making capacity. 1 Because the clini- cian's assessment of decision-making capacity has important ethical implications for a pa- tient's self-determination—that is, what role the patient will play in making choices about his or her own health care—all clinicians should have a good understanding of deci- sion-making capacity and how to assess it. What is capacity and how is it assessed? Decision-making capacity is a functional assessment and a clinical determination made by a clinician regarding whether a patient possesses the ability to make in- formed decisions about his or her health care. It differs from competence, which is a legal concept that can be formally determined only by a judge in court. Inside Certification Q& A ............. 1 Review Courses ................ 8 Allergy & Asthma Consult ............................. 9 Avoiding Malpractice .... 17 News Briefs ..................... 21 2015 & 2016 Live Courses Pharmacology Update (2-day course) The Art of Wound Repair (1-day course) NP Essentials (4-day course) NP Certification Exam Review Course Tracks Family, Adult-Gerontology, and Adult Primary Care Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Psychiatric-Mental Health Women's Health Pediatric Primary Care Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc. fhea.com Committed to the success of nurse practitioners 1 Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc. 978•794•8366 Volume 15, Issue 8, August 2015 continued on page 3... July 2015 August 2015 June 2015 Look for bold orange text for clickable web links. Our "i" information icon is a clickable web link. Avoiding Malpractice: A Case Analysis Scope of Practice: When the Nurse Was Right and the Employer Was Wrong Carolyn Buppert, NP, JD C an a women's health NP provide general primary care? Can an acute care NP perform Botox-related procedures? NPs frequently ask scope of practice questions like these, seek- ing clarification on whether certification allows the NP to see a certain subset of patients or to perform a specific procedure. The answers to these questions are found in three places: state law, certification agency statements about what that agency's Inside Avoiding Malpractice ... 1 Review Courses ............ 8 Certification Q& A ........ 9 Clinical Update: Addiction Treatment ...16 Clinical Update: STDs ..19 FHEA Faculty News ......20 Spotlight on Guidelines ....................22 News Briefs ................. 24 2015 & 2016 Live Courses Pharmacology Update (2-day course) The Art of Wound Repair (1-day course) NP Essentials (4-day course) NP Certification Exam Review Course Tracks Family, Adult-Gerontology, and Adult Primary Care Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Psychiatric-Mental Health Women's Health Pediatric Primary Care Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc. fhea.com Committed to the success of nurse practitioners 1 Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc. 978•794•8366 Volume 15, Issue 9, September 2015 continued on page 3... September 2015 Look for bold orange text for clickable web links. Our "i" information icon is a clickable web link. 50 Reasons to Celebrate the Best Profession on Earth: Nurse Practitioners I n honor of 50 years of the NP pro- fession and Nurse Practitioner Week (November 8-14), we have compiled a list of 50 reasons to cele- brate the role of NPs. Enjoy reading this, and please send your reason to us at CS@fhea.com, and we'll publish it in an upcoming issue! Fitzgerald Faculty Members Celebrate NPs 1 "It is truly a privilege to serve patients, be a part of their lives, and practice in the best profession on earth." Margaret Fitzgerald, DNP, FNP-BC, NP-C, FAANP, CSP, FAAN, DCC 2 "The NP profession is the best profession because I get to work daily doing what I love: working in an exciting healthcare environment, constantly learning, getting to know patients and their families, and striving to make a difference in the lives of others." Christy Yates, MS, FNP-BC, NP-C, AE-C 3 "What a rare blessing it is to love what you do and be rewarded every day by the trust of your patients—sharing in their joys, heartache, struggles, and triumphs. It is a true privilege and honor to care for them." Sue Feeney, DNP, MS, NP-C, FNP-BC Inside 50 Reasons to Celebrate NPs ............... 1 Review Courses ............ 9 Certification Q& A ...... 10 DNP Policy Update .....14 Spotlight on Guidelines.....................19 Celebrate NP Week .....22 News Briefs ..................24 2016 Live Courses Pharmacology Update (2-day course) The Art of Wound Repair (1-day course) NP Essentials (4-day course) NP Certification Exam Review Course Tracks Family, Adult-Gerontology, and Adult Primary Care Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Psychiatric-Mental Health Women's Health Pediatric Primary Care Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc. fhea.com Committed to the success of nurse practitioners 1 Fitzgerald Health Education Associates, Inc. 978•794•8366 Volume 15, Issue 10, October 2015 continued on page 3... October 2015

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