What is the dumbest order you ever read?

Nurses General Nursing

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I thought I had seen some AH orders but yesterday took the all time win! I had a 97 year old man admitted from ER with impaction and the order said---- "Give oil retention enema and have pt. hold for one hour." I am LMAO as I am thinking "OK where am I going to find a cork.:roll :chuckle

This newbie says this thread is lots of these: :up::up::up::up::up:

Thanks for the laughs, all!

-Kevin

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Specializes in rehab-med/surg-ICU-ER-cath lab.

I love this thread it made my on call weekend fun. The thought of "dangling" a baby with it's little legs out of each port hole or sitting on the side of an isolette is just too cute and will keep me smiling all day. I hope whom ever wrote this order was a resident MD fresh from a surgical floor rotation. Oh well, no brain no pain! :balloons::balloons:

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more aquardly written then anything else...I injured my tailbone and in my choir we lay on the floor to do breathing excersises I got an order from the ortho resedent "patient has been advesed to refrain from activities while laying on the floor"

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

Worked with a doc (community health/family practice) who referred a female pt of his to the optometrist for her yearly mammogram. I razzed him about that for a long time.

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Specializes in Aged care, disability, community.

shown to me by an RN.

elocon cream to be applied to eczema by Sr A and Sr B B.D. for 3/52.

Now these 2 RNs only work mornings and the work the same 4 mornings a week.

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Specializes in M/S,LTAC, ER-not exactly specialized.

My all-time favorite extra-smart and quiet eccentric old school Doc is notorious for crazy orders.

"Crepe myrtle stick dipped in cinnamon for nicotine withdrawal"

Crepe Myrtle trees were easily reached outside the pt window. No I did not give...:uhoh21:

"one beer with supper"

She was 90ish and indignant, she had "never drank whiskey in her whole life!" :nono:

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Pt OOB when ambulating. Okaaayy...

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Specializes in NICU.

Just had an order last night that read:

"Minimum feeds: 50 cc Q4 hours."

Then that whole line was CROSSED out and had "error" written next to it.

Then below it, it said "Minimum feeds: 25 cc Q2 hours"

HUH?!?! Seriously?! I really want to know what's going on in these residents' minds sometimes. A lot of times I think to myself "ok, that musta made sense to someone at some point". But this one I'm just not seeing :uhoh21:

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Well this one is not so much dumb as it is redundant:

15mg Benadryl for aggression and 50mg sominex for insomnia... my issue is, as you have probably already guessed is that this = 65mg Diphenhydramine the same exact anti-histamine.

(At my facility whenever an individual becomes violent and other techniques have failed to calm him down he/she is usually given a cocktail of haldol, benadryl and ativan IM... but when I read the med list and saw the above... I just scratched my head and turned the page.)

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Specializes in ICU. Med/Surg: Ortho, Neuro, & Cardiac.

I was reading a doctor's admission notes when unit clerking once and it said "Pt smokes 1 pack per day but does not inhale." As a smoker, I just had to bust out laughing.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Just had an order last night that read:

"Minimum feeds: 50 cc Q4 hours."

Then that whole line was CROSSED out and had "error" written next to it.

Then below it, it said "Minimum feeds: 25 cc Q2 hours"

HUH?!?! Seriously?! I really want to know what's going on in these residents' minds sometimes. A lot of times I think to myself "ok, that musta made sense to someone at some point". But this one I'm just not seeing :uhoh21:

This could mean that they want to make sure the patient gets 25ccs at least every 2hours. As opposed to 0ccs an hour for hours 1,2, and 3 then 50 ccs for hour 4. That way there is a slow steady rate instead of one big dump.

tvccrn

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Specializes in ICU. Med/Surg: Ortho, Neuro, & Cardiac.

We once had this patient for months with MRSA and a TON of psych issues. It was one of those pt's that gets a different nurse every night so the nurses can keep their sanity. I mean, bipolar, manic depressive...the full load. I was surprised to read these orders:

"Ativan 50.0 mg q3h prn anxiety."

"Haldol 100mg IV" no frequency.

Damn, I guess the doctor couldn't stand the patient either. :-D

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