When did it become okay?

babynurselsa, RN · Nov 26, 2003

I perosnally would not waste my time coing down the list of residents. If you don't get and answer in a timely fashion to the first page maybe even the second page to the first person, I would call operator to make sure I am paging the current on call. Next step I will page the attending. My patients need care which does not include sitting around all day/night waiting for my pages to be returned. Y oucan be sure that ifr you have to disturb the attending more than once or twice that they will get to the bottom of why your pages are not returned and the problem will be solved.

bellehill, RN · Nov 26, 2003

I have gone for the attending a couple times, and you are right it can be easier. Our coordinator talked to the resident coordinator and seems to have gotten a few things straightened out (like an updated call list with pager numbers). Maybe things will be a little smoother :rolleyes:

Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN · Nov 26, 2003

Sounds like good advice, Queenie.

Thanks.

P_RN, ADN, RN · Nov 26, 2003

Each of our department's assistant would send out a calendar like list with the residents, their pagers, their telephone#s, starting with the "low man on the totem pole" up to the Attending Professor at the Medical School. We also kept a porcelain board updated with the 8 residents assigned to ortho and their beepers. They would sign their daily progress note with who would be the "on call" that night. I think I only had to call UP the tree maybe half dozen times in many, many years.

Town & Country · Nov 29, 2003

haha!

this reminds me of the time i had a patient on a med/surg floor...he had cancer and had previously had some sort of surgery; lung surgery i believe...anyway...this was a couple years ago...i somehow made a mistake (imagine that) with about ten or eleven patients on a usual shift...anyway....i somehow called his surgeon for pain rx (he wasn't a fresh post-op), but he was dying and in pain and i don't know how; i was just trying to get him some help.

as i said, i mistakenly called his surgeon (perhaps the hospital switchboard made the boo-boo), i don't know but when i told him what i wanted, he want off! started ranting and raving....haha, i hung up on him!

would you believe he called back to the hospital five or six times, demanding to speak to me?

needless to say i didn't take his call; i was busy trying to get pain med for my patient.....hahahahaha.

:roll

kitty29 · Nov 30, 2003

Far as I'm concerned it's Never ok for residents not to answer their page. Very rarely one doesn't and it is a result of bad batteries....and in such cases I have tracted them down and had them check and get new batteries.

bellehill, RN · Nov 30, 2003

Here is the update, there was a list that no one knew about with all the resident on-call beepers and schedules. Even the staff members on the floor didn't know about it. The coordinator got us beeper numbers that are to be updated daily. Some of the numbers still aren't right but at least someone calls back!

kitty29 · Dec 1, 2003

Originally posted by bellehill
Here is the update, there was a list that no one knew about with all the resident on-call beepers and schedules. Even the staff members on the floor didn't know about it. The coordinator got us beeper numbers that are to be updated daily. Some of the numbers still aren't right but at least someone calls back!

Way to scout out the problem and resolve it! Nice job!!!

nurse62 · Dec 1, 2003

We have an on going problem with one of our physicians at our LTC facility. such as this. One night, I had him paged within 15 minutes of the resident change of condition. Took him four hours in which to return the call, in which I had paged him two more times, a total of three. When he finally returned my call, I began to give him report of the change, and within the first two sentences he started firing off orders at me. I was absolutely furious at him and interupted him by saying " Doctor, I don't mean any disrespect, however, please allow me to complete my report to you, for I have started at the beginning of the patients change of condition, and it has been four hours and the resident has changed significantly within those four hours!" I wanted him to get the full picture, ya know. Once I was done, he gave me a different set of orders (naturally) then he started with. Then he actually apologizes, but then adds......"but I am in Chicago on a conference." I couldn't hold back.....thus I said "well, you may be in Chicago on a conference, but you are also ON CALL!" I thought I was in deep water with him after that, however he has treated me with a bit more respect since then....