Med-Surg Nurses: How many phone calls do you take per day??

Jensmom7, BSN, RN · Sep 6, 2015

Haven't done MedSurg in 10 years, but that sounds about right.

And that was back before nurses carried work cell phones with them.

We actually had to walk back to the Nurses' station every time we got a call.

Cola89 · Sep 6, 2015

Jensmom7, that would be TERRIBLE. If I had to walk up to the nurses station every time I got a call, I don't think I'd get one thing done (besides taking the calls).

Jensmom7, BSN, RN · Sep 6, 2015

And back in the day, we only had 8 hours to get it all done.

Momma1RN, MSN, RN, APRN · Sep 6, 2015

Yup sounds about right!

blackribbon · Sep 6, 2015

I'd say I get about half that at night...but I promise the phone rings to just tell me "huddle at 11pm" or "inservice at 6am" when I am up to my ears in an isolation room but also waiting for a doctor to return a call about a med order so I can't ignore it...I often feel like throwing the stupid thing against the wall... (feels better to get that off my chest)

LightMyFire · Sep 6, 2015

We don't carry phones, we have to come to the desk. If I'm busy whoever is calling holds or I return the call.

amazingme · Sep 8, 2015

I haven't worked in med-surg in a few years, but that definitely sounds right. I hated that phone at times. It made it easier for me when I had a page out for an MD, but not so great in an isolation room knee deep in C-diff poop. Who would answer in that case? Then the unit clerk would keep calling and overhead page. It I could answer, I would.

tokmom, BSN, RN · Sep 11, 2015

Haven't done MedSurg in 10 years, but that sounds about right.
And that was back before nurses carried work cell phones with them.
We actually had to walk back to the Nurses' station every time we got a call.

We still have to walk back, unless they call on vocera. It's annoying.

aqua_clementine · Sep 14, 2015

Thirty sounds about right to me. Can be a lot more on a bad day--I think one day I spoke to the Pharmacy about 10 times regarding one patients medications. Admissions, getting report, patient's family (my least favorite phone call of all), not to mention that we make and receive calls between staff members frequently. Constant phone calls some days---I hate the phone I carry around at work.

I really dislike interrupting patients or their family to answer a call. But usually, I can't just let it ring. If it's the unit secretary calling me, it could be regarding something way more important than what I'm currently doing.

Never thought nursing would include so much phone-time. I honestly hate talking on the phone. Haha, oh well

NurseNora27 · Oct 12, 2015

Sounds about right! We have an instant messenger system on the computer to talk between staff, which is fantastic and saves me so much time on the phone- even so I still field about 20 calls in a shift.

nursy1, BSN, RN · Oct 20, 2015

I too work on a busy med-surg floor and the number of calls sounds about right on a "normal busy" day... Luckily my floor has not started using what we call "BAT Phones" in my facilty, but we will soon. We have old school pagers & they have a 2 minute delay, so by the time you get the page, the caller usually has hung up. We too have to hustle back up to the front desk to take the phone calls. The unit clerk will also over-head page me if there is a phone call. Whenever I get a page about a phone call, it usually doesn't differentiate wether it is a MD, family member, lab, etc. If im am busy with a patient I will usually use the call button & call the front desk to let them know that I cannot take the call & have them take a message.

Also add to the fact that if pager is in my pocket & im in an isolation room I cant check it immediately. Also add the fact that the pagers are connected to the bed alarms for the entire floor, so every time a bed alarm sounds for any patient (even if staff is in the room with the patient) my pager goes off, so I get probably any where from 50 to 100+ pages a shift depending on the day.

I know we will be getting phones in the near future and I am not looking forward to it. I wonder about patient privacy issues, If im in patient As room & the phone call is about pt B I shouldn't be talking about one patient in front of another. Also wonder about issues with contamination/safety.. If you are doing a dressing change, or helping a patient who is unsteady on their feet to the bathroom, wouldn't answering the phone be inappropriate. I guess I will find out in the near future.

Funny, back in school I don't remember learning to how to time manage all the interruptions between phone calls, doctors, family members.

Another side note... It seems to be law that my pager will go off every single time I try to pee... EVERY TIME!! And that one is always a page you need to respond to immediately. So I find myself rushing to finish, wash hands & run to the desk... I wonder if anybody else has the issue of never getting to pee uninterrupted. LOL.