Call light response time policy and procedure

[MYRN2016]

Hello:

I don't believe in reinventing the wheel. Thus, I am looking for the following:

1. Facility call light response policy and procedure (how long do you allow for CNA to answer call light)

2. Refusal of care policy and procedure.

Thanks.

[Do-over, ASN, RN]

We have had a policy for awhile that states NO ONE is to walk past a room with a call light going off (still haven't figured out what they want us to do if we are walking to a room where we just answered a call light at the nurse station and have to walk past the room with a call light going off to respond to the one you just answered at the nurses station) but ANYWAY, I think it's funny that our manager or shift supervisors, who are nurses obviously, and they themselves walk past a call light. Don't you think this should include them also??

I walk past call lights frequently - because I have meds in hand on the way to another patient's room. I will not take meds into another room.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Breathe smeathe.

Hehe! I always say, "blue schmue."

:)

[wooh, BSN, RN]

I walk past call lights frequently - because I have meds in hand on the way to another patient's room. I will not take meds into another room.

You're not supposed to! That can lead to a med error! So I think the moral of the story is never to carry meds down the hall. You should have them magically levitate to the proper room. :)

[chorkle]

For 3dayRN--Obviously, in your facility, only call lights near the nursing station get answered with any regularity. Does someone check on outlier call lights once a day, to ensure the resident is still breathing?

But, I see much the same problem elsewhere. Admin decrees that bathroom call lights will be answered IMMEDIATELY, and that all call lights will be answered PROMPTLY. You are the only CNA on the floor at the time, for whatever reason, and suddenly you have SEVEN call lights, of which THREE are bathroom lights. NOTHING you do will be satisfactory, to Admin.

And if you manage to answer all 7 call lights--that'll only take an hour, say--assuming no new ones light up while you're getting the 7 done--you get dinged because you didn't care for the residents you were primarily responsible for.

[iceprincess492]

1: Anwser the call light immidiatly, dropping everything you are doing

2: Care can never be refused

Thanks.

Does not sound very realistic to me. Somethings cannot be dropped to answer a call light ie: transferring a res, starting IV, inserting catheter, doing a strerile tx, trach care,etc.....

I'm assuming you mean a policy regarding res/pt refusing care. They always have the option of refusing any care/tx they choose not to have.

[backatit2]

sorry, if i'm checking meds, chemo, or blood products i'm not going to risk making an error there by interrupting what i'm doing to go to answer a call light. if i'm with a patient i'm not going to leave them to see what another patient needs. if i'm on the phone with a doctor, pharmacy, nursing supervision, etc, i'm not going to stop that to go answer a call light. if i'm waiting for someone i paged to call me back, i'm not going to leave the phone to go answer a call light and further disturb whomever i paged in the middle of the night's life and sleep more.

notice the bolded words:

"i don't think that's unreasonable. obviously if i'm dressed out bc a patient is in isolation and i'm changing their bed i'm not going to stop what i'm doing, undress, and go answer the light that is probably, "can i get my pain meds" or "will you bring me some ice," but if i'm in the hall or in a patient's room that i'm able to step out of, i do think you/i should (and i do) go and answer it immediately. if it's "will you bring me some ice" i will finish up what i'm doing and then get some ice. if it's, "i need to go to the bathroom" i will go to their room right then if what i was doing can wait. when you gotta go, u gotta go!"

i'm pretty sure the person who said stop what you're doing and answer the call light didn't mean to drop a patient on the ground to go answer a light. come on, people. what happened to all these critical thinking skills i keep reading about.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

notice the bolded words:

"i don't think that's unreasonable. obviously if i'm dressed out bc a patient is in isolation and i'm changing their bed i'm not going to stop what i'm doing, undress, and go answer the light that is probably, "can i get my pain meds" or "will you bring me some ice," but if i'm in the hall or in a patient's room that i'm able to step out of, i do think you/i should (and i do) go and answer it immediately. if it's "will you bring me some ice" i will finish up what i'm doing and then get some ice. if it's, "i need to go to the bathroom" i will go to their room right then if what i was doing can wait. when you gotta go, u gotta go!"

i'm pretty sure the person who said stop what you're doing and answer the call light didn't mean to drop a patient on the ground to go answer a light. come on, people. what happened to all these critical thinking skills i keep reading about.

she said she wouldn't drop what she was doing if she were in an isolation room. she clearly said she would step out of a patient's room to answer another light. sorry, not doing it. besides, if i'm in another room, and a patient needs ice, i'm not likely to remember thy need ice. interrupting care makes room for errors.

[Poi Dog]

We have had a policy for awhile that states NO ONE is to walk past a room with a call light going off (still haven't figured out what they want us to do if we are walking to a room where we just answered a call light at the nurse station and have to walk past the room with a call light going off to respond to the one you just answered at the nurses station) but ANYWAY, I think it's funny that our manager or shift supervisors, who are nurses obviously, and they themselves walk past a call light. Don't you think this should include them also??

We must work at the same facility, yes?

At my last facility, every staff member was responsible for answering the call light right down to the housekeepers. Granted some staff could not perform the task, they would find someone who was able to.

The call light policy was the only thing that place had managed to get right.

[JessicaRNA]

Many nurses seem to forget that they too can go answer a call light. I can't tell you how many times I have been on my lunch break and watched 4-5 nurses sitting and chatting at the nurse's station talking about things that do not pertain to work. They will look up at the call light and see it and ignore it. If you say anything to them, it's either "Oh, we're busy." Or "We can't take people to the bathroom." You mean you can pass out medicine and stick people with needles and all of those fun things, but you can't walk a person to the bathroom?

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

At my last building, the call system was computerized. The CNAs wore beepers. If they didn't answer in 3 minutes, the staff nurse beepers would go off. Still not answered, the nurse manager's beeper went off. Finally, my beeper would go off. I never heard my beeper. The computer kept track of how long it took to answer a light so if a disgruntled family member or DPH surveyor said it took too long, we'd print the report and show them.

[3dayRN]

I do not follow our policy that no one can walk past a call light. As someone stated in an earlier comment I will not stop if I'm already going to another room to pass meds etc. I just think its very telling that management , the ones that came up with our policy, ALWAYS pass rooms with lights going off.

[MYRN2016]

Thank you. If anyone have verbiage which should be used in the policy and procedure please inbox me.

We have a great call system accompanied with 1 hour support checks of each resident. Our calls will roll over to management phones if they are not answered within 7 minutes. We start talking to staff upon calls greater than 10 minutes, and most times they immediately started care when they go to the room and neglected to reset the call box upon entering the room.

I appreciate the feedback.