Behaviors and Call Lights! Help!

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Aug 12, 2006

I noticed that if i gave a time frame of when i'd be back, the call light wasn't used nearly as often.

I've had family members that have been in LTC facilities who have said that you'd see the aide or the nurse, but you wouldn't know how long it would be when you saw them again.

banditrn · Aug 13, 2006

I've had family members that have been in LTC facilities who have said that you'd see the aide or the nurse, but you wouldn't know how long it would be when you saw them again.

Marie, that makes me feel bad. I think everyone should be able to get the attention they need - unfortunately it doesn't seem like it happens.

At our facility right now, we are buried at noc with only myself and one aide. And it seems like most of our attention is divided amongst a very few residents.

Just last nite, this one lady from a 'prominent' family became enraged when it took us 10 minutes to answer her call lite. This particular lady is frequently on the lite at nite, and we can't always drop everything to get there.

TallGirlAni · Aug 13, 2006

I had a patient a few weeks ago who nearly drove me insane! I arrived on the PM shift and the day shift nurse was giving me a report of the patient I was about to receive. I knew of this patient, but had never personally cared for him before. He was previously on our floor before being sent to ICU and now on that day, he was back.

The day shift nurse told me that this patient had been driving her crazy all day long pressing the call button frequently. She was so happy to finally give me report and rush out the door. Luckily, census was low and it was not a hectic day.

So, I went in the room to assess him and realized that he was not a safety/fall risk to himself, thus I couldn't make him a 1:1 observation. When he had previously been on our floor before ICU, I remember he had been on 1:1 observation. Plus, staffing was low, we didn't have an aide to sit with him, and the nursing surperviser would want some serious justification to make him a 1:1, so that she would be able to pull an aide from another floor to sit with him. I know the routine, and I knew that unless he was trying to get out of bed and fall, or he was pulling at lines, he wasn't going to be a 1:1.

I started to devise a list of everything that I could do to keep a closer eye on him and move a room that was right across from our charting room, so he could at least hear our voices, and see more passing traffic in the hallways. I think he was just very lonely.

So, having only a smaller patient load, I was able to spend a little more time with him in his room, reassuring him that everything was all right and that I was going to be right across the hall, and that he wasn't going to be left alone. You are probably asking yourself, why not get him a roommate? Almost all of the rooms are private on my floor, with the exception of two, and they were too far out of the way for him to be from where the nurses are mostly.

After moving him to his new room, getting him comfortable, and settled, I went about performing my duties for the shift. The evening started to get a little busier and I had two new admits. And as the night wore on, the call light of my particular patient would go off more frequently. I would walk in the room and say, "May I help you?" He would just look at me and say, "can you leave the door open?" After opening it exactly as he wanted it left, he would call again in a few minutes later, asking me to shut it. Then, it would be to turn off the lights, turn on the lights, even though he had control of them on the hand held call device. I would teach him how to use it, and I knew he knew how because he had been turning them off and on all day. Then, he would call me into the room to ask what time it was, even though the clock was right in front of him.

My patience was wearing thin, and I would tell him of the importance of using the call button correctly and that I had other patients and duties to attend. At this point, I was falling behind, charting was way behind, and I saw no end in sight.

It was 23:00 and he still wasn't sleeping, didn't want to watch tv, instead just using the call button. My pager was going off like crazy as I am suctioning another patient, doing dressing changes, etc. I asked the other nurses to take my pager for awhile and see what they could do to get him to go sleep or just not press the call button, unless it was an emergency or something he really needed.

Each of the other nurses took turns going into the room, and each time after they left, within a few minutes, the call light would go on again. I gave him some benadryl for qHS prn and repeated the dose an hour later, to no avail. He was wide awake. I even went into the room and had him close his eyes while I had him do some relaxation and I was telling him, "you on a soft, warm, bed and you can hear the wind breezing around you. You are getting sleepier, and sleepier, etc...." I thought that after 10 minutes of this and the benadryl, he would be getting drowsier, so I started to tiptoe out of the room. All of the sudden, he pushes the light switch button on the hand held device and opens his eyes wide and looks at me as straight-faced as possible and tells me, "that didn't work."

