"Uses call light extremely well"

Published

Yesterday I was running my tush off with 3 busy patients and no tech on a cardiac care unit. This one woman should go on Jeopordy! I ended up scrambling to finish up my charting after I gave report.

All I could think of to say was "Pt conts to have frequent urination, uses call light very well" "Continues with excellent ability to use call light" "A&O, uses call light extremely well" That's pretty much my shift with her, she didn't really have any issues, other than the fact that she needed her water pitcher topped off or her bed side table slightly moved... :rolleyes: Definately a passive personality.

Specializes in medical, telemetry, IMC.
or neuro assessment

pt a/ox3, positive cps.

cps if they can use a cell phone they are neuro intact

:yeah:love this one!

i'm gonna have to start using that!

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Specializes in Ortho, Case Management, blabla.
We don't have call lights in my hospital and I'm GLAD!!!!!!!!

Where do you work, and are they hiring?

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Where do you work, and are they hiring?

I work on a geriatric psych unit.:wink2:

Probably not most people's cup of tea, but I do like it.

Usually...

Sometimes...

:stone

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Specializes in ICU/CCU.

We had a long time patient in our ICU who was intubated and would hit the call light every few minutes. Each time his nurse would be forced to read lips or play 20 questions in order to figure out what it was he wanted, usually having to guess or just give up. When this man was finally extubated and could speak he continued to hit the call light just as often, but now when the nurse went into the room to ask, he would say, "I didn't call for you" or "It wasn't me!" All the weeks we'd spent trying to guess his needs, and it turns out he was just crazy as a loon and messing with everyone. Ack.

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One of my favorite charting nightmares:

Had a patient once who claimed that previous nurse had only seen her once all day long. Given the fact that she had been on the light three times in five minutes for silly stuff, I doubted that...called day nurse into room and told her in front of patient, "Jane, Mrs. Smith claims you only saw her once all day today. I'd like to hear your side of the story as well, let's get this all cleared up before you leave for the day." Mrs. Smith couldn't believe I would have done that to her, as she ended up having to admit she had lied about it. Intervention documented.

Luckily I had a light team otherwise all night, one of those kinds of shifts that you pray for. I was able to document every time her call light went off, what it was for, and what was done. I ended up being glad that I did b/c at 0600 her husband and daughter appeared at my station wanting to know why I didn't check on Mrs. Smith all night. I explained nicely that she had been cared for quite well with frequent interventions all night long. They didn't believe me. I loved the look on their faces when I pulled out the novel I had charted on her and was able to tell them:

"At 2003, I pulled her blankets up for her.

At 2005, I pulled her blankets down.

At 2010, I got her fresh ice water.

At 2012, tech got her juice.

At 2016, I adjusted her thermostat up.

At 2020, tech pulled her blankets up.

At 2025, I adjusted her thermostat down.

At 2030, I gave her pain meds and pulled her blankets down.

I have twelve hours of charting like this, would you like to hear it all?"

They never bothered us again about whether or not we had taken care of the patient correctly.

Wow. You must've been taking care of my mother-in-law...Minus the part about the family questioning your care of the patient. At least we know she's a high-maintenance nutcase!

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Specializes in Staff nurse.
One of my favorite charting nightmares:

Had a patient once who claimed that previous nurse had only seen her once all day long. Given the fact that she had been on the light three times in five minutes for silly stuff, I doubted that...called day nurse into room and told her in front of patient, "Jane, Mrs. Smith claims you only saw her once all day today. I'd like to hear your side of the story as well, let's get this all cleared up before you leave for the day." Mrs. Smith couldn't believe I would have done that to her, as she ended up having to admit she had lied about it. Intervention documented.

Luckily I had a light team otherwise all night, one of those kinds of shifts that you pray for. I was able to document every time her call light went off, what it was for, and what was done. I ended up being glad that I did b/c at 0600 her husband and daughter appeared at my station wanting to know why I didn't check on Mrs. Smith all night. I explained nicely that she had been cared for quite well with frequent interventions all night long. They didn't believe me. I loved the look on their faces when I pulled out the novel I had charted on her and was able to tell them:

"At 2003, I pulled her blankets up for her.

