Pt care without orders

U.S.A. South Dakota

Published

What is the legality of caring for a pt on the floor without any doctors orders. Example: direct admit walks in, put in a room for 1-2 hours without any written or verbal orders. Not even an admit order. Is it even legal for the nurse to care for this pt?? 

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Specializes in ICU.

Occasionally this crap happens to us, we just get the patient in their assigned room, on the monitors and settled. If they had a vasoactive drip running on receipt, we keep it going so the blood pressure doesn't bottom out. I don't think there's a legal problem with getting the patient some basic nursing care like turning, bathing, placing on monitors etc. However, I'd be on the phone with the admitting physician letting them know the patient has arrived and I have no orders and I'll be needing them immediately please! 

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