Share The Weirdest Reasons Patients Push The Call Light

Nurses Humor

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You guys always crack me up, so I came up with this question to hear more funny weird stories.

What were some funny, stupid, or weird reasons patients push the call light for?

Are you supposed to go to the room right away or how does it work? I will be an RN next year and interested in knowing more about the actual daily life w/ pt.

Here are some of the best...

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Had this cute little old lady who rang her bell in the middle of the night & asked where the ladies room was because "I just want to see what it looks like." She was so cute I took her on the fantastic tour! :lol2:

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Specializes in Geriatrics/Alzheimer's.

I've had patients push the call light just to see if it is working.

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Weirdest? The time I answered a call light because the pt. wanted me to get the dancing, giggling little girls off the ceiling so she could sleep. And then she proceeded to do an imitation of them giggling. Creeped me out.

Total waste of my time? When a 24 yo walky talky can't put his own member in the urinal. :angryfire

Next time you get one of those young guys with urinal issues, you should tell them that if they can't use the urinal without help, you would be happy to insert a foley catheter into their member...or that you understand that guys with small memberes often have that problem. No man wants to think they have a small member or to get a tube shoved up their member. :p

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had a pt was going to donate her body to science..toward her end she would put the call light on and ask"are they ready for me?" "i just want to be ready when they get here" :D

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Specializes in Intermediate care.

We have our patients wear those non-skid socks when out of bed. Some like to wear them in bed.

Had a patient put on her call light and she said "i don't like it when the tips of my socks touch my toes. Do you mind pulling them off my toe about 1/4 of an inch?"

....so i did just that.

"No, now there is too much hanging off the ends of my toes. That was about 1/2 an inch you pulled it. Just pull them back a little more"

....so i did just that.

"I can feel the sock touching my big toe on my left foot"

...i fix the left toe thing she is complaining about

"Now its not equal the right foot"

ARE YOU SERIOUS WOMAN!?!?!?!...there was no reason she couldnt fix the stupid socks herself.

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I once worked in a nursing home with a resident who had been there for 11 years. She was head of the council for the other residents and considered herself "VIP" over other residents. This woman called on the call light religiously every single night every few minutes and would say "I'm sorry it was an accident" when you answered it. Then after about 50 calls she would finally say "would you have the nurse bring me a motrin, i'm in terrible pain!" I would take her the medication, but before I left the room she always demanded I : take the plaid blanket off her and replace it with the blue blanket, open her window just slightly, lower the volume on her t.v. from 8 to 7, push the pillow behind her head down and then lower the head of her bed (it usually took about 10 minutes of pillow fluffing because it was never good enough no matter what you did to it). After I would leave the room, exactly 5 minutes later she would call a CNA into her room to : take the plaid blanket off and replace it with the red blanket, then take the blue blanket and put it across her knees because it was too cold in the room, close the window just a little bit, raise the head of her bed slightly, raise the volume of her t.v. from 7 to 8, and complain how no one ever does anything for her! This happened every single night that I worked there! She was so routine with it, we knew exactly who was on the call light before we looked!!

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Specializes in SNF.

i had a patient push the call light to ask me what kind of tv he had... like was it a toshiba or sony. i'm like seriously??? and walked out

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Specializes in Mixed ICU, OHU.

its not the call bell that bothered me, its when a 40-something y/o walky talky had her husband come to the desk everytime this woman had a BM (which was a lot bc she had bowel prep) to have a nurse come in and wipe her butt.

one of my favorites is when an older gentleman rang his bell, I answered and he had asked if I could get the waitress... turned out he meant the CNA

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Specializes in Mixed ICU, OHU.

oh... once a pt had rang to ask the difference between a standard king bed and a california king

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when i had my hospital training, we had this patient who had been in our ward for so long because of his condition (GBS; with trache). He was known for being demanding and so most of the other nurses would assign him to trainees like me. As a rule, when the patient calls, we have to attend to his needs. One busy duty shift, his call light blinked and i rushed to his room only to find out that he wanted me to change the TV channel for him :)) It happened several times over the next days and weeks but it's ok.

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

I was called into a room because a woman wanted a tissue. The box was right next to her and she was perfectly capable of getting it herself.

She also asked to fetch her a piece of toast.

I wouldn't have minded so much, but she was in isolation for scabies so EVERY TIME someone had to go in there, we had to dress head-to-toe in PPE!

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One patient pushes the call button...because she can. And seriously that's the reason she gives the staff. Even in the bloody night.

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