Share The Weirdest Reasons Patients Push The Call Light

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2005

As a phone triage nurse, I got a phone call form a pt in an adult care home. Seems his attendant was not answering the call light. The pt asked me to call the attendant on the phone, and have him bring the pt a blanket from right down the hall.

I phoned and awoke the attendant, who'd been asleep on the job. Amazingly, he was not at all embarrassed at what length his pt had to go to to get a blanket, due to the attendant's laziness and neglect.

In this case, the pt's call was weird, but more than justified.

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2005

.......We also have a few rooms with 'ghost lights' The call lights will come on when no one is inthe room. Had this happen a few weeks ago. One resident from the room was in the hospital the other was sitting in his chair at the desk....NO ONE in the room to turn it on. Went down turned it off...half way down the hall, it came back on!!! (Of course this is a room farthest from the desk!! lol) This happened about 4 times! Freaked us out a bit. Then the light across the hall started doing the same thing. We couldn't get that one to shut off at all. Usually when things like this happen, we have a death (or 3)

I've experienced those "ghost" call lights, too.

I found that unpluging the call light, sticking an IVAC probe cover in the socket, then sticking the call light end into the probe cover stops those ghost lights from ringing.

AmyB · Sep 16, 2005

... I confess to not reading the entire thread yet.

Has pillow fluffing been covered? I have a resident in my LTC who pulls the call light, falls asleep, and when I finally get to her, she wants me to adjust her pillows. Today her call light was on for almost my entire shift. I did check in on her, just to be certain, but if she was sleeping, I tried to shut it off without waking her and make a hasty retreat.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Sep 27, 2005

Several come to mind. An elderly lady who would not stop calling. She was on that light every 2 minutes had to pee a tiny dribble every time. She kept getting up pulling the IV behind her. We just knew she was going to end up on the floor. I called her daughter to come in and sit with her. She said, she wears depends, she has them on, I'm not coming in, just tell her if she gets up again without help you will put the posey vest on. I did and she didn't call out more than once or twice more the rest of the shift. It felt like the wrong thing to do but hey it worked. She never did pee in her depends either. I think she just wanted somebody in the room.

The ones who really make me mad are the one who ask for the nurse. "Can she bring you anything?" "No, I just need to talk to her". You go to the room and they're like "can I have a cup of ice" :angryfire Yesterday: "can my daughter have a coke". Her daughter was at least 50 years old (my age), I politely told her that the cafeteria was open.:angryfire

FroggysMom · Sep 27, 2005

I once had a patient who called me to the room to wipe his butt because he did not wipe his own butt at home....his wife did. (I'm not kidding about this):rotfl:
That same patient would call me to his room to pull the bedside table closer to him, and pour him a cup of cold water. He didn't have to do this for himself at home. His wife did it, or their "help" did it.
Was he too sick to wipe his own butt and get his own water? No. He was a walky-talky dressed in a silk robe and jammies who could do everything for himself if he wanted to. He didn't want to.

Obviously his wife didn't marry well, did she? :uhoh21:

FroggysMom · Sep 27, 2005

Had a woman who was 101. She rung her bell but then just looked at us. Eventually she said "Am I dead yet?".

Thanks for making my day! :rotfl:

FroggysMom · Sep 27, 2005

This makes me think of the female patient who was embarrassed for me after wiping her. She stated "it must be so degrading to have to wipe someones @$$." I replied with "In any profession you have to do some @$$ wiping. In this profession, it is literal instead of figuirative."
Adam
I Graduate TODAY!! Yeah!!!

What a great answer Adam! I will need to remember that one! Oh, and congratulations on graduation! :chuckle

curlyfries · Sep 27, 2005

I've been a patient myself many times. Do feel at times uncomfortable for asking for the dummest things like ice water. What I've done was to bring a pitcher to the nurse's station and ask for ice water, just to save them a trip. There were times that I did things for my roommates, they were mostly elderly. Simple things like getting them water or warm up their plate in the microwave. I've done all that with an IV in my arm!

lpnstudentin2010, LPN · Sep 27, 2005

I once had a patient who called me to the room to wipe his butt ....:rotfl:

When I was in the hospital I had the nurses wipe by butt. I just recently realized I did not really need them to...I had an IV on the arm near the toilet paper and had just had facial reconstructive sergery but if they had handed me the tp i could have done it. of course i realize this like a month later though

kadokin, ASN, RN · Sep 28, 2005

I once had a patient who called me to the room to wipe his butt because he did not wipe his own butt at home....his wife did. (I'm not kidding about this):rotfl:
That same patient would call me to his room to pull the bedside table closer to him, and pour him a cup of cold water. He didn't have to do this for himself at home. His wife did it, or their "help" did it.
Was he too sick to wipe his own butt and get his own water? No. He was a walky-talky dressed in a silk robe and jammies who could do everything for himself if he wanted to. He didn't want to.

I think I know this guy. He was my patient, too.

Kitkat23 · Sep 28, 2005

I work in LTC on the hectic floor where residents are constantly on the call light. I have this one old lady who loves to play with the call light. She'll press the light and then wheel away from it. Or if I answer it, she'll have an iron grip on the light and have the finger squeezed on the button, so it's hard to turn it off. I grab it from her and take her out of her room or I put her to bed early. She's confused and goes to dialysis, so she likes to go to bed early. When I put her in, she'll be quiet for the rest of the night

I have another woman who's confused and loves to play with the light. Half the time she rings for us, she needs a blanket, the lights and tv on or off, be put to bed, or have her head raised up. Other times when I come in to shut her light off and ask her what she wants, she'll say, "I didn't ring the bell." or, "I don't need anything." That drives me nuts, especially when I'm so busy or shortstaffed.

Yes, I have a new resident who's a man and also glued to the call light. He'll buzz us for a depends change and say, "I need my butt wiped!" :rotfl:

HONEYBEAR · Sep 28, 2005

I had a pt of mine request "Can you trim my hair".....I then told her that the facility had a beautician, and she could make an appt. in the morning when she opened...........but boy was I wrong, she wanted the hair "DOWN THERE" trimmed. :rolleyes: :uhoh3: :nono: Needless, to say it did not get trimmed.