So, needless to say, I finished everything except for the charting, rounded up a laptop, and went into his room to chart.

I just felt sorry for the oncoming shift........

chadash · Aug 14, 2006

One thing I used to do with the-mother-of-all-call-bell-ringers was check on her every so often when she did not ring. She had the delusion that she was my only patient. Seem to make her feel like she did not have to ring as often. But, frankly, sometimes nothing works!

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Aug 14, 2006

There are pts. who think their nurse is ONLY assigned to them, either that or to two pts., and they are considered alert and oriented.

lovingtheunloved, ASN, RN · Aug 22, 2006

There is a special place in hell for the person who invented the call light.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Aug 22, 2006

I'd figure by now that person is living on some deserted island, to escape the death threats.

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Aug 22, 2006

Don't all y'all wonder what these patients were like at the hospital before they came to us? They expect US with 20,30,40..patients to answer their call bells in 3 minutes or less when they have just come from a hospital where the staff has FAR FEWER patients and don't answer the call light for hours(no kidding) at a time.

banditrn · Aug 22, 2006

Don't all y'all wonder what these patients were like at the hospital before they came to us? They expect US with 20,30,40..patients to answer their call bells in 3 minutes or less when they have just come from a hospital where the staff has FAR FEWER patients and don't answer the call light for hours(no kidding) at a time.

On med surg in the hospital where I worked, they had an automatic system - the call lite would buzz that nurses pager - if it wasn't answered in a good time, it would buzz her again.

One thing I had NO experience with was these body alarms!! At least a couple of them go off at nite, and I go running in, and can never find where they've hidden the box right away!!:chuckle

I agree about the call lite inventor - I'd like a shot at them myself!! :crying2: I can't stand to have them ring and ring - I guess it's from working in the hospital so long. The DON says to just let them ring - the aide will get them.:uhoh21: I don't think so - the girl has enough to do at night without both of us working together.

I've been there several times during the day, and the lites just ring and ring - I don't see how they can stand listening to them!! In fact, I've heard body alarms going off, and I'm the only one running to the room.

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Aug 23, 2006

At most facilities I've worked at, EVERYONE is expected to answer call lights...especially an emergency light....even if it's to say, "I'll get the aide for you."....You know...all that customer service stuff.

At one facility, the brand new,young,male administrator thought he would set a good example so he came up to the floor to walk around and answer lights. He went into one room and came out 16 shades of red. "Uhhhh, Leslie....I think you better answer this one." I went into the room and there was a huge woman sitting totally naked. She had dropped the soap under the bed and needed someone to pick it up. After that, the administrator stayed away from the floors and NEVER again answered a light. :lol2: :chuckle

banditrn · Aug 23, 2006

At most facilities I've worked at, EVERYONE is expected to answer call lights...especially an emergency light....even if it's to say, "I'll get the aide for you."....You know...all that customer service stuff.
At one facility, the brand new,young,male administrator thought he would set a good example so he came up to the floor to walk around and answer lights. He went into one room and came out 16 shades of red. "Uhhhh, Leslie....I think you better answer this one." I went into the room and there was a huge woman sitting totally naked. She had dropped the soap under the bed and needed someone to pick it up. After that, the administrator stayed away from the floors and NEVER again answered a light. :chuckle

What - was he too good to crawl around on the floor?!! :chuckle :chuckle

squeakykitty · Jan 12, 2007

At most facilities I've worked at, EVERYONE is expected to answer call lights...especially an emergency light....even if it's to say, "I'll get the aide for you."....You know...all that customer service stuff.
At one facility, the brand new,young,male administrator thought he would set a good example so he came up to the floor to walk around and answer lights. He went into one room and came out 16 shades of red. "Uhhhh, Leslie....I think you better answer this one." I went into the room and there was a huge woman sitting totally naked. She had dropped the soap under the bed and needed someone to pick it up. After that, the administrator stayed away from the floors and NEVER again answered a light. :chuckle

Cost of electricity used for call light---$0.07

Bar of soap---$1.09

The look on administrators face when he walked in---PRICELESS!!