Ethical Influences on APN
You are a Family Nurse Practitioner working in an outpatient primary care office of a large hospital system. The practice has been operating for over 15 years, and many of the administrative and clinical staff were hired when the practice opened. You have been in the practice for less than 3 months. In that short amount of time, you have witnessed several of the clinical staff have heated arguments with each other, sometimes in patient areas. Today, one of the back office assistants didn’t come to work. Unfortunately, this pattern of behavior is not unusual in this practice. Your clinical schedule is especially busy. Working without appropriate office staff will negatively influence your ability to spend time with patients, impede the flow of patients through the office, and could impact patient safety.
Discussion Question:
How should you logically respond in this situation? Provide rationales and evidence to support your decisions.