'cattle calls' in ER waiting room?

[BaptistBites]

Ok, so in order to eliminate what management refers to as 'cattle calls' by nurses calling pts back from the waiting room the triage nurse now scribbles down a description of the pt on the chart, usually something like dark hair, purple shirt ect. So when the nurse goes out to get the pt she doesnt have to yell their last name but instead hunt for them and then approach them personally. Every ED Ive ever worked just called names, same with doctors offices. I understand this may seem more polite but I feel like a fool standing there looking around a packed waiting rm for my pt! Other pts look at me crazy cause like I dont know what Im doing. I also feel like its a waste of the triage nurses time to have to write down a description of every single person. We see up to 200 pts a day! Is anyone elses ED doing this?? Any takes?

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Here's a suggestion to take to your manager: Beepers that light up, like at restaurants. Your hospital could pay Chili's a million bucks to teach your staff how to give good customer service with them.

[canigraduate]

Wouldn't it be easier to give people numbers? That protects their privacy, at least. I dunno if it's people friendly, though.

[sunshine1216]

i agree with pagers or numbers. calling names is a hippa violation

[darkangel83]

I agree, numbers would be a great idea! We are currently calling first names...if there's more than one the nurse approaches one and asks what their last name is and goes from there.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

i agree with pagers or numbers. calling names is a hippa violation

Although I agree with the lighting disks like at TGI fridays.......Calling their name is NOT a HIPAA violation in this case senario.

[honeykrown, MSN, NP]

calling names hippa violation really. They are there and everyone that knows them has seen them there. Its not like the nurse is sayin Jane Doe HIV...

Description can be misleading. what if there were two people with purple top or whatever. The number is a very good idea. Just give them number and yell the numbers. Ive never seen anyone offended by this (unless people would start wondering why number 100 is going before 45)

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Description, in an Army ER? "Go get the guy in green." Ummmmmmmm ... hahaha! We call them by last name. Some of the RNs call them by the last four of their social security number, which I really don't like to do.

[ZippyGBR, BSN, RN]

Description, in an Army ER? "Go get the guy in green." Ummmmmmmm ... hahaha! We call them by last name. Some of the RNs call them by the last four of their social security number, which I really don't like to do.

surname and/or last 4 is fairly standard military practice even outside healthcare...

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

surname and/or last 4 is fairly standard military practice even outside healthcare...

True. Although now I believe we're moving toward these random "DOD numbers" that will just be another string to memorize. Great! LOL. I do call patients by their last four when required, like the other day when we had four unrelated patients in the waiting room with the same last name.

[Jolie, BSN]

Calling a patient by name in a health care facility is most definitely NOT a HIPAA violation. Anyone who believes this to be true really needs to bone up on HIPAA.

While this law is cumbersome at times, it allows for instances where PHI is inadvertently overheard due to unavoidable circumstances, such as names being overheard in a non-private setting.

Identifying a patient by anything other than his/her given name is foolish. Why spend hours concocting other identification systems when none of them will be as safe, effective or workable as using a patient's name?

I'll give a real-life example. My daughter has a first name that is often confused as a male name. When she was an infant, I took her to a new pediatrician for a well check. The nurse came out to the waiting room and called my daughter's first name. I stood up, as well as another mother with a young infant. To clarify, the nurse called out the birthday. We both remained standing. She then called out the mother's first name. We both remained standing. She finally gave the last name, and I sat down. When the other mom passed by, it was obvious that her baby was a boy, but the nurse didn't think to use that as a criteria, since my daughter's name is often confused as a boy's name.

How much simpler it would have been if she had just called the first and last name. And if the other mother had not yet arrived for her appointment, I would have gone back and started my daughter's visit with the wrong chart.

This could all be cleared up by using one's full name.

[systoly]

I agree with mgmt. on the cattle calls, but all that is needed is a little human touch. So instead of someone shouting out "Smith" in a tone of voice that screams I really don't wanna be here, how about "We would like to see Mr./Ms. Smith" or "Would Mr. Smith please come forward". There are a million ways to do it better without using numbers etc.