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!
We don't have call bells in Psych, but I can empathize with you all. My Wife Belinda is a Med-Surg Nurses and has her perspective on things.
Several years ago, I worked MNs in a LTC Facility and the call bell junction box was in a panel in the NS. I opened it once, and found that just by disconnecting one wire, the bells stopped, but the light above the door continued flashing.
Of course I immediately reconnected the wire for the bells and went about my business as usual.
OUCH! Bit my tongue!
I worked with some health care aides who figured this out. When I was not on their floor, they pulled the wire and went to sleep. Management did nothing about it.
That is why the lonely patients need psych consults. I don't think psychologically healthy people ring call bells when the nurse is standing in front of them. We don't have time to be all things to all patients, to meet all their unmet needs. That is why there is a health care team. I wish we did a better job at educating the public about our role. Where I live there are Tv ads from the nurses union in which they depict nurses saying what they don't do, not what they do. No wonder the public is confused. I was confused watching the ads and I am a nurse.
You keep saying, "Get a psych consult." Loneliness and anxiety about being in the hospital seems fairly normal to me. Unless you want to line the psychiatrist's pockets and add unnecessary costs to the system, why the heck are you advocating for a psych consult for patients that ride their call bell?
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
You keep saying, "Get a psych consult." Loneliness and anxiety about being in the hospital seems fairly normal to me. Unless you want to line the psychiatrist's pockets and add unnecessary costs to the system, why the heck are you advocating for a psych consult for patients that ride their call bell?
A psych consult would remove all responsibility from the bedside nurse for dealing with the patient's psych issues? You'd get orders to medicate them into submission?
Stupid and nasty aren't psych issues -- at least not that I've ever heard of.
Call bells and "repeat offenders" can be awful. I'll be honest, Ive not had one of THOSE in about a year. (knocking on wood) . The worst that I've had are he ones that want their doors to be perpetuaully left open. ONE that I had could not speak and never wanted the plug thingy in his trach so he made some awful lip smacking noise whenever he saw a nurse in the hall. The other one would learn your name and holler it loudly whenever he wanted to see you. I had one patient who was seriously hitting the call bell every 60 seconds. It was dangerously distracting the care of my other 5 patients. The night shift manager went into the room and draped the call bell above the sharps container where she could not reach it. That would NEVER happen on day shift.
You keep saying, "Get a psych consult." Loneliness and anxiety about being in the hospital seems fairly normal to me. Unless you want to line the psychiatrist's pockets and add unnecessary costs to the system, why the heck are you advocating for a psych consult for patients that ride their call bell?
Because I do not think that ringing the call bell every five minutes and when it has already been answered is normal behaviour. I am trying to help the patient to get their needs met appropriately. And yes the psychiatrists do get paid for their services. It is not a freebee.
Psych consults for everyone who over uses the call light? That's kind of like swatting a mosquito with an elephant gun, no?
Yes, some people are very anxious in a hospital setting. Some feel entitled. Some are just plain annoying. None of those conditions warrants psychotropic drugs. Not even the anxious person, who very likely isn't anxious on their own turf.
All that mass Psych consults will get you is some serious side-eye from the head docs.
Besides, whatever would you put as an ICD-10 code? And what DSM-5 code could the shrinks use??
To susie2310: A nurses personal safety outweighs the need of the wife to intimidate, threaten and harass a staff member.
Since you think the nurses are out to kill your husband anyway, please file a complaint as you see fit.
One question, if you were employed as a nurse would you be fine with providing your first and last name to visitors who are unbalanced, on drugs, demanding, hypercritical or just waiting for the slightest reason to go on the attack and file a frivolous lawsuit or complaint?
If every nurse is consistently avoiding you and by extension your husband, the common denominator is you.
I am not without empathy for the fact that you are angry and scared but you can not take it out on us.
Actually, this call light thing does highlight maybe social issues, with a little psych thrown in.
People arent stupid. I'm willing to bet the " frequent call light offenders" are frequent flyers. And they have learned that they will get no boundaries handed to them at all due to customer service ( that is the ones who aren't confused).
I also understand that some of them probably do feel helpless negative attention is better than no attention at all.
Actually, this call light thing does highlight maybe social issues, with a little psych thrown in.
People arent stupid. I'm willing to bet the " frequent call light offenders" are frequent flyers. And they have learned that they will get no boundaries handed to them at all due to customer service ( that is the ones who aren't confused).
I also understand that some of them probably do feel helpless negative attention is better than no attention at all.
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ActualNurse
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