How do you get called in?

Given that you are normally in serious trouble (think fired) if you are on call and don't respond immediately to a call in I would address this ASAP. Your wife should speak to this charge nurse and politely state exactly what you have written here, that in the middle of the night while asleep she doesn't hear text messages and would therefore like to be called not texted.

Most places I have been on call at had an on call book with the call roster and contact details of the staff. I would make a note there that I wished to be called not texted. If this doesn't work I would then make a "request" (complaint) to the department head. Not everyone is a light sleeper and asking for a phone call at 0200 is not unreasonable.

For day shifters, I think texting would be appropriate, our house supervisor makes the notifications. I live in the sticks with spotty service, so I have told mine in the past to call until I answer, or if I haven't responded to a text within 5 minutes to call.

Ours will text standby at 0500, but honestly I love those texts so I always hear them

If it were dead of night, I would think a phone call would be appropriate.

Another option might be to change the text message sound to a louder and longer alert than a beep. If the same number texts each time, she can also change the alert for that number alone.

The people sending these texts shouldn't consider this type of notification as having properly delivered an important message. Why the H wouldn't you call someone, thereby delivering a message and also receiving verification that an important message was actually received?

I would politely hold them to a proper notification/verification procedure.

When I work as house supervisor and have to call people in, I ALWAYS call, and while I will leave a voicemail message, I don't assume the person has gotten it until I actually hear their voice acknowledging me.

6 hours ago, Johnnyappleseed said:

When you are put on CALL, how does your work call you in If they need you?

I would expect that they CALL you.

My wife has been on call a couple nights the last few weeks and a certain charge nurse has just been sending a text message saying, “you’re getting called in, let us know when you get this.” These texts just make a little beep on her phone and it doesn’t wake either of us up, especially at 1:00 or 2:00 am. I just feel like it should be common courtesy to make a phone call and not just text if they need you to come in during the night.

She doesn’t want to keep showing up super later when she gets called in because it takes her so long to notice the text, but she doesn’t want to throw a fit about her not calling if texting is the norm.

Is this something she is justified in writing a complaint about? Or should we have someone stay awake and keep watch for an incoming text at any point during the night?

"She doesn’t want to keep showing up super later when she gets called in because it takes her so long to notice the text, but she doesn’t want to throw a fit about her not calling if texting is the norm. "

This is not an either/or choice.

Staying up all night, throwing a fit, or putting a complaint in writing all seem like poor choices.

Why not just let charge know the best way to contact her?

Also- Customize the the phone settings so they work well while on call.

13 minutes ago, hherrn said:

Why not just let charge know the best way to contact her?

The concern, of course, being that someone will perceive that as throwing a fit.

Which isn't an unreasonable concern given how absolutely dumb it is to attempt this procedure by sending a lone text in the middle of the night to begin with.

14 hours ago, JKL33 said:

The concern, of course, being that someone will perceive that as throwing a fit.

Which isn't an unreasonable concern given how absolutely dumb it is to attempt this procedure by sending a lone text in the middle of the night to begin with.

I agree- A text is a poor substitute for immediate closed loop communication, though it might be the preference for that particular unit.

But: "I am worried that I might sleep through a text, and I hate the idea of leaving the unit short staffed. Is it possible to get a call instead?"

If the work environment is so toxic, and supervisors are hostile and defensive enough to see that as throwing a fit, that would be a terrible place to work.

That being said, my phone does what I tell it. When on priority settings, my sister, my wife, and the head of my search and rescue team can wake me up.

We had this issue at one of the hospice agencies I work with, one of the triage nurses was only sending text messages into the On Call nurses who were supposed to do the visits, and not following up with a call when she received no response. They fixed it by establishing a policy that all callouts to nurses between 8 PM and 8 AM had to be done by phone call and not text message, and an administrator had to be notified if you could not reach the nurse on call after 10 minutes.

You can make a nice loud ring that will wake you up at any hour, but even the lightest sleeper cannot be expected to wake up from the sound of a text.

Whatever she does, make sure she puts it in writing via email how best to contact her.

I get that they are trying to find the fastest solution, but I don't think it's actually doing anyone any good. I would NEVER rely on a text message to call someone in. Our house supervisors will send a mass text to us if they are looking for volunteers to come in, but any time someone gets called in - a phone call is made. Day or not - this should be the policy.