Do policies and procedures impose legal obligations on the nurse? When should a nurse be allowed to depart from a policy or procedure?

Answered by Sheila Scott

Dear Raj,

Compliance with the policies and procedures of the home where you work will be part of your contract of employment.

So that will impose an obligation on you and if you operated outside the policies and procedures you could be placing your employment at risk.

If for any reason you believe a policy or procedure should be changed then you should discuss this with your Manager.

The policies and procedures of a care home are a very important part of their registration with the Care Quality Commission and I would expect that there would be very few if any occasions when a nurse would work outside the policies and procedures.

If there is a particular policy or procedure that you want to change please feel free to write to me again.

Best wishes.

Sheila