what should I do about this call light?

[picurn10]

I'm a student and at clinicals if there is a call light on my floor I always answer it (things can be pretty slow so I'm always excited when one goes off). Well, for some reason the wiring is screwy and the call lights from one part of the West side go off on the East side. Several nurses have told me don't worry about it because its not our side, but when it's beeping and I'm just standing there I worry that it makes me look bad.

OTOH, when I do try and answer it, I have to leave my floor and sort of disappear on my nurse, and half the time they need something from their nurse, but since I'm a student I have no idea who it is, so I wind up wandering over to the West side nursing station trying to figure out who's got pt x, and they have no clue who I am, and it's just a big hassle/uncomfortable situation.

There are all kinds of staff and family who stop by my side when the errant call light is going off, and I just don't want them all assuming I'm the lazy student who won't answer call lights, but at the same time I feel like it's causing more trouble when I try to answer them, and I don't want my nurse to think "that student is always wandering off".

So, what should I do? Is it better to just answer it and deal with all the hassle (it probably takes me off my floor for about 10-15min each time) or keep ignoring it? I should add their side has 2 students but its just me on my side, so often there is no one at the nurses station to tell when I leave.

[travel50]

If this is in a nursing home, the DON needs to be aware of this problem. The call light system must be in proper working order at all times. Improper working call lights are a danger for the residents. I am not sure what the regs are in a hospital. Certainly you should discuss this problem with your instructor. If you keep going to the other hall to answer lights, someone will think you are being a smart ass (hate to use the term, but you know someone will think it). But the patients have to be properly attended to. And I have fired people for saying it was not their hall, or not their patient. They are everybody's.

[Luv_A_Nurse001]

what you should do is notify the director of nursing or the maintance of the facility. its not your problem that the call light is out of wack. after you address the matter then its out of your hands.

good luck:up:

[Faeriewand, ASN, RN]

Stay on your side. Also, your nurse isn't going to think that. (she probably doesn't care as much as you think) :)

[systoly]

"Don't worry about it"(call light) is the wrong answer. Malfunctioning call lights is an emergency and nonchalance is not the treatment. As a student, you cannot intervene in the facility's operation, but you can discuss it with other students and toss around interventions you might take in a situation like this.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Phone the other nurses station and tell them you see a call light (if they can't see it from their station). Otherwise do nothing. If you start going to the other side you are leaving the patients you are assigned to, and could jeopardize your position.

Make sure your instructor knows about the call light issue.

[jackson145]

We aren't allowed to answer call lights at clinicals unless it is our assigned patient. The instructors won't allow us to touch a patient that we haven't taken report on and sat down with the chart to familiarize ourselves with. For liability reasons I guess.

Also, the Director of our program says the hospital we do clinicals at used to use the students from our school as unpaid labor. They would send the Techs home & expect the students to do their jobs & the students never got a chance to pass meds or do procedures because they spent all their time feeding, bathing, toileting.

I always feel like we are in a constant power struggle between authorities.

The school says we must learn delegation & expect us to delegate to the techs-the techs on the floor are insulted by this.

The nurses are delegating to us to do one thing & our clinical instructor comes along & says "I need you over here doing this, not that". I constantly worry about who I'm offending.

The clinical instructor has the power to pass or fail me, so I want to keep them happy, but some day soon I might be working side-by-side with these floor nurses & techs, so I don't want to get on their bad side during clinicals.

It's enough to give you a H/A!

Sorry about that. I kind of went off on a tangent.

[caliotter3]

This kind of problem should have been brought to the attention of the maintenance personnel for repair. If no one else has done so, leave the maintenance person a note, or better yet, tell the DON about it.

[Batman24]

Report the issue immediately so they can resolve it. This problem shouldn't have been allowed to go on for so long to begin with. And stay on your side where you are assigned.