Unlicensed personnel calling in prescriptions?!

[bassbird]

My sister is a nurse in Indiana and the story she related to me makes me mad. Is this legal?

I know I have seen posts about secretaries and others triaging phone calls but I haven't heard anyone say they also call in prescriptions.

My sister had an encounter this week regarding a presciption for her daughter. She received a phone call informing her that the physician's office was calling in a script for antibiotics for her daughter (after a urine culture). She asked what her daughter was being treated for and what the antibiotic was and was told "a UTI and the antibiotic is microbid". (The med was obviously Macrobid). She said she wanted to know what the organism is they were treating and at first the person said she didn't know, then came back with nitrosomething. My sister said she had never heard of such an organism and asked to speak to a nurse. She didn't get one. This is the person who called in the prescription! My niece said she didn't know what the big deal was. She works afterschool in a doctors office and calls in presciptions all the time! Is this legal in Indiana?

Also, my niece had surgery recently and my sister found out the person doing the prescreening on the phone was not a nurse either! This is not right!

I'm still a nursing student but I'm constantly informing people I know about the healthcare situation. Most of them are totally unaware that they are being treated by people with very little education or training. It isn't just nurses. They are also training people to take x-rays at clinics. They know the procedure but have no formal radiology training. What next?

Okay, I'm done ranting. I would like to hear if anyone else has heard of unlicensed personnel calling in prescriptions though.

-Roberta

[jazmine09]

I agree with nurseJen however, when employed by a doctor as an medical receptionist or medical assistant, the doctor takes advantage of what responsibilities he can assign.. And as an employee many perform the task b/c its their job, they have bills to pay ...etc... whateva the case may be.... Instead of insulting the medical employee....its the employer who is taking advantage AND GETS AWAY WITH IT meanwhile they are doing what they are told. ultimately the employer is the one who is responsible if anything should go wrong,,however they have their attorney swindling every which way so the employer/doctor can getaway with it. Alot of doctors/ employers employ uncertified MAs and have them administer mx, write rx perform radiology and diagnostic test however to perform these exams you have to be a (LICENSED PROFESSIONAL) . I believe but do not quote me on this,,, Being that it was brought to the employers attention about the rx writing .. the employer may have you perform other exams and administerating mx and billing for it....that may be considered insurance fraud? Because technically the employer didnt administered it an unlicensed professional did. And NurseJen lay off of MAs....is the doctors that uses, lies, abuses them so they dont a licensed RN...get on the doctors back!!!! Every doctor does it so if the MA quits they will just find another doctor employer to take advantage of them also....The Law needs to change and the Drs cannot get away with this!!!

[nurse jen 1979]

I did not insult anyone...it's very true...it is not ok to play nurse...you are not as a MA given the education to to this job, you can not pretend to know what you don't.The docs only take advantage if you let them too, you have to say I am not qualified to do this, you are not practicing on a license you do not have one, that is the point...and no you are not working on theirs...you are a MA...MA's do not receive a license .. I do agree that dr.s take advantage, but only if you let them. The law says you have to be licensed to do these things, so we do not need new laws, as they exist , you have to follow the law. I hope people here understand by me saying MA's do not have the education , I don't mean to insult, I mean you don't have the knowledge base to do my job...period...you did not go to nursing school, that's all

[wizeone7]

I think it is a shame that non nurses are allowed to do this. I did it before I was a nurse and thought I knew what I was doing. The problem is that I didn't even know what I didn't know! I have had to speak to my MD twice this year about "weird" messages/results I received from the MA.

[nurse jen 1979]

Most definitely, it puts people's lives in jeopardy, doctors should not encourage this Bx.