So the boss says "When a call light goes off, consider that an error"

[mindlor]

So the hospital where I work is infatuated with customer service and improving survey scores.

However, they still love to give us 6 and 7 pts each on a busy really BUSY med/surg/tele floor. With only one tech for the whole floor btw (20 pts).

So in a meeting yesterday we are told that we should be able to anticipate our patients needs and be be proactive, we should never have to react.

We were told that whenever a patient hits the light, that is an error and that we will be expected to do better.

We were also told that we would now have to do mandatory hourly rounding on every patient and start using scripted phrases and greetings.

We are also secretaries as our docs still write orders in paper charts and we must then remove them and fax them to order entry and then to pharmacy....

Ah yes pharmacy....we never have the meds we need and spend on avg 2 of 12 hours tracking down meds and on the phone with the pharmacy. ...

Is this unusual or are you guys in similar boat?

[DSkelton711]

I can honestly say that it was stupid, impossible ******like this that made me leave bedside nursing. Bless all of you that manage to do it day in and day out.

[Stcroix, ASN, PhD, RN]

If call lights were dings against me, I have had days where my record would take a big hit no matter how well I had been doing. You know, the patient who puts on his call light for a pencil, a newspaper, an phone book, a tissue (within reach), "fresh" ice water (how does ice water go stale?) and the like. That would be the same patient who says it's "not convenient to take his meds right now, could you come back later?" and then puts on his call light 15min later to tell me he needs his BP meds in a timely manor.

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

"when a call light goes off, consider that an error." ???

Everytime I hear this customer service crap,I consider the job to be an error- an error in judgement of choosing this profession.

Your manager is an error.

[Guest219794]

You mean you actually leave call bells where pts can reach? That is an error.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

It seems like the most unrealistic claims and ideas come from those who haven't been at the bedside in a long time.

[M/B-RN]

If the call lights are an error, then they should get rid of them. I'm tired of the dinging! lol

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

It will be all well and good until the surverys come back that:

Things were NOT quiet, due to a nurse and/or CNA hovering and asking is I needed anything every 5 minutes. And they were staring at me while I slept right outside my door. And they kept asking my visitors to leave so they could assess me over and over again. It was annoying, unprofessional and rude. I had a call bell and was educated on how to use it. I was constipated due to the fact that I can not have bathroom privacy while the nurse sits and watches me. My family was upset thinking that I was far worse off than I was because the nurse never left a moment for peace. Ya'll better not be charging me more for such overbearing attention........

The list could go on and on.

And I agree with the pp--take all the call lights out then, and hire enough staff to cover each patient 1:1. (and call it ICU)

[dt70]

What about passing out meds when my favorite tv show is on? Shouldn't you have previously asked when my show schedule is?

Surveys I've seen can lead to much misinterpretation . I've never filled one out. Is that bad?

[BARNgirl]

No matter how much we anticipate patients' needs, we do not have crystal balls to read their minds. Therefore, call lights will always be needed, and it should NOT be considered an error if a patient calls.

Your boss needs a reality check very soon.

With all the Lomotil going around how can one ever anticipate when a PT might actually have the urge to produce a BM...and hit the light for assistance??? Maybe your facility should implement a defecation schedule, for example: PTs whose last names begin with A-D can only bear down from 0700-0915, and so on. Just ask your boss for input on this, as he is probably himself on such self-imposed regimen!

[Teresag_CNS]

Oh, my, the PHARMACY. Yes, we have missing drugs. Yes, we have to look in 5 different places for drugs before we conclude that it hasn't been sent yet. Yes, a nurse is expected to remember where every drug is likely to be found (refrigerator, Pyxis profile, Pyxis override, at the bedside, in the pharmacy bin) and not phone the pharmacy to find out. And no, there is no way to determine where a given drug might be hidden unless you remember it from the last time you gave it (or bother a colleague to ask.)

This is but one broken system that helped me make the decision to leave the hospital. I couldn't take not having a voice in the midst of so many inefficiencies and so much potential for error. And don't even get me started on the electronic record....

The new-found emphasis on patient satisfaction, nurses should know, is because hospitals cannot take part in "value-based purchasing" (meaning cheaper supplies) if their patient satisfaction scores are too low. It is about money, in other words.

[eatmysoxRN, ASN, RN]

Absolutely ridiculous. In my charting I sometimes put "call bell within reach with use encouraged." and I do encourage them to use it. Naturally I ask before I leave if I can get them anything, but needs happen when I'm not there.

~ No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent -Eleanor Roosevelt ~

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

A little off topic, but I wanted to say the mgmt is truly losing it more than ever. The heat is being felt even up the ladder. CMS is here to stay. At one of the facilities I work, mgmt got canned (5 directors to be exact) and they went by what units had the lowest satisfaction scores. The ones that survived were forced to take on an additional unit for no extra pay and double the responsibility.

Some nurses verbalize how they are incurring additional debt to go back to school and move away from bedside. No one is safe these days. So sad.

Nursing is insane