Re: Taking admission orders over the phone.
If the patient is being admitted by the hospitalist (or residents with them), they are there writing them themselves.
On the not very often case when they are getting admitted by a private doc or service, letting them call the orders in to me speeds things up a lot, rather than waiting for the doc to be able to come in. It is usually just basic dx, diet, meds and AM labs. The doc then comes in after office hours or in the morning (I work nights). I don't really mind, because I want the patient to be able to move as soon as possible. Our docs just ask another nurse or the charge if I am busy in a room, any of us will take orders for a coworker if we are at the desk.
Our hospital policy won't let the ER docs write the admit orders, there used to be a lot of problems that disappeared with the new policy.
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