URGENT: med order question

[Annginac2007]

Ok..... So i really need input here. Im the only nurse to a approx 40bed facility. On march 25th ibwill have been a nurse for a year so im fairly new to be running the show. There is some controversy at my workplace so i figured id ask fellow nurses to see who is right & who is at fault. Recently a client was admitted and a med order was received. Upon receiving this med order it was noticed that there were duplicates for each medication. There were two different drs on the med order both had prescribed the same thing with different start and stop dates. So question is do you question the dr order but still follow it or question the order and only administer the medication once? Altho common sense says the client only needs the medication once.... Theres an order for each to be given twice.please send a little bit of your expertise this way!!!

[donsterRN, ASN, BSN]

Your nursing judgment would tell you not to medicate the patient twice or to administer twice the normal dose. If two MDs are writing orders, obviously one doesn't know (or care) about the other one. I would certainly check with the admitting/attending and let him know of the issue. You're held to a certain standard by your states BON; do what you know to be correct.

Continued success in your career!