nb623

Thank you Nuerorachel for responding to my post. I agree with you that it doesn't really make sense for a doctor to change a patient to NPO status because she has an issue with her sliding scale. I feel that this would be even more harmful to a diabetic patient since she is also not recieving any insulin. Like I said, I could also be missing a little info since I wasn't directly involved with the patient care.

Hello Everyone, I apoligize for not directly addressing the particular issue you were previously discussing. I am new to site and haven't figured out how to start a post. I am a nursing student and am working on an ethical assignment. I was looking for some insight. Recently I witnessed a nurse faced with an ethical delimma. She had tried to administer insulin to her post op surgical patient. Upon entering the room the patient refused to allow the nurse to give her the injection.The problem was that the patient followed a sliding scale at home different from the doctors orders in the chart. The nurse respected the patient's wishes and called the doctor immediately. The doctor's response was to switch the patient to NPO status. The nurse hung up the phone and disucssed the issue with her collegues. The nurse was upset that the doctor would do such a thing and following the advice of her fellow coworkers worked up the courage to call the doctor back to change the order. Does anyone have any experience in this type of situation? I find it troubling that the doctor would want to put a diabetic on NPO status in order to get the patient to take the prescribed medication. Am I wrong to view this as punishment. I could be missing something since I was merely an observer and was not directly involved in the patients care. Let me know what you think and what you would have done in this situation. Thanks :wink2: