Workplace rules are meant to protect everyone, but following them too literally can quickly create bigger problems.

What would you do if your job required strict rule enforcement, even when it upset patients and frustrated doctors?

Would you bend the rules as you see fit?

Or would you stand your ground to avoid risking your job?

In the following story, one nurse faces this very dilemma and decides to protect her job.

Here’s how it all played out.

I Took ‘Following Protocol’ a Little Too Literally

I’m a nurse at a hospital that’s always busy.

As usual, we have tons of rules and protocols to follow.

One of the rules our hospital is extremely strict about is patient privacy, which is great in theory, except sometimes the way they enforce it becomes a little over scrupulous.

There was this one time I was working the night shift when a senior doctor came in to check on a patient who had just had surgery done.

Now, we had a very clear protocol for allowing visitors, the patient must give their consent in writing, and the visitor had to be listed in the system beforehand, with their ID checked and logged at the front desk.

Easy enough, right?

She wouldn’t budge, which made the doctor mad.

Well, this one time, the patient’s sister arrived to visit.

She was completely legit, the family was aware, and she had an ID to prove she was who she said she was.

But the issue was that she didn’t technically meet the protocol because she hadn’t signed any papers yet.

Plus, it was the night shift, and so HR was closed; as a result, getting the paperwork was a bit of a hassle.

The doctor was frustrated, but I kept repeating the rules: “Sorry, I can’t allow you to see the patient until the paperwork is in order.”

He went ballistic when I wouldn’t bulge. I just kept pointing to the sign on the wall that said, “No exceptions to patient privacy rules.”

Frustrated, the doctor took matters into his own hands.

He muttered something under his breath about “common sense,” but I wasn’t about to risk losing my job over a technicality, not after all I went through to get it.

By now, the patient’s sister was in tears, which I wasn’t happy about, but I told her, “I’m just following the rules. I promise I’ll get you in as soon as the paperwork clears.”

Eventually, the doctor, in a moment of frustration, took matters into his own hands.

He grabbed the chart, scribbled down a note authorizing the visit, and handed it over to me.

I don’t know if it was the fact that he’s a doctor or the fact that he was basically forcing me into a corner, but I took the note, followed through, and let the sister in.

After that night, HR revised its policy.

Later that night, HR called me to double-check on a different matter, and somehow, the whole “visitor approval” issue came up.

The next morning, I got an email that was a reminder to “always follow protocol strictly,” but with a hilarious extra line at the end: “Unless it’s signed off by a doctor.”

So, basically, I learned that sometimes the rules are a bit flexible, especially when your superiors are the ones bending them.

I guess my obdurate stance turned out to be the catalyst for HR revising its policy.

They haven’t updated the signage yet, though, so I’m still getting weird looks from the night shift staff.

Wow! Well, it’s good she takes her job seriously.

Let’s see how the readers over at Reddit relate to this story.

This person is happy it makes the doctors responsible.

Here’s a question from another hospital nurse.

Interesting point.

This reader would thank the woman and the doctor for the changes.

She was just doing her job.

The policy should have exceptions in place for those times when HR is not available.

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.