Do You Know Your Policies and Procedures?

I am constantly amazed at the number of nurses I meet who do not know their facilities policies and procedures. The policies and procedures are your “bible” in the nursing profession.

You are required to know and follow these policies and procedures. Just because people always do things a certain way does not necessarily mean that it’s proper. The policies and procedures are your guide.

Do you know the policies and procedures for destruction of narcotics?

Some nurses think you can dispose of narcotics in the sharps container, primarily because they believe that “that’s the way everybody does it.” However, this procedure is usually improper. Make sure you know what your facility wants you to do with those narcotics and how to go about disposing of them.

How about quickly ascertaining the code status on a patient? Is there a way that you can tell if a patient is a “code” or “no code” by just walking into the room or by looking at their armband? There must be an easy way to determine the code status of a patient.

What about IV site dressings and IV site changes? How often should the dressing be changed? How is it marked? What should you be documenting? And how often is IV site changed?

What about skin assessments? If you notice a new wound, who is to be notified? What is to be documented?

One thing I say is that, “Nurses live and die by their policies and procedures.” In a medical malpractice case, it is paramount that you know and follow the policies and procedures. In a case before the Licensing Board, it is equally paramount that you know and follow them. If the State comes to survey and they ask what your facility’s policy is on fall prevention, you need to know it and recite it.

I suggest that if you have downtime on your unit, start reading the Policies and Procedures. I know this is probably the last thing you want to do during down time. If there is a written policy that is not put into practice, be an advocate to have it changed to conform with the practice or be a leader and let people know that the nurses are not following the policies to get in alignment with them.

This is your best chance protect your patient, prevent malpractice and protect your license.

I would love to hear your thoughts, please leave a comment.