Orders

Nurses cannot write orders. They can take orders from physicians or advanced practice providers (PA or NP) and can enter those in on behalf of the provider. Orders can come written, verbal (face to face) or by telephone. They also can be placed by the provider his/herself. It is not best practice for a nurse to enter in provider orders, as it increases the odds of an error being made and the patient coming to harm.

If you see a nurse entering in orders, then the nurse has taken those orders from a physician in one of the above forms. They also can act on those orders even if the provider has not yet formally "signed" them, because they received the order from the provider already.

Standing orders/order sets are orders put in place for a given doctor's patient(s) with specific conditions. As an example, a physician who regularly performs hysterectomies may have standing orders filed in the facility that they do those at with actions required by nursing for all of their patients who had a hysterectomy. They can include things like wound care, ambulation, pain control, nausea control, when to take out a Foley and the like. These are put in as a set of orders that the physician signs later when rounding. When you get to know the physicians you work with you generally also get to know their order sets or standing orders.

Hope this helps.