Nobody answers the floor phones

mswhite · Aug 13, 2009

I work in a LTC. we suppose to have 4 nurses per 80 pts. at times, there are 3 nurses, sometimes only 2. we do not have time to chit chat on the phone. it is unreasonable for anyone to expect us to drop what we're doing just to answer phone calls. besides, a lot of those questions are stupid ones. i.e "do you know where's my mother's blue socks? i did not see them in her room last week". get the picture?

Wise Woman RN · Aug 13, 2009

We have no secretary. We have patients to care for. The patients come first. If I am with a patient, the phone will wait. I also will not answer a patient's phone if they are not in their room. I just do not have the time.

Riseupandnurse · Aug 13, 2009

Phone calls like these are the bane of my existence. I have to go down a VERY long hall to check the chart to see if the caller is on the HIPPA list and I never, never actually have a spare minute. The time I spend on the phone definitely takes away from patient care.

southernbeegirl, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2009

at my facility, i am the weekend supervisor. we have absolutely no ward clerk (we have one mon thru thurs till 9pm) and no supportive staff that answers the phone. the nurses are all on the floor passing meds/doing assessments. the CNAs are on their halls working their tails off too.

that leaves me and me alone to answer the phones. i often say im nothing but a high priced telephone operator.

i work in basically a short stay rehab with about 1/4 pts in the building long term care private pay patients. every room has a phone. although we tell people how to dial straight to the room on admission, most people just wait for the desk and then ask for the extension (that they could have easily entered themselves). if a patient doesnt answer in their room, it rings at the desk. if a patient is at the phone, then it rings back at the desk. if a patient hangs up the phone in their room, then it rings back at the desk.

if i go make the pee, i have to take the cordless phone with me because there is noone to answer the phones. if i go assess a patient, there is noone to answer the phones.

and i cant tell yall the number of calls a day i get saying "mom isnt answering her phone. go find out why". boy do i pee peole off when i tell them "no, sorry, i cant do that. i'll be happy to have the staff check on her as soon as they can". when they get really peed i explain to them that we have 100 patients. if i runto "mom's" room everytime someone doesnt answer the phone, thats all i would get done.

yet if someone complains to admin that noone answered the phone and i was in an emergency with a patient, i was doing a procedure or an IV...although there is noone else to answer the phone....i get reprimanded and told to "do better".

i'm danged if i do, danged if i dont.

when people get angry and yell at me 'doesnt anyone ever answer the phone there??" i tell them, this is a nursing facility, i have no phone operator. did it occur to you that possibly all the nurses were with patients??

southernbeegirl, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2009

Is it safe for the nurses not to answer the phone?
The nurses are probably busy taking care of the patients.
Answering the phone and having to talk to a family member takes precious time away from the patients, can't be talking on the phone to a family member and taking care of that family member's loved one at the same time.
Many are nothing more than nuisance calls anyway, asking for info they have been told repeatedly they can't have or those people that just ramble on and on about nothing.

i agree. if a family member wants to know so badly how the patient is doing, then COME AND VISIT THEM!

these very people are the ones that would also get mad if you dont answer their call light within 30 seconds because you were stuck on the phone talking to yet ANOTHER family member calling to see how "mom" is.

NurseKatie08, MSN · Aug 13, 2009

The only time I go running for a ringing phone is if it's the middle of a med pass and I'm expecting a call from an MD or NP about something I paged them over.

My unit is in the process of expanding, so my patient rooms are very far away from the main desk of the unit. There is a cordless phone closer to my patient rooms, so that if the main unit phone is not answered, the call bounces to the cordless so I might have a chance of hearing it. If I'm expecting a call, I keep it on my med cart. We do not have a unit secretary after 4pm.

Calls about "how's mom/dad/grandpa/grandma" always seem to flood in during 7pm-9pm (the infamous crazy busy HS med pass) where imagine that, I'm actually trying to medicate/assess/take care of mom/dad/grandpa/grandma. I typically tell family members nothing unless I know exactly who I'm talking to from having met them before (I work geriatric rehab, and I have most of my patients from between 2 weeks to one month & the same pts everytime I work, so I get to know family members well) and even then I tell them it is better to speak to us in person or call their family member and talk to them as they'd appreciate the call.

I could go on and on...it's been a long week. At least I can rest easy tonight that my team is full and there is no way I'll get an admission tomorrow, lol.

nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2009

With all due respect...perhaps your mom could volunteer as a unit secretary to help out, since the hospital's obviously so short.

interleukin · Aug 13, 2009

I tell family members who have called and called without answer to write to CEO and tell him about the situation. If you have no remote phone device, then there should be a secretary on duty..period!

If your hospital says it gives superior service but has laid off or understaffs secretarial services then it's all just hypocrisy and lip service. But when management hears that the public is unsatisfied, then you'll see things change.

nicunana · Aug 13, 2009

I sense an awful lot of anger and hostility toward people (patients and family) who are NOT responsible for your short staffing. Just because the morons that run your facility have given you an impossible work load, don't blame the poor patient or their families, who are legitimately concerned for the patient's welfare. If they were actually able to visit, rather than call, youd probably be whining about them being in the way all the time. If TPTB don't staff adequately (and that includes ancillary personnel like unit secretaries) to provide quality care to the patient and family, then the OP is absolutely well within her rights to seek out a different facility that may be more in tune with patient and family centered care for the next hospitalization. Until you've been on the other side of the bed, you have no idea how frustrating it can be to be the victim of a disgruntled employee who is mad at the world because she feels she is overworked. It's the pits!!!

retiredlady · Aug 13, 2009

My mom is in her upper 80's. I know everyone does not have time to answer phones, I didn't either when I worked. I think that we as nurses need to take a stand and demand help with this so that we can do our jobs instead of getting angry. We on the patient end will complain to this hospital and maybe they will see that "customer service" is being reduced. By the way, the family member is in LTC and is getting excellent care. They love it!!

pagandeva2000, LPN · Aug 13, 2009

I also believe that there should be a unit secretary to screen phone calls. I have no time to entertain them. I definitely understand and respect the need for family to reach the floor to speak to someone about their loved one, but, it is an interruption when you are trying to spike an IV, cleaning, turning or doing the many things that nurses have to do for quality patient care. And, as mentioned (hate to say it), but most (not ALL, but MOST) of the calls are nonsense.

RuRnurse? · Aug 13, 2009

No. 6, from VORB....LOL!!!