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Hofling Hospital Experiment
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In 1966, the psychiatrist Charles K. Hofling conducted a field experiment on obedience in the nurse-physician relationship.
The aim of this experiment was to investigate aspects of the nurse-physician relationship when a nurse is asked to carry out a procedure which goes against her professional standards
Procedure:
While alone on the ward on night duty when doctors aren't normally around and medication isn't usually administered a call is received from a "Doctor Smith from the Psychiatric Department" asking nurses to administer 20mg of "Astroten" to a patient, "Mr. Jones" who needs the drug urgently. The caller claimed to be running late and said he would sign the authorization papers when he arrived at the hospital in about 10mts. The nurses found bottles labeled "Astroten 5mg. Maximum dose 10mg. Do not exceed the stated dose" (The capsules were placebo pills) among other bottles of medication.
How many nurses do you think began to administer the drug?
Before the experiment:
The experiment was explained to a group
of nurses and nursing students. They were asked to predict how many nurses would administer the drug to the patient. Twelve nurses present said they would not do it and all twenty one nursing students said they wouldn't do it either.
What would you do?
The Result:
21 OUT OF 22 NURSES BEGAN TO ADMINISTER THE DRUG.
After the fact, only 11 nurses admitted to being aware of the dosage limits for Astroten. The other 10 DID NOTICE but judged that it must be safe anyway if a doctor had ordered them to administer it. Almost all of the nurses admitted they should not have followed the orders as they went against hospital policy:
-orders to administer medication must be given in person
-the nurse is required to know the order is from a real doctor and to check if not sure
-drugs unauthorized for use on a ward cannot be administered
Many of the nurses stated that obeying a doctor's orders
without question was fairly common. 15 nurses said they could recall
similar incidents and thatthe doctors were displeased if nurses
resisted their orders.
Ultimately, it was found that nurses will knowingly break hospital rules and as a result endanger a patient's life if given orders by a doctor.
So, how did the results of the psychological reasearch affect the field of psychology, the way we view behavior, and its influence on society?
The results let us know just how deep the physician-nurse relationship is and how nurses no longer thought for themselves. We see that they behaved in a way that didnt question authority and placed their patients' lives at risk. It has influenced society because now nurses do think for themselves and are not scared to question the doctor in command.
However, do some nurses still keep quiet?
YES
Hofling's Hospital Experiment