> If that means you go and phone the
duty administrator and tell them to get their butt in to the cubicle
then that is your what you do.
I couldn't agree more. In the same way I would go out of my way to attend a patient who is calling for a nurse and then track down a nurse to put them on a bed pan. Indeed I, hopefully like most of us, often find myself fetching patients urine bottles and making them cups of tea.
The question is not about who helps the patient, but whose job it is to do what. My comments were meant to lend support to Matthew's original point about assessing capacity, and to emphasise my belief that we should not feel like we need to possess any expertise in will-making.
You will find I am not alone in my attitude regarding the nurse's role; this is a viewpoint that is emphasised in nursing training - at least it was when I was nursing.
Chris