Nurses on the dialysis unit notice that changes in labeling of fluids have meant several alarming near misses in terms of wrong administration of fluids. They take this concern to the unit man-ager

Question

As an advocate of nurse autonomy, the most appropriate response in this situation would be to: a. Ensure that the nurses are aware of the reasons for the change and how the deci-sion was made about the new labels.
b. Discuss concerns about the labels and de-velop potential solutions that take into account changes that can be made at the local level and those that need system in-tervention.
c. Suggest that the staff wait until they have become more familiar with the labels be-fore taking further action.
d. Tell the staff that you will notify the pharmacy about these concerns and leave it up to the pharmacy to decide what should be done.

Answer 1

B
Participation in decision making regarding one's practice is an appropriate expectation for pro-fessional nurses, provides for greater autonomy and authority over practice decisions, contributes to supporting the professional nurse, and is a major component of job satisfaction (Kramer et al., 2008; Pittman, 2007). Autonomy is encouraged through supportive management and through unit-level support of changes without the need for complex, multilevel approval of changes that can be made locally.