Order for EKG?

[eveningprimrose]

This is probably a stupid question, but I'm a new grad, so please forgive me. Do you need an order to run an EKG? I am assuming yes. I'm trying to study for the PBDS. Thanks in advance!

[Up2nogood RN, RN]

Yes, you do need an order. A lot of our surgeons will have standing orders for EKG if having chest pain than we would call after it was completed.

Just curious how do you study for the PBDS? I never knew there were study materials available?

[eveningprimrose]

I'm just making lists of assessment findings, interventions, and rationales for major diagnoses like MI, DKA, etc. Thanks for the info!

[Up2nogood RN, RN]

Oh okay, good idea. Our testing wasn't really that bad, I wouldn't stress out over it too much, good luck!

[silentRN]

Ya you need an order. Everything you do you need an order. EKGs cost about 200 dollars a pop.

[GHGoonette, BSN, RN]

If your department has its own machine, you can run a 10-lead reading, and all it'll cost is the price of the electrodes. That's assuming you or someone else in the dept can interpret the printout. It's a useful skill to have.

We sometimes have doctors asking for a reading when a patient is already in pre-op, so we borrow the ward's machine and run it.

Silly question coming; it's an elecrocardiograph. We always refer to it as an ECG, how come I always read EKG in posts? If I were speaking Afrikaans, it would be EKG. Just interested....

[GreyGull]

Silly question coming; it's an elecrocardiograph. We always refer to it as an ECG, how come I always read EKG in posts? If I were speaking Afrikaans, it would be EKG. Just interested....

The term EKG comes from the German spelling of electrocardiogram: Eletrokardiogramm.

The EKG inventor, Willem Einthoven (Dutch) originally spelled the word with a "C". In 1900 Einthoven changed the spelling to 'Eletrokardiogramm' when he published in German. However, both abbreviations have remained in use.

[PMFB-RN, RN]

The physicians I work with would be upset if I waited for an order to do an EKG on a patient who was having symptoms.

[simboka]

The term EKG comes from the German spelling of electrocardiogram: Eletrokardiogramm.

The EKG inventor, Willem Einthoven (Dutch) originally spelled the word with a "C". In 1900 Einthoven changed the spelling to 'Eletrokardiogramm' when he published in German. However, both abbreviations have remained in use.

In a high school trivia tournament, I actually corrected the question reader and gave the point to the other team because the answer on the sheet was ECG. We still won though.

[GreyGull]

The physicians I work with would be upset if I waited for an order to do an EKG on a patient who was having symptoms.

That should be easy enough to cover. When you notify the physicians that you did an emergent EKG on their paitent, you ask if you can enter the order under their name to complete the process.

Each EKG machine records the data along with each EKG you have done and there should be someone monitoring the EKGs on that machine. If an EKG is billed without an order and it may be tracked to you for verification which if it is CMS, you really don't want to be known for billing for procedures that are not done. It is also not uncommon for a cardiologist to scan all the EKGs done in a hospital for quality and verification of interpretations.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

We are required to have orders for EKGs, however, we have standing orders if the patient has changes on telemetry or chest pain.

[MunoRN, RN]

An EKG is part of ACLS/BLS so if you don't need an order to do CPR on an unresponsive full code where you work then you shouldn't need one for an ECG when indicated.

And they don't cost $200, your facility may charge $200 for one but they cost about $5 in labor, plus the cost of a piece of paper.