Reasons patients turn on their call light

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I had a very enjoyable night two nights ago, because for the first time in my nursing history I had a patient who literally turned their call light on every 2-5 minutes.

Reasons the patient turned her call light on:

1. I farted.

2. I coughed.

3. Can I sit at the nurses station naked?

4. My neck twitched when I took a breath.

5. Can you scratch my left pinky finger?

6. My tongue keeps touching my teeth, what should I do?

7. I think I have to poop but I'll wait until tomorrow to do it.

8. I'm about to call 911 because I keep hearing the nurses walk by my room.

9. Am I breathing ok?

10. My legs are really pretty, what do you think?

That's to name a few!

Specializes in retired LTC.
We had a guy hooked up to the EEG equipment for seizure monitoring that kept setting off his seizure alert. I finally asked him why he was hitting it so frequently and he looked me bold in the face and said, "It gets people here a lot quicker than using the call bell does." Needless to say even our Neurologist was unimpressed and discharged him the next day.

Must have missed this when it was current.

Had a guy who knew how to scratch his EKG leads in JUUUUUST the right way to simulate an arrhythmia. We always ran to check him out, but he admitted it that he WAS doing it just for the jollies of his watching us scramble.

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i had a pt who kept hitting the call light and when I went to see what she wanted she said she needs her call light I forgot to leave it by her. ok so how did you use it just now? she had a very short term memory lol

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

She didn't push the call light, but she did call 911. I was at the nurses' station doing care plans or whatever when 4 fire fighters and one EMT appeared. One of them said they had gotten a 911 call and it was coming from room 121. I raced down the hall to room 121. There was the 80ish year old woman sitting there smiling. I asked her why she called 911. She said she had to go to the bathroom. When I asked her why she didn't just push the call light button, she batted her eyelashes at the EMT and said in a Southern accent (she was no more Southern than I) "Honey, you're very cute, but these gentlemen are fire fighters with blue eyes and they're very tall." Everyone had to leave the room because we were laughing. We ended up playing Let's Make A Deal....she'd use the call light when she had to pee, and the fire fighters would come visit her when they were in the neighborhood. She did, they did and everyone was happy.

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Specializes in ICU.
"There is a cat over there and it won't stop staring at me."

Hehehe hahaha! I know this patient!

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Specializes in ICU.
The patient was experiencing high anxiety. Most likely, anxiety disorder was present before this event.

Your nursing intervention should have been to contact the physician... obtain an anti-anxiety medication. Would have been a much better night for you and the patient.

I've never known a doctor to prescribe anti anxiety meds just because they push the call light frequently. I would get laughed at requesting this! Lol

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Specializes in ICU.
True story (or you wouldn't believe it) pt "quick get down the mothership is coming. don't you see the aliens at the window" (6th floor). The things people see/hear on night shift.

Did you look for these aliens? Lol

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One of the female nurses I work with recently went to answer a call light and came back fuming. "Mr. K" was a frequent flier and usually on the light for a multitude of nonemergent reasons. Anyhow, the nurse came back and said, "He told me he needed me to sit on his face." By far the most unusual request...

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Specializes in ICU.
One of the female nurses I work with recently went to answer a call light and came back fuming. "Mr. K" was a frequent flier and usually on the light for a multitude of nonemergent reasons. Anyhow, the nurse came back and said, "He told me he needed me to sit on his face." By far the most unusual request...

Very inappropriate but super funny IMO. Lmao

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Specializes in LTC, Rehab.

I already commented on this thread back in the Olden Days when it began, ha ha, but yeah, we have had people call 911 too, and my 'favorite' (I'm being sarcastic here) is the 20% or so who simply yell for help instead of using that pesky call light. It could be 'Hey!' (a favorite), Hey Sir' (a variation), 'I want to get UP', or maybe something original.

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I called because I can't find my call button. Oh, is that what this is? I thought it was the remote.

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I have had found that sitting down and spending a few min with a patient that is a frequent abuser of the call light really helps. When I make my rounds during shift report I try to reassure each patient that I want to do everything possible to assist them whith their needs. Making an attempt by the whole team to give extra TLC to patients that are calling frequently also helps. I also understand how frustrating constant bell ringers can be when nothing helps.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Transplant, Education.
That's really cute.
Similar to that, I recently got "My IV has 20 percent left" after I had just recently hung his TPN & Lipids. He was staring at the IV pump and noticed that the lipid channel scrolls "Fat Emulsion 20%" for the Lipids.
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