Call bells! I am beginning to think call bells are the worst invention in the world.
Ring, ring ,ring.
Today, the call bells were crazy. Our secretary kept track. We had 97 call bells in 2 1/2 hours from 26 pts. Several retreat offenders. You know the ones. They ring, you tell them you will be there shorty, 30 secs later, they ring again, and again and again. Look lady, my kegs are short, I simply cannot get from the nursing station to you in 30 secs.
One pt keeps ringing because he's lonely. One just puts her finger and the button and holds it until her nurse gets there.
One pt rang to have her table cleaned off.
Good thing I wasn't playing the drinking game, one drink for every call bell. I wouldn't sober up until Xmas!
all anyone said was that call lights have been abused. we all know it happens.
no one said we should never answer call lights or that some people should not have them at all, or have their needs attended to.
The whole thing comes down to we. as nurses, are not allowed to set boundaries for those patients who are using the call light 60 times in a shift, etc. It is those patients who ABUSE the light 8 times an hour, or with you standing right there in the room with them, or having unreasonable requests "scratch my testicles" ( true story, and they didnt use the proper word either) who cry wolF ,for the honest people who really need help ( not "get my family some sandwiches and drinks")
You'll have to go above me, because I would not provide them to you. Hell, I don't even KNOW the last names of some of my coworkers and I would not ask on your behalf. Your posts here make me say that unequivocally QUOTE
Your State Board of Registered Nursing web site has information about the legal responsibilities of licensed nurses, and about the role of the State Board of Registered Nursing in protecting the public.
At both of my positions, we were given the option of have our first names and either our last name or initial on our badges. 99% of my coworkers opted for the latter. I will NOT tell you my last name when I work the floor and as charge, I will NOT tell you the last names of staff. If that ruffles your feathers, so be it. I guess you'd better only allow your loved ones to be admitted to YOUR hospital and only be under YOUR care, since you clearly feel that no other nurse is good enough.
An added bonus? You won't have to stalk anyone for pillow fluffing, a fresh soda or more toilet paper---you'll be right there to tend to their every need.[quote
Patients have the legal right to know the first and last name of the nurse caring for them, just as they have the legal right to know the full name of the physician caring for them. They have the right to look up the details of a nurse's licensure at their State Board of Nursing. The public have the right to file a complaint against an RN with the State Board of Registered Nursing. This is part of consumer protection. If I had reason to ask for a nurse's first and last name, and they refused, and their Charge Nurse refused, then I would ask for the manager in order to obtain this information. If I had reason to contact my State Board of Nursing, I would inform them that the nurse and their Charge Nurse, both of whose names I would find out from the manager, or from medical records, had refused to provide me with the name of the licensed nurse caring for me/my family member. As a last resort, I can easily obtain the full name of any nurse caring for me or my family members from medical records.
And I would inform the police that I was being stalked by you. Do you really honestly think that the staff have to be in your family member's room 24/7? If you do, I really have to wonder where you practice nursing. Obviously somewhere there is one to one nursing, not where the nurses have large patient loads. I have worked in a place where I am the only nurse for 2 floors, for 101 patients. I cannot possibly be every patient's room at all times, and if I have to answer bells every 5 minutes due to someone's loneliness, then other patients in even greater need may suffer and even die. So I would consider a nurse who honestly believes that their family member needs constant care is a danger to the profession and I would be reporting that nurse. You can always hire a private duty nurse but it is unrealistic and unsafe for you to expect your family member's nurse to attend only to one patient. Perhaps you are just newly graduated and you have only ever had one patient at a time assigned to you. Welcome to the world of reality.
I dont know about the rest of you guys , but if someone is asking me for my first and last name, and that of my coworkers, I would have to wonder why- is there a problem?I wont give out the last names of my coworkers either. They can either get it directly from that coworker, or get it thru records. Our records request is an application and takes around 1-2 weeks to get.
all anyone said was that call lights have been abused. we all know it happens.
no one said we should never answer call lights or that some people should not have them at all, or have their needs attended to.
The whole thing comes down to we. as nurses, are not allowed to set boundaries for those patients who are using the call light 60 times in a shift, etc. It is those patients who ABUSE the light 8 times an hour, or with you standing right there in the room with them, or having unreasonable requests "scratch my testicles" ( true story, and they didnt use the proper word either) who cry wolF ,for the honest people who really need help ( not "get my family some sandwiches and drinks")
So I guess this discussion is a moot point.
Totally agree with you. And I love the testicles story. Yes I have had perverted patients who viewed their nurses as sex objects and wanted weird stuff like that. I had a patient who always asked certain nurses for suppositories. When he was informed he had had a bowel movement recently and didn't need the supp, he accused the staff of lying about his bowel frequency. So, once I went to give him his supp but he had already started to move his bowels, so I told him no need. He was so disappointed. Finally, as a team, we decided that we would designate this job to the only male nurse on the unit. He was in agreement with this. The patient stopped asking for supps after that.
