Hofling Study Flashcards
What was the Aim?
To discover whether nurses would comply with an instruction from an authority figure (Doctor) against their own code of professional conduct which would involve them having to infringe hospital regulations and medical ethics.
What were the containers containing the drug labelled?
‘5mg capsules of Astroten’ It also indicated on the label that the maximum daily dose was 10mg
How much astroten did the doctor advise the nurse to give his patient?
20mg
How did the doctor contact the nurse?
through telephone
in the questionnaire how many nurses said they would not have followed the order?
10/12
In reality how many nurses obeyed the order?
21/22 , 95%
How many nurses said they noticed the dosage discrepancy?
11/22
What was concluded?
That nurses obeyed doctors too easily without trusting their own judgement.Therefore nurses need to be trained to question doctors if they feel necessary. Doctors should be made aware of their perceived authority to allow others to think for themselves.
what type of experiment was it?
A field experiment
