How long does it take to answer a call light?

[rosey200735]

My facility wants a room light answered in 5 minutes and a bathroom light in 3 minutes. I'm having trouble meeting this.

[ComeTogether, LPN]

There are a couple ways around this.....what I would do Is if I saw one of my patients lights go off I would go to find out what they needed and if time allowed I would do it right then, If I didn't have time right then I would turn the light off and let them know I'd be with them as soon as I possibly can. You can't take 5 people to the bathroom in 3 minutes!! The other thing I would do Is if I put someone in the bathroom I would make sure I didn't go far so that I could listen/watch for the light. No one should have to sit in the bathroom for more than 3 mintues, to me, those lights are the most important. If I thought the patient in the bathroom was going to take a long time I would move on to the next room or to the persons roommate and get started, but make sure whatever it was that I could walk away if I needed to. As long as your patient is safe you don't need to stay there from start to finish if there are other things you need to go run and do.....a lot of times I would get someone set up for bed for example, tell them to do the best they could getting dressed without standing up and I"ll be right with you....this gives them a sense of independence and frees you up to go and answer another light or what have you. Its not always possible and management will probably always have demands that cant be met. All you can do is your best when the demands aren't realistic.

[ComeTogether, LPN]

Only CNAs answer call lights my facility. And there is no time limit to when a call light must be answered. That said, everyone is pretty prompt about answering 'their' call lights but doesn't usually answer 'other CNAs call lights'. The only time there is a hold up is if I'm with another resident. Depending on the resident, depends on how quickly I try to answer the light if I'm already with a resident. One resident has her call light going off every forty-five mins for BR, but has cath. So she can wait a bit longer if I'm with someone else. But if it's someone who rarely calls, I try to get there as fast as possible.

That is wrong, insane and a few other choice words that I can't say. ANYONE can answer a call light. I don't think i could work for a facility that didn't have its nurses answer call lights. Thats nuts. So they see it ringing and just walk on by? Really??

[vaLPN757]

At my facility, we are supposed to answer lights within 10 minutes. On a 60 bed unit with 2 nurses and 4 aides this can be difficult. Especially when we have "frequent ringers" who turn on their light AGAIN when you have literally just walked out of their room. I try to strive within 5 minutes but it can be hard, especially in the middle of a med pass....

[newkidnurse]

So perhaps what we have at my hospital is a different piece of 'technology', if we can even call it that, but if a patient presses the button for the call bell, it will consistently Ring, and Ring, and RING, until it is either (a) answered at the front desk or (b) canceled in the room at the wall. When it RINGS, the entire floor hears it, as every single non-patient room (ie- the staff room, report room, med room, soiled utility room, etc etc) has a speaker. You cannot answer from anywhere but the nurse's station, of course :) So basically, someone will make sure that the call is answered--or better, that it is stopped. But there is no time restriction as far as I know...

But maybe this question is really about how long does the patient need to get the response they were seeking-- ie - if pt calls for a pillow, what's the length of time from initial call until pillow placement?

[ComeTogether, LPN]

So perhaps what we have at my hospital is a different piece of 'technology', if we can even call it that, but if a patient presses the button for the call bell, it will consistently Ring, and Ring, and RING, until it is either (a) answered at the front desk or (b) canceled in the room at the wall. When it RINGS, the entire floor hears it, as every single non-patient room (ie- the staff room, report room, med room, soiled utility room, etc etc) has a speaker. You cannot answer from anywhere but the nurse's station, of course :) So basically, someone will make sure that the call is answered--or better, that it is stopped. But there is no time restriction as far as I know...

But maybe this question is really about how long does the patient need to get the response they were seeking-- ie - if pt calls for a pillow, what's the length of time from initial call until pillow placement?

I think thats standard in most hospitals. The OP is referring to LTC i believe.

[mstearns09]

There are a couple ways around this.....what I would do Is if I saw one of my patients lights go off I would go to find out what they needed and if time allowed I would do it right then If I didn't have time right then I would turn the light off and let them know I'd be with them as soon as I possibly can. You can't take 5 people to the bathroom in 3 minutes!! The other thing I would do Is if I put someone in the bathroom I would make sure I didn't go far so that I could listen/watch for the light. No one should have to sit in the bathroom for more than 3 mintues, to me, those lights are the most important. If I thought the patient in the bathroom was going to take a long time I would move on to the next room or to the persons roommate and get started, but make sure whatever it was that I could walk away if I needed to. As long as your patient is safe you don't need to stay there from start to finish if there are other things you need to go run and do.....a lot of times I would get someone set up for bed for example, tell them to do the best they could getting dressed without standing up and I"ll be right with you....this gives them a sense of independence and frees you up to go and answer another light or what have you. Its not always possible and management will probably always have demands that cant be met. All you can do is your best when the demands aren't realistic.[/quote']

We aren't allowed to do this at our facility. Once you are in a room with a resident, we are not allowed to turn off the call light and say we will be right back. We have to complete whatever request the resident has given and then move on. It had to be set up that way because many of the aides at our facility refuse to work together unless it's one of their buddies and even then, they pick and choose what lights they answer. Now, they aren't supposed to pick and choose but they still do.

[schnookimz]

The hospital I worked at as a CNA wanted the light answered in less than 30 seconds. This is with 8-9 patients per CNA. Also, hourly rounding was required so of your 8-9 patients, you were expected to never have more than 3 call lights per shift, otherwise it was assumed that you were not rounding efficiently.

[i_love_patient_care]

My favorite was when the activities people or admins would answer a call light and then come find me to tell me that Resident Mr. X wanted the TV turned down or something to that affect. I'd be in middle of transferring, or bed bathing someone, or something and they would act like I had to drop what I was doing. >.