The worst or strangest orders you have seen...

RNDreamer · Jul 19, 2007

:eek:

We had a older doctor that would write:
Massage scrotum TID
on some of his male patients. No one ever did it.

miko014 · Jul 19, 2007

One of my favorites:
"May insert foley if patient so desires"

We get that a lot with our hospice pts...if they want a foley, they can have it.

Bookworm14 · Jul 19, 2007

We had a older doctor that would write:
Massage scrotum TID
on some of his male patients. No one ever did it.

Most of my male patients take care of this order themselves!! They (the patients) also like "Do not cover member and scrotum. Leave open to air." :lol2:

HappyNurse2005, RN · Jul 19, 2007

Ambien 5-10mg po q4-6h prn.

sweet. 10mg of ambien every 4 hours. They'd really be asleep then.

This was a verbal order over the phone from an a-hole doc who was bothered that i called him, at 5pm, to get an order for Tylenol for a HA. I said my spiel, and then "and she has no PRN orders". (this was an antepartum patient). he said "and why would she?" then, after the order for tylenol said "let me give you some other things, too, so i dont keep getting called"

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Jul 19, 2007

Ambien 5-10mg po q4-6h prn.
sweet. 10mg of ambien every 4 hours. They'd really be asleep then.
This was a verbal order over the phone from an a-hole doc who was bothered that i called him, at 5pm, to get an order for Tylenol for a HA. I said my spiel, and then "and she has no PRN orders". (this was an antepartum patient). he said "and why would she?" then, after the order for tylenol said "let me give you some other things, too, so i dont keep getting called"

Dontcha just want to say, "If the orders were written the FIRST time around, I wouldn't have to be on the phone with you!!"

EmmaG, RN · Jul 19, 2007

Ambien 5-10mg po q4-6h prn.
sweet. 10mg of ambien every 4 hours. They'd really be asleep then.
This was a verbal order over the phone from an a-hole doc who was bothered that i called him, at 5pm, to get an order for Tylenol for a HA. I said my spiel, and then "and she has no PRN orders". (this was an antepartum patient). he said "and why would she?" then, after the order for tylenol said "let me give you some other things, too, so i dont keep getting called"

Called a doc around 8 pm for an order to continue a patient's home MDI (at her request). He shouted "SEND HER TO ICU!" and hung up on me.

I was like "huh?"

Called him back, asked if he misunderstood; she wasn't having breathing problems, she just used it before bedtime and was requesting it to be ordered.

He again shouted, "I HEARD YOU. SEND HER TO ICU! I'M SICK OF HEARING ABOUT THIS PATIENT!"... then hung up again.

So I called back lol.

"I only called you once Dr ___"

"I KNOW THAT. BUT THEY'VE CALLED ME ALL DAY. SEND HER TO ICU! STAT!"

:lol2:

So, I notified the supervisor who notified the administrator on call who called someone else higher up... there was only one ICU bed available. This lady certainly didn't need ICU. This went on for HOURS. Well after midnight. Finally, all the hospital management was exhausted, and caved in. I was told to send the patient to ICU.

So I go in, packing up the stuff and told the little old lady we were sending her to ICU overnight. She said "I don't want to go there." I told her, ya know, you can refuse. So she did and the transfer was cancelled.

So I call Dr _ again. (it was going on 2 am or later by now)

"Patient refuses to transfer to ICU."

"OK then. Albuterol 2 puffs QID prn"

:lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jul 20, 2007

"Empty foley q shift." I kid you not.

"Activity: OOB ad lib." Swell....except the patient was an obese, traumatic brain-injured quad who hadn't moved on his own, much less gotten out of bed, in three years.

HeatherB,CST · Jul 20, 2007

Called a doc around 8 pm for an order to continue a patient's home MDI (at her request). He shouted "SEND HER TO ICU!" and hung up on me.
I was like "huh?"
Called him back, asked if he misunderstood; she wasn't having breathing problems, she just used it before bedtime and was requesting it to be ordered.
He again shouted, "I HEARD YOU. SEND HER TO ICU! I'M SICK OF HEARING ABOUT THIS PATIENT!"... then hung up again.
So I called back lol.
"I only called you once Dr ___"
"I KNOW THAT. BUT THEY'VE CALLED ME ALL DAY. SEND HER TO ICU! STAT!"
So, I notified the supervisor who notified the administrator on call who called someone else higher up... there was only one ICU bed available. This lady certainly didn't need ICU. This went on for HOURS. Well after midnight. Finally, all the hospital management was exhausted, and caved in. I was told to send the patient to ICU.
So I go in, packing up the stuff and told the little old lady we were sending her to ICU overnight. She said "I don't want to go there." I told her, ya know, you can refuse. So she did and the transfer was cancelled.
So I call Dr _ again. (it was going on 2 am or later by now)
"Patient refuses to transfer to ICU."
"OK then. Albuterol 2 puffs QID prn"
:lol2:

Good grief. Talk about a mountain out of a molehill.....:trout:

EmmaG, RN · Jul 20, 2007

Good grief. Talk about a mountain out of a molehill.....:trout:

I just love him to pieces. He's a real trip. Excellent doctor, great with his patients, smart as hell. He scares alot of younger nurses, but he gets a kick out of it when the nurses give it right back to him. We always got along great.

But he hates the hospital administration with a passion. I have a feeling that they ticked him off that day somehow, and he was doing this to get even :lol2:

(my part in this was minimal--- maybe 5 minutes at the most. the rest of the time he was going 'round with the administration)

jojotoo, RN · Jul 20, 2007

We had a older doctor that would write:
Massage scrotum TID
on some of his male patients. No one ever did it.

Just out of curiosity, what was the rationale behind this?

EmmaG, RN · Jul 20, 2007

Just out of curiosity, what was the rationale behind this?

I'm not sure I'd wanna know :lol2:

jojotoo, RN · Jul 20, 2007

I'm not sure I'd wanna know

You have a point!