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!
That's bunk. I'll ask my patients what they need and they'll say nothing. I leave the room and they are calling. "oh, I need ice" "I need my pain shot" etc. One pts daughter would call us to put her mom on the bedpan, then call less than a minute later to put her off, and then 5 minutes later she's calling again for the bedpan. It's ridiculous. And add to the fact that I work nights and have no unit secretary, you just get to the point where you want to give everyone heavy duty sleep meds so they'll just go to sleep
We are going to Vocera in Dec. I am so excited I could just curl up and die.
Vocera is Hell on Earth. I don't think I could ever work on a unit that uses them ever again.
Your post made me think of something my mom told me about labor wards back in the time she gave birth. L & D did not have private rooms for labor. You labored in an open 24 bed ward full of other laboring women. The call bells were actual bells. You picked up and rang the bell on your bedside table. The bells rang continually and there were cries of "nurse!" all day. I wonder how the nurses survived.
Um, no. I think they actually ignored her, but an ambulance sure did when I called them and said I agreed with her that a trip to the hospital might be a good idea. I got a 4 hour break from the call light and I was right on the money too about her sodium being off from all of her dang calls for water. Got an order for fluid restrictions too when she came back so now I can legitimately not bring her water every 5 minutes.
I hate call bells. Sometimes a shift is so bad I can hear them in my head when I go home. Anything in the outside world that reminds me of the sound of a call light (or the admission pager for that matter) gives me pseudo-PTSD like reactions. I get jumpy and anxious until I realize that that's not in fact what it is. Worse is being in charge and having all of the patients' lights come to me.
Most patients are good about the use and don't abuse them, but I have had a few patients who have had underlying psych issues on top of their medical issues, who would press the call light every five minutes to inform me of their anxiety (which is of course, addressed) and/or hallucinations or just to shoot the breeze. When I finally got fed up with one patient and told her to call for more serious matters only (bathroom, pain, hunger, etc), she used the room phone to call security on me. She fired me the next night -- thank goodness. Sometimes these folks don't realize they are doing you a favor.
Worst of all though is FAMILY members who come out to the nurses' station every time their loved one needs something and get right in my face and stare me down. I HATE it, HATE it, HATE it. Go back in the room and press the button. UGH. It takes every ounce of restraint in me not to snap at them that they are no more important than anyone else on the floor, and go back in the room and wait your turn. I think family members come out on purpose to push themselves to the front of the line, because if they are in our faces, they can't be ignored. RUDE and selfish.
I agree. While bedside report is preferred, sometimes I am at the nurses' station getting sensitive information or about to get report from the ED. People always seem to pop up during report time (supposed to be our sheltered report time, hah) and just stand right in front of me. I am clearly in conference with someone else. I know maybe they don't get it, but to me it is the same as opening someone's office door and just walking to their desk and staring at them to get off of the phone. Only once has someone rushed to the nurse's station when the patient has stopped breathing. Every other time it is for another diet coke, fix the TV station, extra blankets, ice cream for the umpteenth family member (???)
One night I was trying to stabilize someone for transfer, verify they had a bed, confirm that MD was ok with transfer, said floor would approve transfer, etc etc. Flurry of paging and note taking at the desk. Family member of perfectly stable, walkie talkie strolls up and asks me to bring the family three ginger ales. I nodded but apparently didn't move fast enough on the request. He proceeded to stand at the desk like a security guard until I finally got sick of him standing there and went to get the ginger ales. I wanted to tell him, "This may be your request, at the moment, it is not my most pressing task." Go to the cafe and get your own drinks.
Where I work, everyone is expected to answer call lights promptly; RN, LPN, or CNA. We delegate what we can but if that was our MO we could count on creating more friction between the nurses and CNAs.
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
My favorite thing is when I say, before leaving a patient's room (every time!), "Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?" and they decline. 5 seconds after leaving the room, via call-light: "Can I get another blanket?", "Can I be pulled up in bed?". After the fourth time of doing this, I said to a patient recently, "Listen, when I ask if you need something, I need you to tell me while I am in the room instead of having to come back in minutes later." Her response? "I didn't mean to hit the button that time, but while you're in here..."
Absolutely no lie I had a patient ring his bell 27 times in an hour. He was a double amputee and a nice guy but just needy as heck. He would literally ring his bells the minute I walked out the door. Bear in mind this is LTC and my patient load is often 20 plus patients. At one point I walked into his room and said "You're killing me Smalls!" He laughed and said "I loved that movie!" He had about 3 months of therapy while he learned how to use his new legs. We finally worked out a system where he could make a list so we could address several needs at one time.
They can use the call button like everyone else. Coming out the nurses' station to badger me for a water is not necessary, especially after I've explained the use of the call button to you several times. Stopping me mid-walk in the hallway when I'm clearly busy is also not appropriate. Or worse, seeing me in another's room and asking me for things while I'm with another patient. I beg to differ with your post, and I don't need YOU to tell me why I'm employed.
Or interrupting me when I'm double checking a blood product or chemo with another nurse or triple checking meds. You don't have a right for undivided attention, and you sure as heck don't have a right to distract me from care and risk another patient's safety because you can't use your call light, and thus, the chain of command properly. Now- if your call light has been unaddressed for 10 minutes, but all means see what's going on.
VANurse2010
1,526 Posts
Vocera is Hell on Earth. I don't think I could ever work on a unit that uses them ever again.