At 2005, I pulled her blankets down.

At 2010, I got her fresh ice water.

At 2012, tech got her juice.

At 2016, I adjusted her thermostat up.

At 2020, tech pulled her blankets up.

At 2025, I adjusted her thermostat down.

At 2030, I gave her pain meds and pulled her blankets down.

I have twelve hours of charting like this, would you like to hear it all?"

They never bothered us again about whether or not we had taken care of the patient correctly.

Excellent post! Great documentation, esp when in the morning the pts. doctor demands to speak to the "nurse who ignored my pt. all night".

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Care plan: Possibly lonely appearing to use call light excessively.

Spend time if able just talking to the patient.

Encourage family/relatives to visit.

When able, bring patient within sight of nurses station/hall to be able to see more people.

Move to a room closer to the nurses station when available.

Bring to other activities/group projects as available.

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One of my favorite charting nightmares:

Had a patient once who claimed that previous nurse had only seen her once all day long. Given the fact that she had been on the light three times in five minutes for silly stuff, I doubted that...called day nurse into room and told her in front of patient, "Jane, Mrs. Smith claims you only saw her once all day today. I'd like to hear your side of the story as well, let's get this all cleared up before you leave for the day." Mrs. Smith couldn't believe I would have done that to her, as she ended up having to admit she had lied about it. Intervention documented.

Luckily I had a light team otherwise all night, one of those kinds of shifts that you pray for. I was able to document every time her call light went off, what it was for, and what was done. I ended up being glad that I did b/c at 0600 her husband and daughter appeared at my station wanting to know why I didn't check on Mrs. Smith all night. I explained nicely that she had been cared for quite well with frequent interventions all night long. They didn't believe me. I loved the look on their faces when I pulled out the novel I had charted on her and was able to tell them:

"At 2003, I pulled her blankets up for her.

At 2005, I pulled her blankets down.

At 2010, I got her fresh ice water.

At 2012, tech got her juice.

At 2016, I adjusted her thermostat up.

At 2020, tech pulled her blankets up.

At 2025, I adjusted her thermostat down.

At 2030, I gave her pain meds and pulled her blankets down.

I have twelve hours of charting like this, would you like to hear it all?"

They never bothered us again about whether or not we had taken care of the patient correctly.

I would have loved to have been there to see the look on her face and the families face.:yeah::up:

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Specializes in LTC, case mgmt, agency.

Had a patient like that about 6 months ago who loved to use the call light for little stuff. You could time the woman to every 15-20 minutes. Well it was evening and we had not heard from her for a whole 30 minutes and we were so happy. Then that erie feeling crept over me so I thought I would just " walk by " her room. Yep, there she was not breathing. Called a code. BTW, she made it.

I like the idea of charting every call light and what it was for so that we have proof of this when we are asked why we are not getting stuff done, etc. Thanks for sharing that.:up:

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We don't have call lights in my hospital

Where do you work, and do they have any openings?:)

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No kidding! Now all I hear is my pager going off all the time. It has the same "beep beep" as a big truck with back-up lights on it. I swear I have jumped out of a dead sleep b/c I heard my pager going off....only to remember that I signed it out (turned it off) and left it at work.

:chuckle

I keep mine on vibrate, I get lots of phantom vibrations.:)

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Had a patient like that about 6 months ago who loved to use the call light for little stuff. You could time the woman to every 15-20 minutes. Well it was evening and we had not heard from her for a whole 30 minutes and we were so happy. Then that erie feeling crept over me so I thought I would just " walk by " her room. Yep, there she was not breathing. Called a code. BTW, she made it.

I like the idea of charting every call light and what it was for so that we have proof of this when we are asked why we are not getting stuff done, etc. Thanks for sharing that.:up:

*snort*

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