Things that make you go "hmmm..."

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I got orders yesterday for a patient of mine- from a pediatric nephrologist at a very large academic medical center- to draw labs on Saturday via peripheral stick. The patient was AT the doctor's office in a major teaching hospital...if there wasn't a phlebotomist IN the office (which, I've been followed by nephrology in that same hospital and there is), there's an outpatient phlebotomist in the same building. Why not just hand the patient's mother the order and say "Go downstairs and get your labs drawn now." This is a teenager who is cooperative and a super easy stick and the doctor would have had the lab results that same day if he did that. But instead, I need to draw them at home and drive them to the hospital in East Timbuktu where this patient lives on a Saturday for the doctor to maybe get them on Monday if the lab faxes them correctly. Hmmmmm....

[caliotter3]

Had patient say that doctor handed them an order for labs saying, "The home health nurse can do this". Both the patient and I wondered why the doctor didn't just have it done while the patient was in the office, or even yet, why the doctor's office didn't fax the order to the home health agency, if he wanted the the home health nurse to do it. Caused more than a week's delay for the patient to get the order to the agency. No response about results either. Don't think there was much of a sense of urgency on the doctor's part.