Change of shift call lights

Nurses General Nursing

Published

During shift change (both for RN's and CNA's) the call lights seem to ring alot. If I am near it i will answer it or go in the room and see what the patient needs. I used to be a CNA so to me its no big deal and also its irritating to hear the bell going off.

Other RN's/CNA's will not answer the call lights for anything. Sometimes the red emergency bathroom lights do not get answered in a prompt timely manner.

Our unit secretary helps out but he is tied up with data entry, phones, etc.

So, call lights go un-answered and they ring ring ring.

The nurse manager has a new idea. Let the RN's continue with verbal report but have the CNA's write out the report and BRIEFLY go over any critical information. This will allow the CNA's to cover the floor and answer the call lights.

Does this happen where any of you work?

Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.

Our CNA's do write out report too but sometimes they forget and go to the back station and yack for 30 minutes. They just need some gentle reminding to answer call lights at change of shift. Have you brought this up at staff meetings?

I try to remind the pts that change of shift is between 7-7:30 and round on them prior to shift change. Usually it works :)

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You know I was a ADON as far as my English well i just wrote it out and i let my emotions get in the way then the subject at hand My Misspelling of words and not using proper sentence grouping for that I am very sorry.

I promise will write more clear and i will use those big college words that every likes to use. I guess writing on the fly is not correct on this site.

Proper English is what you want just make sure none of you make mistakes either because i will be grading. Now as far as the personal attacks on me. I thought this site was suppose to be non judgmental ( big college word) need to watch for those I'm finding just the opposite.

Like i have said to many of you I'm very sorry for upsetting you. Fact remains your still on the clock. And like i stated the Aids can and should do a walking changeover. Now what you do in your personal life as someone stated really doesn't concern me. If you were on my my floor and you walked passed a call light on your way to the time clock You ( meaning you ) would be in my office explaining why you passed the call light and not answering it.

Hows that is this better see i could be a team player. Oh one more thing just because one can't type on a keyboard doesn't make them any less smart. These are my thoughts use them as you wish.

( Off Topic ) May i just add how i became a ADON. Basically no one wanted the job. I was new as a LPN and i had no clue even what i was doing yet and they said your it. I had to learn how to become a dick overnight. My boss told me when i walked on the floor everyone should have fear in their eyes and you have to act like you own the place your aids should scatter when they see you.

So when i write things like call lights we had a very clear policy to that effect. So i might sound harsh and i might sound like i don't care. I know everyone has a life and i wanted out of there just as fast as the next person. I hated writing people up i hated being in charge of people. I'm sorry I'm a product of a strict DON who commanded and demanded respect. These are my thoughts use them as you wish.. Anthony

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@karmawiseraven, so how long did you last as ADON?

I am just trying to imagine a spanking brand new LPN ADON who was to instill fear into everyone. Because you have a policy doesnt mean it is a good policy. Your job as ADON should be an effective leader and change agent, you can get information about how other facilities are doing things and use that to create a better policy for the people working under/with you just like the OP.

This is a democracy not a military regime.

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Specializes in FNP.

Ive never worked in LTC, but I've taken enough trainwrecks from them to know full well call lights are being ignored, lol. And yeah, the RN report is a heckava lot more important than pottying and bath reports. Any nurse would know that.

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RNs answer call lights?

If so, I wanna work where you work.:D

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Specializes in Hospice, ONC, Tele, Med Surg, Endo/Output.

I believe that the CNAs should stick around and answer the call lights while the nurses give report. After all, how long could a CNA report last when basically it is about bm, confusion, i & o's, and meal percentages. They really don't even have to give/receive report. When the oncoming cna arrives he/she should get the vitals immediately, give them to the nurse and then ask about the patients. Nurse should give CNA specific details only: mentation of pt, continence status, ambulation status, diet/fluid restriction, vitals requirements--CNAs should be able to figure out the rest; and they need to be alert and promptly answer those pesky lights.

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Specializes in Pshych; LTC.
this is incredibly hard to understand :eek:

it isn't hard to understand if you have had the priviledge of being a cna.

in ltc, teamwork is a must. i worked in ltc as a cna and i still say to this day that is was the worst job i ever had.

the patients were wonderfu. it was the lack of teamwork that made it so hard and undesirable. we had some that would not help you if you paid them a thousand dollars. then depending on what mood some were in, they would help sometimes!

the lpn's and rn's say they got their degree so they wouldn't have to do cna work. that is something i don't understand! being a nurse whether cna, lpn, rn...doesn't lessen your responsiblities but adds to your responsibilities. if everyone worked "together and and not against each other", the job would go a lot smoother, have better working environment, better attitudes, and much less turn over.

it is wonderful seeing a previous poster telling how well their unit works together. that is real teamwork! very few in ltc have this kind of teamwork!

imo, each supervisor on each unit should design a routine for their workers. if you have 50 patients (just an example) and 4 cna's... have 2 cna's to work together on 25 patients and the other 2 work together on the other 25 patients. 2 cna's working together can get more done and do more quality work than 1 cna responsible for 13 patients. if a bell rings, one of the cna's checks on that bell.

i worked 6:30am-2:30 am and when i got to work everyone would be in the office either talking about dates, or eating, some sleeping and no patients had been gotten up. some of the patients usually had a habit of waking up before the wrooster crowed but no one got them up. they would have to lay in the bed until someone on our shift got them up.

this made our shift harder than it had to be. no teamwork, no routine!!!

i think ultimately it is the responsibility of the rn to see that everyone does their job and help others when they don't have anything to do. if the rn can't manage the cna's then she/he don't need to be there.

i have witnessed a bell ringing, a cna sitting around, and say "i ain't getting that. it ain't my patient" and the rn doesn't say a word.

i got off topic some but like a poster said.....it takes teamwork!

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Specializes in Telemetry, Med-Surg, ED, Psych.
I believe that the CNAs should stick around and answer the call lights while the nurses give report. After all, how long could a CNA report last when basically it is about bm, confusion, i & o's, and meal percentages. They really don't even have to give/receive report. When the oncoming cna arrives he/she should get the vitals immediately, give them to the nurse and then ask about the patients. Nurse should give CNA specific details only: mentation of pt, continence status, ambulation status, diet/fluid restriction, vitals requirements--CNAs should be able to figure out the rest; and they need to be alert and promptly answer those pesky lights.

I agree with certain things you mentioned. As a former CNA in acute care (Cardiac/Tele), the responsibilities I had were many. My old facility did not utilize LPN's and many CNA's were cross-trained in basic LPN nursing skills. When I was working as a CNA, I always needed a verbal face to face report on my patients. The basic format of my report consisted of: Alertness, Vitals (Q1,Q2,Q4), I&O's, Surgical Drains (JP's/Hemovac's), Activity Status, Diet, Special Equipment (SCD's/ROM machine), BM/GI (illeostomies), Tele status, etc.

Many CNA's on my unit give and recieve a verbal report much the same way I did when I was a CNA. I wish management would not undervaule the work CNA's do or there level of education - not formal education I mean years of bedside experience. Some CNA's i work with can usually sense a code blue just by looking at the patient as a whole.

I personally am in favor of the CNA's continuing to give a verbal face to face report with eachother and colaborating with the RN staff. I think teamwork would be improved not to mention proper communication. I think that for the CNA's to write out a report for eachother is a recipe for disaster.

As far as call lights, reminding patients that shift change is at such and such time BEFORE giving report would be helpful. Pre-medicating for nausea, pain, Getting water, potty, etc before the final 30 minutes would work nicely

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