How would you handle it?

I also would have given it, but as a student, not an RN.

As a student after you have been instructed to give it and then the instructor does not back you should write a letter of complaint to the school, cc to your instructor. Issues being that you were told to give a med that was not ordered, that the istructor did not back you up, and that the doctor ridiculed you in front of the instructor and she did not assist you or model constructive assertive behaviour.

Have you had a conference with the instructor to talk about ow you felt, and how the two of you will handle the same situation in the future? Perhaps a discussion with your advisor will give you a different perspective as well.

Wow!! That is a tough one.

With me being me, I probably would have refused to give the medication until the doctor was called to verifiy the order. I don't mind making waves if I know that I am right. If they still told me to give it without doctor's orders I would refuse and document why I refused to give the med, written a letter to my department chair and the instructor again telling them why I refused to give the medication (keeping a notorized copy for myself).

They teach us in school that we have to do things the right way and without a doctor's order for that specific item, it is not right to administer that medication!

I am looking at this from the viewpoint of an LPN with lots of experience, and I would NOT have given it. I would have outlined my reasons, and stated that it is outside the scope of practice of ANY RN or LPN to give a medication without an order.....

I think I would have bucked the system on this one. Kept copies of my written explanation, and gone to the advisor at school, I think.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Marla

This is a real dilemma!

I, being a student, probably would have given the med. Especially since the instructor AND charge nurse both said to do it. Plus the fact that it had been given twice before then. I think i would have made either my instructor or the charge nurse sign off on it though.

BUT......

I would not have stood there and had that doctor yell at me. I would have turned around and walked to a conference room. If he still felt it necessary to yell at me he could follow me in there and do it in private. As for my instructor, you better believe there would be a few letters being written for him/her not standing behind me and backing me up. I think i would even go to administration at the hospital to have a chat about the nurse too.

Traci

p.s. I am going to print this out and take it to class tomorrow to see what my class and instructors say about it.

as a nurse i would have more than likly given the med, it may have been dispensed by the pharmacy as whats called a "theraputic equalivlant", you don't ned a doctors orer to do this but a note should have been placed in the chart and a mar stating such, should have been in the med book.

as far as your teacher is concerned, she/he should have stepped in when the md started to rip at you, it is afterall his/her licenese on the line. some people are afraid to stand up to the docs, don't be one of them. if you see him at your next clinical pull him aside, tell him how unprofessional he was, you want an apology in front of the staff, and that you wont' stand for that again without hospital administration being involved.