NEW DR.'S ORDERS.....How do the medication orders get to the pharmacy ?

[passing thru]

I work on the most inefficient unit in the country. !!!

Or it's me !!

Here is my question.

I would like to hear how other hospitals are handling this.

Forget standing orders.

The doctor comes in and writes out new orders, a chest x-ray,

a diet change, and 5-6 new medication orders.

Now, forget the cxr and diet change.... I just wanna know,

On your unit, How does the pharmacy get these new

medication orders?

[Anniekins]

Yes the MD's enter the orders....however.....they need to be "reminded" at times. When an order is entered, a print out prints, and is put in their chart by the secratary, who puts the red flag up. The system works very well. It is a big hospital in a big city......

:-):roll

[nowplayingEDRN]

We fax the orders, unless they are being d/c'd to home and then the doc puts the order in the computer. Pharmacy makes rounds every morning and at night we have the night cart. But if it is not on the night cart and we need it, we have a pharmacy tech and a pharmacist on call.

[RNConnieF]

ALL orders are entered in the puter, no entry, no order, simple. All the MDs know it too. Over 97 % of orders are on the puter.

[nursnancy, LPN, RN]

We take the order sheet out of the chart and fax it to pharmacy. Between 9 and 10 at night, one of the nurses has to take the medcart down to pharmacy to get it re-stocked for the next 24 hrs. If we need meds in between, we get them out of pyxis.

[kcrnsue]

At the rural hospital where I worked,(now I am in public health), if you were there at night, you are the pharmacist. You take your little key chain and go into the pharmacy and try to figure out where the heck everything is. No pharmacist on call either. Real nice when I ran out of TPN one night. You can see why I no longer work there.

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

We dont have a pharmacist on duty all night. If we need something the house supervisor is paged to get it at night. Our runners are volunteers during the week and occasionally on weekends, otherwise it is the pharm techs that do it. If its a stat order we have to send someone to get it.

[passing thru]

If any nursing students are reading this, I wish you'd figure out the most efficient hospital in this batch of posts, and rank all the different ways that pharmacy has of getting meds.

The doctors entering their own orders has to be the most efficient.

I am working in the most inefficient hospital. Everything is an obstacle course ....to accomplish anything........I have to run the obstacle course. No such thing as a straight line from Point A to Point B.

[passing thru]

If any nursing students are reading this, I wish you'd figure out the most efficient hospital in this batch of posts, and rank all the different ways that pharmacy has of getting meds.

The doctors entering their own orders has to be the most efficient.

I'm beginning to understand why some hospitals are so great.

They're efficient. They do not have state-of-the-art equipment in one or two departments, and then still do dr.'s orders, meds, kardexes the same way they were done in the 60's & 70's.

Where is the nursing leadership and nursing management?

I'm stuck in a 1973 hospital .............

I'm in a time warp !!!!

Ughhh hhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!

[passing thru]

Don't ask me what happened to the 2 above posts.............'

I'm stuck in a time warp & going to bed !!

g'Nite !

[live4today, RN]

I've run to the pharmacy many a day to pick up yet unfilled orders, clarify orders, etc. because the meds aren't arriving fast enough....especially the stat or now orders.

[nimbex, RN]

fax'em, then you wait, even for stats (i' m in the ICU, can't wait long for stats) some meds we can override in the pyxis and the pharm. eventually enters it in.

usually, you wait.... wait... call the pharm... "I don't have that order, can you fax it?

okay, re-fax.... wait.... wait... call the pharm. different person "can y fax the order?" "just did 3 times"

pharm "well fax it again"....wait.... wait..

WRITE OUT INCIDENT REPORT ON PHARMACY... several times per shift.... wait..... wait..... nothing comes of it....

(can you fax that incident report, never got it :-) )

[sbic56, BSN, RN]

Originally posted by Anniekins

At our hospital, the Dr's enter the med orders into our computer system, and someone from pharmacy brings it and puts it in the patients drawer. It usually is up within the hour. If a med is not there, we go on the computer and press "reorder". This system works really smoothly.

-Annie

This is perfect! I imagine it cuts down on errors by cutting out the middle man, as well. Not to menntion placing the respnsibility where it belongs. Really no more work for the doc and much less for the nursing staff. I LOVE it!