New call lights

[zumalong]

I have recently taken a position as a clinical resource nurse. I am able to stay at bedside and also teach with the staff. However, along with this job comes many various and sundry different committees that I am now on. I am a floor nurse at heart--not an administrator type--so I try to look at the issues and how they will affect the 'real' people (not the suits who are spending our raises).

Anyway here is my question: The hosp is looking into a new call light system. The one that was presented today includes a monitor that the nursing staff would wear. It is called a 'locator'. It is an infared device combined with a wireless transmitter so each nurse can be located during the shift. My first instinct is "Big Brother" is watching. They also discussed a tracking system (which would mean another useless committee to see what patients were not having their needs met in a "timely" fashion (like moving the kleenix box over 2"). I am worried this will also become a "monitor the nurse for her time management" allocation. (as in--you don't get a merit increase of .03% this year because you spent too much time in the bathroom(more than once every shift would be about right).

Am I being paranoid???:imbar Does anyone else use a system like this??? What do you find is beneficial or not. I do believe that we need a way to communicate better from the nurses station for call lights, but this seems too far the other extreme.

[shygirl]

We have a nurse locator at the hospital too. Very efficient. But.....When something goes wrong with it, it is difficult to fix.

[RNConnieF]

We had this a few years ago and it was D/C'd. The stupid monitoring could tell when you where in the bathroom, when you left the unit, and how long and where you ate your lunch. EXACTLY what you are afraid of. Nurses are not prisoners of the state who need to be monitored every second of every day. We now use an internal cell phone system. If you leave the floor take one of the phones with you, you are sitll in touch but there is no monitoring.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Our floors have this system - I work ER and am not allowed to leave (darn). It seems a little too intrusive for me.

[kewlnurse]

You cab alwasy take if off and leave it in a room if you have to go the bathroom, out to lunch, whatever

[NurseDennie, BSN, RN]

It's not a great thing. They'll market it to you as being for the staff nurse's protection. Yeah, right. Another great benefit from it - it turns off the call light when the nurse goes into the room. Yeah, sure it does.

It is for exactly what it looks like it's for. There was another thread about this and a lot of nurses said they'd never work someplace that had this system.

Love

Dennie

[EricaCCRN]

Sorry but I worked a traveler assignment where they had this system & I feel that the day all hospitals have this is the day I QUIT!!! talk about undermining what little morale staff already has. This is just a FINE example of how nurses are treated like they are lower than shit by the suits. . This IS big brother, without a doubt. They will know how long you are in a patient's room, how long you are at lunch, when & how often you go to the "litter box", etc etc etc. NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS!! I am a licensed professional, not to mention an adult & I do not need to be tracked like some prisoner or wild game.

Dear, you sound like my kinda nurse (not a suit, heart is with your staff & patients) so tell 'em to shove it!!!!! . I doubt they can justify spending hundreds of thousands on this system in today's "cost effective" environment.

I truly don't see where this improves patient care.

[ChemoRN]

Agree with all of the above responses!!

Also, the locator may tell where you are, but it can't tell what you are doing. Say a newer nurse has a clinical question and needs support. The two of you are in the staff lounge for longer than your allotted 15 minutes - managements interpretation could be that you are loafing when in fact you are engaging in staff education and support.

One thing I know is that anything you do is subject to misinterpretation!!!

Somewhere I heard that these things are linked to an increased cancer risk in nurses. Something about low level radiation... Probably as valid as the cell phone claims. May be something you want to look into.

[EricaCCRN]

I too heard about the increased cancer risk from these things. It only stands to reason when you are putting an electromagnetic field that close to vital organs.

[adrienurse, LPN]

I don't understand, what is the purpose of this device other then to monitor staff? How does it benefit the patients. New technology is all well and good, but I'd go with something that's been around long enough to have the kinks worked out.

[EricaCCRN]

They (the suits) claim it helps patients by allowing staff to be located easier. My thought is What???!? Wouldn't patients benefit more if the money spent on these things went toward excursions into the land of nurse retention?

[Heather56]

The main reason I can think of that a call bell isn't answered right away is that the nurse is busy with another patient (after all we aren't all working 1 to 1!) So are we suposed to just drop that person, sometimes literaly, and rush to the next pt? (with the family all standing around waiting for you to move that kleenex box) The next thing "they" will think of is adding a method of giving you a little shock if you're to slow!

If anything I'd like to see a simple alarm/panic device we could wear to alert other staff that we needed immediate assistance, like when you're stuck in the pt's bathroom with someone who is coding and no one is answering the bathroom bell because they figure it's just Mr. Jones pulling the wrong switch again!