No Height/Weight + Allergies = No Meds

[Sparda29]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Just wondering how other hospitals deal with this annoying issue. Almost every day a nurse runs over from the ER looking for a drug that is not in the Pyxis and they often come without a filled out height/weight/allergy sheet, sometimes without an order even.

I usually send them back to the ER to gather the information and then dispense the drugs. The most lenient I've been was on a Levophed drip where I picked the dose, wrote the order for the doctor while it was being administered and had the doctor sign off on the order after.

 

[pharmdpharmd]

Well, the good thing about CPOE, it doesn't allow the prescriber to enter medications without these inforamtion. So we almost never run into this problem

 

[mustang sally]

I see this relatively frequently where I work. A lot of times the weight will be in but not the height (which I really don't understand), yet the orders are already in the computer. It's just a small hospital so I usually go find the info out for myself.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Our system must have allergies to verify meds. I only worry about height and weight if it's crucial the drug be renally adjusted, which it usually is not in the ED for initial doses since often it's the frequency that is changed. Don't be a dick about it.

Obv there needs to be an order. I don't make it a habit to take a verbal of a verbal order.

 

[kwakster928]

Agreed... Most of pharmacy systems or other clinical systems will not allow orders to be put in without some form of allergy information. I understand in certain instances, there is no way to obtain allergy information. Regardless, I do not dispense any medication without allergy information period. I am less strict about height and weight unless it is needed for drug dosing.

 

[Sparda29]

Agreed... Most of pharmacy systems or other clinical systems will not allow orders to be put in without some form of allergy information. I understand in certain instances, there is no way to obtain allergy information. Regardless, I do not dispense any medication without allergy information period. I am less strict about height and weight unless it is needed for drug dosing.

Our system allows for it since we don't have CPOE yet. We've been told that when the new CPOE system comes in, it won't allow orders to be put in without allergy information AND height and weight.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Our system allows for it since we don't have CPOE yet. We've been told that when the new CPOE system comes in, it won't allow orders to be put in without allergy information AND height and weight.

We have Epic and you don't need ht/wt

 

[pharmdpharmd]

We have Epic and you don't need ht/wt

The epic team can set it to do whatever you want. We have epic as well, and we set it up so it won't accept orders without ht, wt, and allergies. Except for outpatient and ambulatory surgery, it only requires allregies

 

[ucrx]

The systems can be set up different ways. Even when I was at a hospital with paper orders, allergies was a hard stop and height/weight soft for adults. All three were hard stops for pediatrics.

 

[Dalteparin]

Our system allows for it since we don't have CPOE yet. We've been told that when the new CPOE system comes in, it won't allow orders to be put in without allergy information AND height and weight.

We have Cerner CPOE and we get ED orders for pts without height/weight or allergies all the time. It does pop up HUGE alerts when people try to enter orders on a pt with no allergy info, but people just ignore the alerts... even if the order is for penicillin and the patient is awake, alert, and able to provide allergy info.

I guess this is why we all still have jobs. 🙂