Unfortunately, this is not good practice in an environment where nosocomial infections (exposure occurs while hospitalized) can be very serious, often antibiotic-resistant, and occasionally deadly. In fact, JCAHO, the institution that accredits hospitals, has issued a "sentinel event alert" about nosocomial infections, and it will result in major rules being issued that will force American hospitals to get a grip on lax infection control practices.
There are many other examples: I recall arguing with a physician about the need to place a patient in isolation because TB was suspected by the nurses based on the patient's history; the M.D. refused because he did not want to "subject" his patient to it. Hello???? He won, the nurses lost - later, the patient proved to be positive for respiratory TB and every nurse in the entire unit had to go on prophylactic TB medications.
I'm sure every nurse on FR could cite a testimonial to this issue.
I probably wasn't very popular among the nursing staff because I was very demanding about the care of my patients; but I told the nurses on more than one occasion that their safety always came first, to call me if they needed any special orders, or even to write orders with my name and tell me about it later if the threat was urgent, like a dangerous, unruly patient.