Question

Scenario: A doctor has ordered a test or treatment that is, based on the best practices of your profession, incorrect or medically inappropriate.

1. What should you do when faced with this problem?

2. What policies and support mechanisms do you have in this situation?

3. What preparation do you need to make prior to taking action?

4. Think of one specific treatment/test from your discipline and tell us what you would say when you approach the physician to discuss it with him or her.

Answer 1

1. As a nurse you can never change or discontinue a physician order.So it is very important to confront doctors when when we find that their orders don't match up with the patient's individual needs. In such cases explaining to the doctor that his or her order is questionable and why that is, is very important. Being polite and humble in these situations helps a lot and as a nurse keeping the best interest of the patient is a top priority.

2. If confronting the doctor does not work and you strongly believes it comes under a malpractice , we should immediately file a malpractice claim with enough proofs that the doctor has ordered a treatment or test ehich are not in the best interest of the patient.Contact an attorney right away

3. Before taking any actions we must ensure that the doctor has signed off the particular test or treatment that we are referring to as medically inappropriate.We need to ensure that it's not a mistake from our part. We can also discuss with other nurses and after confirmation can make a complaint to the health care ombudsman in our state

4. In some cases of stroke the doctors may be unable to diagnose the condition quickly and leads to lost opportunity to initiate time-sensitive treatment.This is because common stroke mimics include

• Migraine
• epileptic seizures

and the doctors may ask nurse to test for these diagnosis. In such cases as an experienced nurse you should inform the doctor that additional efforts are required to diagnose the patient and that you suspect that the patient is going to have stroke. Convincing the doctor is a difficult job but it can save a life.