A psychologist by the name of Charles K. Hofling, hypothesized that nurses will abhorrently do as they are told if they were to receive orders from a doctor. A "doctor" by the name of Dr. Smith contacted 22 nurses over the phone--which was against hospital rules--and instructed the nurses to administer a drug called astroten in a 20mg dosage, even though 10mg was the recommended maximum dosage. The nurses in question had three rules to follow:
1. They are not allowed to accept instructions over the phone.
2. The dose was double the maximum stated on the box.
3. The medicine, itself, was unauthorized (i.e. not in the stock list).
When the experiment was first conducted, Hofling hypothesized that nurses will listen to an authoritative figure even if it is against their better judgment. The "drug" in question was actually a placebo created specifically for the experiment so no one was actually harmed in the study. Dr. Smith was instructed to contact each nurse individually over the phone and administer 20mg of the drug to a patient by the name of Mr. Jones. When the experiment was concluded, 21 of the 22 nurses (95%), administered the dose even though all of the rules were in place to prevent such scenarios.
1. They are not allowed to accept instructions over the phone.
2. The dose was double the maximum stated on the box.
3. The medicine, itself, was unauthorized (i.e. not in the stock list).
When the experiment was first conducted, Hofling hypothesized that nurses will listen to an authoritative figure even if it is against their better judgment. The "drug" in question was actually a placebo created specifically for the experiment so no one was actually harmed in the study. Dr. Smith was instructed to contact each nurse individually over the phone and administer 20mg of the drug to a patient by the name of Mr. Jones. When the experiment was concluded, 21 of the 22 nurses (95%), administered the dose even though all of the rules were in place to prevent such scenarios.