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!

Favorite:

Patient sets alarm for prn pain medications "due" time so she does not miss a dose. Calls and complains about the noise of the alarm, very frantic that she was awakened from such a sound sleep. She has no idea what the noise was, so is really chewing out the staff. Finally understands that it is the alarm that she has set, and suddenly remembers how badly she is hurting. Went to get her medications and had to awaken her. She could not even swallow the pills, so this dose was held and she forgot to reset the alarm. Slept like a baby, and amazingly, after the sleep her pain improved.

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Specializes in critical care.
LOL!! This used to happen to me all the time, although for a different reason. The patient wasn't answering the phone on purpose, because she was annoyed with the annoying family member. After the third time of "she's resting and doesn't have to answer the phone if she doesn't want to," I finally got blunt and told the family member "she said she doesn't want to talk to you and to please quit calling so she can sleep."

OMG.

It did not stop.

The entire day.

It did not stop.

And then, after getting a shift change code blue in the ER (that amazingly I was the ONLY non-ICU nurse that bothered to show up to, and ICU only sent their charge....), the family had the nerve to tell the PM charge nurse that they had "concerns" with how the day went. They felt we weren't with her enough. Honest to god, if I wasn't with this patient, I was on the phone ABOUT the patient, and the person with "concerns" managed to show up coincidentally the only time I left the floor that day.

......which was to pound on the chest of a woman whose heart was going on and off like a switch each and every time we thought she was either done or coming back......

I was their mom's advocate this whole entire day. I saw what they saw. I worked my butt off for her - got med changes, got tests and labs ordered. If I hadn't been on it with this woman, I would have only been able to tell them, "oh, she's just fine." But no, she was my most unstable patient and she had my undivided for so much of this day.

This day. This ridiculous day. How do you politely tell someone, "I'm sorry I wasn't in the room to tell you for the 300th time your mom isn't getting morphine like you asked, but I was trying to save a woman's life." Ugh!

To those who decry the purpose for threads like this, it is because we need a place to lament the days like this one. Not once would I (or did I) minimize their concerns (still wouldn't and won't), but surely a reasonable person would realize I would actually have MORE time for their loved one if my phone weren't ringing off the hook.

Okay, rant over. Sorry for the hijack, but I'm spent. And frustrated.

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(((hugs)))

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Horrible memories come back from my time on the floor.

ICU: 1 patient that I sit in front of so I don't have to hear constant call lights going off... I just have to listen to the million pumps, vent and other gadgets beeping along.

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Here's one. Let me set the scene for you.

LTC rehab unit...20 residents are mine and all my beds are full. It's a weekend, so no unit clerk to answer the phone at the desk (now partly my responsibility).

I've got one with Alzheimer's who I'm in with, who is projectile vomiting all over his room, two aides helping me to soothe him/clean up. Phone is ringing at the desk. Call bells like crazy, middle of my med pass, trying to get a call back from this persons doctor, one IV beeping because the ABT is done...you get the idea.

A family member has the nerve to stand outside this mans door until I walk out and begins to scream at me because his mothers call bell has been ringing for fifteen minutes and when I finally get him to talk to me like I'm a human and not a servant, the bell was hit because he wanted the facility wifi password.

I do not know how I didn't lose it that day.

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Specializes in ED; Med Surg.
I've got one with Alzheimer's who I'm in with, who is projectile vomiting all over his room, two aides helping me to soothe him/clean up. Phone is ringing at the desk. Call bells like crazy, middle of my med pass, trying to get a call back from this persons doctor, one IV beeping because the ABT is done...you get the idea.

Yep I do. Plus one night in the middle of chaos like this with no secretary and no techs on our "satellite" unit (Med Surg), I get a call from ICU who wanted to transfer a patient.

She said to me "you need to pay more attention over there, I called before and no one answered".

Really?

"Safe Staffing Saves Lives"

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1. Pt calls (and also walks out of the room to find us) to say we need to look at his stool...20 times. It was regular.

2. Pt's husband leaves, so pt is constantly ringing the call bell as soon as she sees him at the elevator to hold her hand, or sit and chat with her, to keep her company because she's lonely (this was when I was a CNA taking care of 15pts a night)... Even after teaching her the importance and use of her call bell, she continues to do it until she falls asleep.

3. One pt would ring all the time, yelling, "I need my Percocet!" It didn't matter if she just took it five minutes ago, or if she isn't in the timeframe she can take it again (prn). Afterwards, she'd set her cell phone alarm for the next dose, and ring.

4. "I want a Coke."

5. "I wanted to see how long it'd take for you to get here."

6. Right before going on break as a CNA, I informed everyone on the floor (after asking) that I'll be on lunch break. Came back to find the RN demanding to know where I've been because my pt rang his bell after he fell on the floor (it fell with him, apparently). His back had skin tears, and after the RN asked what happened, he said that he wanted to sleep on the floor because it looked comfy.

7. Immediately after dinner, the hall becomes a Christmas tree of lights, all saying, "I'm ready to go to bed."

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I had a good one the other night. New admission in observation, calls and says:

"Can you call the doc and let her know about the boil behind my testicles? You wanna see?"

At 2:30 in the morning.

Needless to say, I passed that one on to day shift.

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Specializes in Pediatric.
Favorite:

Patient sets alarm for prn pain medications "due" time so she does not miss a dose. Calls and complains about the noise of the alarm, very frantic that she was awakened from such a sound sleep. She has no idea what the noise was, so is really chewing out the staff. Finally understands that it is the alarm that she has set, and suddenly remembers how badly she is hurting. Went to get her medications and had to awaken her. She could not even swallow the pills, so this dose was held and she forgot to reset the alarm. Slept like a baby, and amazingly, after the sleep her pain improved.

Omgoodness! Sometimes I float to a unit where someone requests to be woken up for their 3 scheduled narcotics. Sorry but 1. I'm a little uncomfortable with that and 2. We're supposed to sign a comm book in her room stating we gave them. Weird.

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.
....Or they think they are in a hotel . I don't like it at all, especially when there are other patients who need more care then this one who thinks only of himself and his enjoyment of watching staff bust their behinds running to the rooms all the time when the light goes on.....then you have the patients who threated to sue....or the ITS YOUR JOB type of thing....this Is one thing I cannot tolerate in people and its spitefulness. The best is when they use the callbell when family is in the room and they all watch you like you are on display while you pull the curtain for the patient, or fix a blanket. I know its OUR JOB and WE HAVE TO DO IT...but....this is one of many reasons why I dislike this job. People are just mean.

Oh...everyone watching you on display while you do a simple thing...know that one...it is sort of insulting and uncomfortable, but I try to overlook it.

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.
Omgoodness! Sometimes I float to a unit where someone requests to be woken up for their 3 scheduled narcotics. Sorry but 1. I'm a little uncomfortable with that and 2. We're supposed to sign a comm book in her room stating we gave them. Weird.

Things that make you go..."...hmmmm..."

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.

One nightshift on a special step down unit, one patient (of mine) hit the call bell about every 20-30 mins because she again had half or more of her leads off and was tangled in all of them. Of course, alarms were going off too.

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