At both of my positions, we were given the option of have our first names and either our last name or initial on our badges. 99% of my coworkers opted for the latter. I will NOT tell you my last name when I work the floor and as charge, I will NOT tell you the last names of staff. If that ruffles your feathers, so be it. I guess you'd better only allow your loved ones to be admitted to YOUR hospital and only be under YOUR care, since you clearly feel that no other nurse is good enough.
An added bonus? You won't have to stalk anyone for pillow fluffing, a fresh soda or more toilet paper---you'll be right there to tend to their every need.[quote
Patients have the legal right to know the first and last name of the nurse caring for them, just as they have the legal right to know the full name of the physician caring for them. They have the right to look up the details of a nurse's licensure at their State Board of Nursing. The public have the right to file a complaint against an RN with the State Board of Registered Nursing. This is part of consumer protection. If I had reason to ask for a nurse's first and last name, and they refused, and their Charge Nurse refused, then I would ask for the manager in order to obtain this information. If I had reason to contact my State Board of Nursing, I would inform them that the nurse and their Charge Nurse, both of whose names I would find out from the manager, or from medical records, had refused to provide me with the name of the licensed nurse caring for me/my family member. As a last resort, I can easily obtain the full name of any nurse caring for me or my family members from medical records.
And where are the managers in all this? If there is a problem with call bell abuse, ie, nurse abuse, shouldn't the manager get involved, and speak with the patient and family about the issue. What about a behaviour modification plan for the patient? Why are the nurses left hung out to dry and expected to take this abuse. As a manager, I would have a meeting with the patient and family and I would provide a written statement about call bells and their purpose, about nurse to patient ratios, and about the implications for all patients if the nurse is tied up answering ridiculous call bell requests. I would stand firm on this. Also, if the family members were following staff into other patients' rooms or badgering staff for personal information, or harassing staff in the way you suggest, I would have them banned from visiting or have very strict visitation rules, such as having security in attendance to monitor the family to protect my staff. I have seen this done at a facility where I worked, where there was a plan put in place for disruptive family members with expectations regarding their behaviour toward staff and restrictions on their behaviour during visiting, one of them being that they are not allowed to follow staff into other patients' rooms. I do believe in the empowered patient but not in the abusive patient.
But did you follow the staff around going into other patients' rooms? That is a whole other issue.
No we did not follow staff around at all, we stood patiently waiting until someone seemed to be available or acknowledged us, we never interrupted a nurses conversation either. But like I said, we didn't know any better that it is preferred here to use the call light.
Heck the country I come from, it is EXPECTED that the pt or family bring gifts to the nurses and doctors caring for them if we want good care. If you brought nothing then you received crappy care, if you brought the nurse a box of chocolates then you would receive her best care and attention. So coming to this country my family is very humble and respects medical staff and feels like they need to come up to a person and ask for something face to face--(that way the nurse doesn't even have to walk all the way back to the room) instead of sit in the room like a lazy person and just press the call light and expect to be served. Does that make any sense? THIS was our thought process, because that's the type of care we received back in my country. Of course now we know better, and how things work in this country.
Well, probably at home with their feet up on the couch watching TV;)
No, seriously. They are only on the floor during the day shift, and they are probably only visible for about 20 minutes. Charge lately now has a patient assignment or is off the floor with another pt that needed monitoring for a test. They usually don't get involved in that stuff unless a physical threat has been made, and then we can try to call security, who usually tells us that they are busy with some other physical altercation in ED or something
jrwest, although you have quoted me, I didn't say "And where are the managers in all this?" Those words were ActualNurse's (see his/her post above). I'm not sure how ActualNurse's quote appeared with my name in your post.
jrwest, although you have quoted me, I didn't say "And where are the managers in all this?" Those words were ActualNurse's (see his/her post above). I'm not sure how ActualNurse's quote appeared with my name in your post.
Hmm, not sure how that happened, but I fixed it :)
martymoose, BSN, RN
1,946 Posts
wow-
all anyone said was that call lights have been abused. we all know it happens.
no one said we should never answer call lights or that some people should not have them at all, or have their needs attended to.
The whole thing comes down to we. as nurses, are not allowed to set boundaries for those patients who are using the call light 60 times in a shift, etc. It is those patients who ABUSE the light 8 times an hour, or with you standing right there in the room with them, or having unreasonable requests "scratch my testicles" ( true story, and they didnt use the proper word either) who cry wolF ,for the honest people who really need help ( not "get my family some sandwiches and drinks")
So I guess this discussion is a moot point.