If you work medical malpractice or personal injury cases, you have seen these acronyms in medical records, deposition transcripts, and expert reports. SOP. SDO. They get used interchangeably.

They are not the same document.

A Standard Operating Procedure is the facility's internal policy. It governs tasks that already fall within nursing scope of practice. A Standing Delegation Order is physician pre-authorization that permits a nurse to perform an act that would otherwise require a direct medical order.

Two different documents. Two different legal questions. Mixing them up in a causation analysis can weaken an otherwise defensible case.