Who is responsible for orders?

Hi! First time here and frustrated.

I was wondering how your agencies handle orders for lab work? To clarify, at our agency, the nurse who received the order, enters the order. Ideally, that nurse will then write what lab work was ordered for that patiend on the master schedule for the date it is due. OUr schedules are done 2 weeks at a time. If it is a month in advance, the primary nurse is made aware of the order and it becomes her responsibility to make sure the labwork is scheduled on the appropriate day.

Well, I was reprimanded today for not drawing a PT/INR on another nurse's patient. I did not know it was ordered. It was the first time I had seen the patient and since it was not on the schedule, I did not do it. I had also never received report on this patient. The primary nurse moved her to my schedule when she was assigned a new admit for that day.

Do you routinely check orders for each patient prior to every visit? How do you communicate to the other nurses in your office what needs to be done?

Communication in our office is very poor and has been a sore spot for a long time. This is not the first time something like this has happened (with other nurses as well.) My manager told me it was my responsibility to check all orders for every patient prior to the visit. This could become impossible! What if it was a monthly lab order that was ordered months ago?????? Am I supposed to search back through ALL the orders? I find this to be unrealistic.

Looking forward to hear how you manage this in your offices. Thanks!