Wrong dose?

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Specializes in LTC.

The MD wrote for Tussionex 1 TBSP q12h prn cough. I questioned him and stated that I thought it was 1TSP q12h. He said...and I kid you not...'either or.' Uh...that's 3 times the dose buddy! It's extended release 10mg/5ml of Hydrocodone. Couldn't that really hurt the patient? I hope the pharmacy calls to question him...

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You are right. :yeah: I found the dosage information on epocrates.com. The pharmacy better catch that. The patient will be doped up if that med error happens.:no:

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Specializes in ER, telemetry.

Good example of how incompetent some doctors can be and how we, as ER nurses, are responsible for so much more than just nursing.

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Specializes in Trauma/ED.

Just because the doc made an error does not make him "incompetent". I hope that the next time I make a mistake someone doesn't label me incompetent. We are all human and we are a team in the ED with a common goal to help the community "one spider bite at a time."

"Either/or" is a funny comment, guess he had bigger fish to fry and figured if it made the patient too sedate they would take less--probably not going to stop all respirations unless they were really frail.

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Specializes in Pediatrics (Burn ICU, CVICU).
The MD wrote for Tussionex 1 TBSP q12h prn cough. I questioned him and stated that I thought it was 1TSP q12h. He said...and I kid you not...'either or.' Uh...that's 3 times the dose buddy! It's extended release 10mg/5ml of Hydrocodone. Couldn't that really hurt the patient? I hope the pharmacy calls to question him...

Though is it not yet a JCAHO unapproved abbreviation, I bet it won't be long until it is. It is already a no-no at my hospital. Per our in-house policy, it is supposed to be written out in ml.

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Specializes in ER, telemetry.
Just because the doc made an error does not make him "incompetent". I hope that the next time I make a mistake someone doesn't label me incompetent. We are all human and we are a team in the ED with a common goal to help the community "one spider bite at a time."

"Either/or" is a funny comment, guess he had bigger fish to fry and figured if it made the patient too sedate they would take less--probably not going to stop all respirations unless they were really frail.

I said he sounded incompetent due to his flippant response of "either/or", and apparently, since the OP was hoping the pharmacy would catch the error, it sounds like he did not fix the error. That, to me, seems negligent.

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Does this happen often?

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