Dr. Boutin stood up to the “status quo” and revised our narcotics ordering system to be sensitive to the needs of our patients with cancer.
For many years, nurses working in the Infusion and Wound Care department have struggled with following orders to administer doses of IV narcotics to our patients. Patients would come into the clinic smiling, eating and drinking - then to be given IV dilaudid, morphine and Demerol, depending on the physician sending the orders. The orders were not PRN, but specified to administer the medication, regardless. Letters were sent by a nurse to several physicians but the response was always the same: give the medication. The nursing staff were not comfortable, but continued to follow the orders because it was accepted practice.
Last June, Dr. Nancy Boutin stepped in; she immediately wrote letters to physicians ordering the narcotics and explained that the clinic would no longer accept narcotic orders for chronic pain patients (or others). She stood up to her peers to do the right thing for both patients and staff. She stopped an unsafe situation and the staff in the Infusion and Wound Care Clinic admire both her knowledge and strength.
Thank you Dr. Boutin for creating an environment of both psychological and physical safety for our patients and improving their care.