Why is it all the other depts in the healthcare facility immediately notify the nurse of things that are not their job, but really aren't the nurses job either.
For example, we had a new admit whose telephone did not work. On admission I switched out the phones, still didn't work, must be something wrong with the line so I put i a work order for the faulty phone. New admission complained about the phone to everyone who walked into the room.
Got a PT waiting at the nurses station after I had been doing a 15 minute dressing change in a room. She had also been calling my phone while I was in the room.
"Your new admit is mad his phone doesn't work. Why didn't you pick up your phone?"
Me "I was doing a sterile dressing change" She gives clueless look. "Yes I know all about the phone"
Her "Well, did you try to switch out the phone"
Me "Yes, still didn't work so I put in a work order"
Her "Did you call x at x number? He's the one you need to call"
Me "If you knew who to call I wonder why you didn't do it yourself"
Other "I'll Tell the Nurse" issues,
Patient wheeling along the hallway has lost her croc shoe. It's about seven feet behind her. However, rather than giving the patient the shoe, it seems the nurse MUST be notified so she can do it.
People who don't have batteries in their remote controls. Nurses station doesn't have batteries,(we are not to be trusted with batteries, just lives and narcotics) so the reception desk has them. However, these people know this, the nurse MUST be notified so she can go and get a battery. People would rather hang around the nurses station doing nothing waiting for me to come back so I can walk the 40 yards to get it from the receptionist.
OMG.. some of these are so funny.. and YES I KNOW THEY ARE ALL TRUE!!
We should be given certificates of competency in maintenance... We have all worked on tv's, radios, call lights, remote controls, computers, phones, whew!! Don't forget we are pretty good cooks and maids as well!!
Come to think of it, we are all multi-talented. I think that is why we are called upon to perform so many 'non nursing' tasks.
I work in the ER, and we get all kinds of interesting calls. We are the phone book for the rest of the city, including other departments in the hospital. When is such-and-such place open? Don't know! Where's a good place to eat? How do I get in touch with Dr. X at nearest big facility? Who sells plan B? I have a prescription for antivert, what's the OTC version? Who was in the wreck at XYZ road? Who did you airlift? Where can we find crackers (at 0200)? How are the roads?
And my favorite, considering the time of year..... Are the schools closed/on a delay?
I used to have a magic wand, but I took a rectal temp w/ it and it broke, lol. No one knows how to fix it, but I put in a work order!!
We have started training other departments to help in a nice but no nonsense way with the support of our management. We are lucky that they back us. If someone tells us a patient needs water, ice, blankets, etc. we point them in the right direction to get it. If the tv, phone, etc. is out we point them to the order form. If we already took care of it and they harp we tell them we will give them the form and they can be in charge of f/u. They go running. lol We have been doing this for a while now because it was out of control. We have seen improvement.
Last week the PT lady comes up to the floor to retrieve the loaner W/C that PT let one of my residents use. The resident is sitting outside the door of her room in the aforementioned W/C.
PT lady walks up to the door of the room and tells me to go in the room and bring out the resident's regular W/C so that she can swap it for the loaner.
Meanwhile, I'm passing meds, running back and forth to answer the phone, and trying to keep our newest wanderer away from the exit door. After a minute of standing around waiting for her command to be obeyed she huffs and walks ten feet into the room to retrieve the resident's W/C then comes out and tells me to make the resident stand up so that she can get her chair back.
After another few minutes of being ignored she helps the resident stand up and swaps the W/Cs...then walks away grumbling something under her breath about nurses not doing their jobs. :icon_roll
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i just love it when pt comes out of a room and says "she needs another blanket" or "he wants the game on." i'll say, "ok. blankets are right there, and thanks for taking care of that." or "thanks for helping him with the remote." now they rarely ask me anymore -- just take care of it themselves. now if i could only train rt . . . but i cannot even get them to do things that are their jobs!
my personal favorite is when the cna answers the call light, and comes and gets you saying "the pt wants to see you", and the pt says " i have to go to the BR. (not that its the cna's fault) and then the pt gets ****** when u explain thats what the cna helps with and you dont need to ask for 'the nurse'
or they 'get the nurse' at 0300 to say they are awake...
i love the ones about the TV issues... totally true. do i seriously look like a TV repair person too?
i just love it when pt comes out of a room and says "she needs another blanket" or "he wants the game on." i'll say, "ok. blankets are right there, and thanks for taking care of that." or "thanks for helping him with the remote." now they rarely ask me anymore -- just take care of it themselves. now if i could only train rt . . . but i cannot even get them to do things that are their jobs!
i'm not sure if it's in their job description or not, but...for the love of god, put the resident's o2 back on when you bring them back to their room! i know they know how, b/c they switch the resident from the concentrator to the tank before taking them to therapy...yet every day, a cna comes out of a room and asks, "did they d/c mrs. soandso's o2?" arrrrrrghh! it's not gonna be the pt's license on the line when someone codes, maybe that's why they overlook it...
my personal favorite is when the cna answers the call light, and comes and gets you saying "the pt wants to see you", and the pt says " i have to go to the BR. (not that its the cna's fault) and then the pt gets ****** when u explain thats what the cna helps with and you dont need to ask for 'the nurse'
OMG, yes!!!!! Or they want a snack or more ice water or a warm blanket, and you've interrupted your med pass or a treatment to respond on the chance that it was something urgent. :angryfire
At my facility, we have different buttons on the call light paddles. One is the traditional "Nurse" button, then there is one for toileting (has a little picture of a toilet on it), and one for pain (a little frowny face). The pain button bypasses the CNA phones and goes straight to the nurse phones, and the CNAs ignore the "pain" lights completely (they are mounted outside the room alongside the regular call light). We had one CNA that was instructing patients that if they "needed the nurse for anything", to press the frowny face button, and if they needed the CNA for anything, to press the "nurse" button. So naturally, the patients were pressing the frowny face/pain button for everything from toileting to jello, so the nurses would respond, thinking the person was having chest pain (cardiac floor), only to find it was something the CNA could have helped with. Can't tell you how many times I had to re-educate patients on the call light system and the kinds of things they didn't need the nurse for and that the CNA could help with. I think there should only be one button. Whoever designed those paddles should be taken out back and...well, paddled!!!!
ETA: If I ever go back to the floor, I might just be one of "those" nurses. I can tell the difference between a coworker who is busy and trying their best, and one who is shirking. Shirkers beware!!!!!!
your system seems nice; if your staff would teach the pts correctly!! we arent so advanced. we do not have phones (thank GOD), but we do only have a regular call light button with a red cross on it that is used for everything. and several pts have been catching on lately that if you push and hold it for a few seconds, that it sets off a "staff emergency" call light and tone and ppl come running in; so when they "need a snack soooo bad they cant stand it" (or whatever else) they do this instead of wait their turn. :angryfire
It seems nice on the surface, but if you take into consideration that a large proportion of our patients are frail elderly with failing vision, poor manual dexterity, or cognitive deficits, the paddles are too complex and the buttons are too small. The patients that can operate the paddles will often choose to press the "pain" button because they know they will get a nurse and a quicker response, much like the trick some of our patients have learned.
NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN
3,959 Posts
A wife even asked me when will her husband die. I'm thinking " how the heck should I know" but I told her those things are unpredictable.