Today MD writes an order ok'ing for a pt to smoke (we have facilities available.) Pt is on respiratory isolation. Infx control people say it's ok as long as we take appropriate precautions and keep other pt's out while she is there and clean the area afterward. Because of patient's physical condition (long story) it will take several staff members to ready her to smoke plus having to have one sit with her (in full isolation garb) plus cleaning out designated area afterward. I figured it would be a good 45 minutes invested in helping a patient smoke who is already extremely time consuming with her other medical needs.
I refused to assist pt in this. MD left for day. Passed it on to next shift who can do on their shift as they see fit.
