Should nurses follow doctor's orders? 🏥
💡 Ahh, this is actually a more complex answer than it seems!
Yes, and also no.
👉🏽 Does the order make sense for THIS patient? Why so? (Docs are human too and things get ordered on the wrong patients sometimes!)
👉🏽 There may be an assessment of your patient that changes the need for the order (the laxatives you talked about the patient needing in rounds earlier? Well, they don't need them anymore...💩)
💡Nurses should never blindly follow orders. That is NOT the scope of our practice.
💡Know your patients and their disease processes. If you don't understand the need for the order, absolutely ALWAYS get clarification and justification of why it is indicated.
🥊 You are your patient's last line of defense! 🥊
⚖️ I've reviewed legal cases where it did not look good for nurses when they didn't advocate for their patients. I highly recommend reviewing your state's nurse practice act and the ANA Code of Ethics. ⚖️
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2moI hate to say it, but knowing NJ they will not be relinquishing any of their authority.