The worst or strangest orders you have seen...

cynmen7 · Jul 23, 2007

A script for restoril written next to a vicodin 1 tab everyb 4hrs prn...

restoril 15 mg q4hr prn... makes me tired just thinking about it

Warpster · Jul 23, 2007

"Taper steroids" This was when I was a new grad at a VA. I found out that was a standard order at this particular facility and that we were supposed to write the tapers.

One phone order for a patient in pumonary edema at 3 AM. I'd been rattling off the renal and other labs to the doc and he cut me off in mid sentence:

"I order you to give him whatever the hell you think he needs."

(Me) "Lasix and morphine?"

"yeah." (click)

Those are the worst. The funniest was for a condom cath on a comatose patient who came in with (in addition to coma) epididymitis and a retracted member. We could barely manipulate the dimple enough to find out where to put the Foley!

NurseMeg · Jul 23, 2007

I work in a large ICU that doesn't have showers for the patients. We do bed baths, and once the patient is well enough to go to the floor, they can take a shower there. The other day, I had a doc write orders to "take patient to floor for shower. may dc tele while in shower". ok!

allnurses Guide · Jul 23, 2007

I've actually had to take a pt request for a foley to the physician :) Yes, it happens.

I've had a few female patients, post-op knees or hips, want to keep their foley in. So they don't have to get up.

steph

candicane · Jul 23, 2007

Last week I had to call the dr twice on the same pt, first time bp's 240/110 and c/o headache. Dr says "I'm not really worried about that" what?! so I used my nursing judgement and gave his BP meds early!! Brought it down. Later that night (2230) the pt calls that he feels funny and wanted us to check his blood sugar, ok 41, call the dr and the order was "just give him some orange juice and recheck him in 30 minutes" thats it??? why didn't I think of that :smackingf (and I wrote it as an order) anyway I ended up giving the pt some oj, grahm crackers, some milk and documented everything, this pt was not his he was the on call that night and does as little as he can. I'm sure his primary physican hit the roof when he saw what was ordered. He's lucky I didn't see him in the parking lot after work :angryfire.

woody62, RN · Jul 23, 2007

I once had a patient who was discharged home from his bed in ICU. He was an alcoholic and admitted for an acute GI bleed. Everyone examined him and we had to discharge him. So I did. He was bought back into the ER several days later where he died.

Woody

JourneyCC · Jul 23, 2007

Last week I had my all time fav:

"Hold extubation and d/c intubation for possible extubation"

Talk about over-tired MD.

MadisonsMomRN, BSN, RN · Jul 24, 2007

Last week I had my all time fav:
"Hold extubation and d/c intubation for possible extubation"
Talk about over-tired MD.

Poor doc... that is funny though!

midwife2b · Jul 24, 2007

I've gotten many laughs from these posts! Thanks for brightening my day!

I remember calling a resident about a C-Section pt. who was complaining of a rash from her abdomen to her thighs. He came in and looked at it, and wrote some orders, including "Give Dilaudid 2 mg q6 hr around the crotch".

What was he thinking? He meant "around the clock". :lol2: He never lived that one down, we still laugh about it!

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Jul 24, 2007

Ok, this isn't an order per se, but we saw a pt in our clinic that had a documented PCN allergy, in bright orange sticker on the front of her chart, big red letters on her MAR, etc. So she comes in with a sore throat and he gives her (drum roll please....)

AMOXICILLIN :rolleyes:

NebraskaRN · Jul 24, 2007

Stat banana
does 500mg of caffeine exist? If so please can I have some?
Yea, I like the float heels too...

Yeah I work in the NICU and we give caffeine citrate IV all the time for apnea of prematurity.

rn247 · Jul 24, 2007

"Discontinue foley"

Of course this was while the patient was coding in the icu and in response to the question "what else do you want to try?"