Dear Folks:
  I have been reading the posts about the mandatory Depo-provera shot given to
"those women" who are viewed as less than responsible by a paternalistic
system. What about the professionals giving those shots? What stops them from
giving information to the clients and being advocates, right there at the
bedside? What stops the professional from even giving the medication? Why
couldn't a nurse say " Dr. X, this woman is breastfeeding and we don't want to
do anything to compromise her milk supply right now, do we?"
   I have refused, upon occasion, to do something that I felt was unsafe. It
didn't make me popular with medical staff, but that wasn't my goal. I was
clear, stated why I was refusing to "obey the order. " Any other care provider
can make the choice to "obey the order".  In one case, I refused to administer
pitocin IV to a woman who was in labor, and having contractions that were a
minute long and coming every 2-3 minutes. It was too risky. Warmly, Nikki