In my last blog I talked about operating in the “legal/illegal” AKA “illegal/normal” space.  The concept proposed that there are times we, as healthcare providers, operate outside, or on the fringes, of policy and procedure, potentially comprising patient care,  – because we’re too busy or we don’t understand the rationale behind the policy or we’ve just gotten used to doing it the ‘easy’ way.  The other reason we may not follow policy (i.e. use a work around) is simply because the policy doesn’t make sense – maybe it is dated, overly complicated or written by someone unfamiliar with clinical realities.  If this is the case in your world, I would encourage you to consider avenues to change/simplify any of our Policies/Procedures that are overly burdensome and/or do not reflect everyday practice.  A long time ago, Dr. Gene Kallsen verbalized to me what a Policy and Procedure Manual should be – “a living, breathing document that guides care and is easily accessible to those delivering care.”  So… every once in awhile, open up Lucidoc and review a P&P that is supposed to guide what you do.  If this isn’t your reality, decide if you should change….or the policy should change.