Several nurses are concerned that agency policies related to restraint and seclusion practices are inadequate

Question

Which understanding about the relationship of substandard institutional policies and individual nursing practice should guide nursing practice? a. The policies do not absolve an individual nurse of the responsibility to practice according to professional standards of nursing care.
b. Agency policies are considered the legal standard by which a professional nurse must act and therefore override other standards of care.
c. In an institution with substandard policies, the nurse has a responsibility to inform the supervisor and leave the premises without delay.
d. Interpretation of policies by the judicial system is rendered on an individual basis and therefore cannot be predicted.

Answer 1

A
Nurses are professionally bound to uphold the American Nurses Association standards of practice regardless of lesser standards established by a health care agency or a state. Conversely, if the agency standards are higher than the American Nurses Association standards of practice, the agency standards must be upheld. The courts may seek to establish the standard of care through the use of expert witnesses when the issue is clouded.