So proud of this nurse. Her patient was refusing everything and had not eaten or had water or labs in days. The provider had said that the patient did not have the capacity to refuse treatment and to go ahead and use restraints to place a DHT if we needed to. The patient was alert and oriented but was under an OPC, so they lacked capacity. This is a gray area, so she asked other charge nurses, and they agreed that the patient had the right to refuse care. We were also concerned for the patient's safety in refusing to eat or drink for days, so we reached out to the NAO, who consulted legal. Legal advised that we could use restraints and place a DHT and that they would get a two-doc consent.

The reason I am so proud of this nurse is that she was under a lot of pressure to just use restraints and let a dietitian place the DHT, and that would have been the easier thing to do. But she advocated for her patient and did the right thing. She also offered the patient choices to give him a sense of control. While we were waiting for legal to give us an answer, the patient got a vegan diet and ended up eating food without the DHT so the order was canceled in the end. What a great example of the ICARE values that led to a positive outcome, and it is because this nurse advocated for the patient even under pressure.