Verbal orders : are you up to date with current guidance?

Verbal orders are known to be associated with medication errors— especially in general hospitals—but there is an absence of research into them in psychiatry. Fifty inpatient nurses working in a large psychiatric hospital were asked if they would accept a verbal order from a doctor. 26% said they would not accept a verbal order, though only 12% were aware of the current guidance. A further 12% lacked confidence into taking a verbal or were unsure of the exact procedure, while 62% gave an incorrect account of how to take a verbal order. Recent attendees on a medicines management training course or those who said they were familiar with national guidance were no more likely to be aware of the correct procedure than the remaining nurses. The findings have implications for local training needs. This simple study could easily be repeated in other settings to check that nursing staff are up-to-date with current guidance and thereby minimising the risk of medication errors. Suggestions are made for further research into verbal orders in psychiatry.