| Course | NURS 504 Advanced Pharmacology for the Nurse Educator (NURS504) |
|---|---|
| Module/Week | 1 |
| Assignment | Ethics Essay Question on Pharmaceutical Industry Gifts |
| Paper type | One-page ethics essay |
| Length | about 293 words, 1 double-spaced pages plus title page and references. Course guide: a one-page response in APA format describing the issue, citing two biblical and ethical principles and the proper conduct of the Christian advanced practice nurse |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| Points | 50 |
| School | Liberty University Online |
| Program | MSN |
| Where it sits | Module/Week 1 in Liberty's published NURS 504 course guide; current sections can differ |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NURS 504 Week 1
Lunch Is Not Free: The Christian Advanced Practice Nurse and Pharmaceutical Industry Meals
[Student Name]
School of Nursing, Liberty University
NURS 504: Advanced Pharmacology for the Nurse Educator
Ethics Essay Question
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Lunch Is Not Free: The Christian Advanced Practice Nurse and Pharmaceutical Industry Meals
Pharmaceutical companies routinely buy lunch for prescribers and their staff while representatives present a branded drug. The meals are modest, and many clinicians believe they are not influenced. The evidence suggests otherwise. In a national cross-sectional study linking federal payment records to Medicare prescribing, DeJong et al. (2016) found that physicians who received even one industry-sponsored meal promoting a brand-name drug prescribed that drug at higher rates than those who received none, and that additional meals were associated with larger increases. If a sandwich can shift a prescription, then accepting it is not a private matter between a clinician and a sales representative. For advanced practice nurses, who now prescribe for millions of patients, the question is whether such gifts are compatible with their duty to patients.
Two principles answer it. The first is biblical: "you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right" (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, Exodus 23:8). A meal is not a bribe in a legal sense, but the verse warns that gifts from an interested party distort judgment even in people who see clearly, which is what the prescribing data show. The second is the ethical principle of justice. When a gift nudges a prescriber toward a costlier brand-name drug where an equally effective generic exists, patients and insurers pay more, and patients with the least money are the most likely to skip doses they cannot afford (Burchum & Rosenthal, 2019).
The Christian advanced practice nurse should therefore decline industry-sponsored meals and gifts, obtain drug information from independent sources such as guidelines and the pharmacology literature, disclose any industry relationship to patients and employers, and teach students and colleagues to recognize how promotion shapes prescribing.
References
Burchum, J. R., & Rosenthal, L. D. (2019). Lehne's pharmacology for nursing care (10th ed.). Elsevier.
DeJong, C., Aguilar, T., Tseng, C. W., Lin, G. A., Boscardin, W. J., & Dudley, R. A. (2016). Pharmaceutical industry-sponsored meals and physician prescribing patterns for Medicare beneficiaries. JAMA Internal Medicine, 176(8), 1114-1122. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.2765
English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)
What the NURS 504 Week 1 instructions ask
In Module/Week 1 of NURS 504, Liberty's course guide asks each student to select one of several current ethical issues provided in the course, research it, and prepare a one-page response in current APA format. The response must describe the ethical issue, cite two applicable biblical and ethical principles, and explain the proper role or conduct of the Christian advanced nurse practitioner regarding the issue. The list of issues changes by term, and Liberty does not publish it, but issues in a pharmacology course commonly include industry influence on prescribing, prescribing for family members, conscientious objection, off-label use and opioid stewardship. The essay is worth 50 points and is graded on substance packed into a single page.
How this NURS 504 Week 1 example is built
Because the limit is one page, every paragraph does one job. The first describes the issue with one finding, from a cross-sectional study of Medicare prescribing that found sponsored meals associated with more prescribing of the promoted brand-name drug. The second gives two principles, each paired: a biblical principle from Exodus 23:8 on gifts that blind judgment, and the ethical principle of justice applied to patients who pay for costlier drugs. The third states the conduct expected of a Christian advanced practice nurse in four specific commitments. The essay names its sources with full references on a separate page, as APA allows for a one-page response.
NURS 504 Week 1 grading rubric: where the points go
Expect the grade on this essay to turn on how clearly the issue is described, correct identification and application of two biblical and ethical principles, a well-reasoned account of the Christian advanced practice nurse's conduct, use of research, and APA format within one page. Application earns more than citation: naming a verse or a principle without showing how it bears on the issue loses points. The conduct section should be specific enough that a reader could tell whether a nurse followed it. Staying within the page limit is part of the assignment, so a strong essay is concise, and the reference page does not count against the limit.
NURS 504 Week 1 help: mistakes that cost points
The common mistakes in this short essay are running over one page, naming more than two principles without developing any, and describing the issue in general terms with no evidence. Another is treating the biblical principle and the ethical principle as one, when the guide asks for both. Students also write conduct statements that are vague, such as "be ethical," rather than actions such as declining sponsored meals. Choose an issue with at least one solid study, write in plain sentences, and cut any sentence that does not describe the issue, apply a principle or state conduct. A double-spaced APA page holds roughly 275 to 300 words, so plan about 80 words for the issue, 130 for the two principles and 70 for conduct.
Related NURS 504 sample papers
Other NURS 504 weeks
- NURS 504 Week 2: Asthma Case Study Analysis
- NURS 504 Week 3: Diabetes Case Study Analysis
- NURS 504 Week 4: Hypertension Case Study Analysis
- NURS 504 Week 5: Disease State PowerPoint on Gout
- NURS 504 Week 6: ACS Case Study Analysis
- NURS 504 Week 7: Osteoarthritis Case Study Analysis
- NURS 504 Week 8: ADHD Case Study Analysis
More MSN sample papers
- NURS 500 Week 1: Discussion Forum 1 Research and EBP
- NURS 501 Week 1: Legislative Letter
- NURS 502 Week 1: Written Responses to Questions 1
- NURS 503 Week 1: Discussion Board Forum 1
NURS 504 Week 1 questions, answered
What is the NURS 504 Ethics Essay Question?
It is a one-page APA response in Module/Week 1 on a current ethical issue chosen from a list in the course, describing the issue, citing two biblical and ethical principles and explaining how a Christian advanced practice nurse should act.
Where can I find a free NURS 504 Week 1 sample paper?
The NURS 504 Week 1 one-page essay on pharmaceutical industry meals is printed above with its references and a note on each paragraph's job, free for anyone to read.
Can a one-page essay have a separate reference page?
Yes. In APA format, the reference list starts on a new page and does not count toward a one-page limit on the body unless the instructor says otherwise.
Is it ethical for nurse practitioners to accept pharmaceutical meals?
Many ethicists and organizations discourage it, because research associates even small meals with more prescribing of promoted drugs. Policies vary by employer, but declining gifts avoids the conflict of interest.
What biblical principles apply to conflicts of interest?
Exodus 23:8 warns that a bribe blinds the clear-sighted, and Scripture repeatedly calls for honest judgment and care for the vulnerable, principles that support declining gifts that could bias prescribing.
Use it as a model, or ask for your own
This paper is an original model written by our desk for study. It is not a submitted student paper and not an official Liberty University document. Read it for structure and reasoning, then write your own to the instructions in your Canvas course. If you want a version built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
Ask for a custom NURS 504 Week 1 sample · All NURS 504 weeks · All courses