Nursing call lights
@OreoBrownie (3755)
Commerce, Georgia
April 23, 2019 4:30pm CST
My roommate is needy, demanding and 90 years old. She has some dementia too. She is seen as a nuisance because she pushes the call light one or two times a minute. It gets exhausting. She will pull at her diaper and say she is wet when she is actually dry.
She has gotten so bad at it that CNAs have started hiding her call light from her. She only has one arm and hand that works due to a stroke.
It is illegal to hide the call light from a resident no matter how irritating they are to call for no reason.
I feel in the middle because I see the violation and she does have real health problems like being a brittle diabetic. She can go up to 300 blood sugar and drop to the 50s in a shift.
So she is an irritation to the staff because most of the calls are for nothing. But! What if she really needs help? What if I am asleep and can't call for her if the staff hides the call light?
It's against the law and a staff member found to be one who hides a call light will be fired. It is abuse and neglect, yet the staff feels it solves the nusiance calling problem.
So it's a dilemma. Staff is overworked by answering call lights and when one calls 60 times an hour, what is the thing to solve the problem?
2 people like this
3 responses
@ihasaquestion (8273)
•
24 Apr 19
This is the dilemma in taking care of the elderly which a lot of people do not know and understand..
1 person likes this
@OreoBrownie (3755)
• Commerce, Georgia
24 Apr 19
Exactly. I've clued the daughter in on the problem of her mom's call light being out of reach. The daughter works here on another floor. She visits every morning and I asked her to take note of her call light being out of reach or hidden under the mattress.
I've made the social worker and administrator aware. The administrator emailed the photo I took of the misplaced call light to her own email address. They are pinning it down to the CNA doing it. When caught, that person will be sent home.
1 person likes this
@OreoBrownie (3755)
• Commerce, Georgia
25 Apr 19
@ihasaquestion they do it when a resident calls 100 or more times a shift. They say it's like crying "wolf" and when the resident really needs something, they won't know because they got tired of it and hid her call light from her.
@PatZAnthony (14749)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
24 Apr 19
Sent a PM to you asking where you were and this article answered my question.
Dementia is such a terrible thing. It has been reported that most don't want to deal with those patients.
If you are aware of neglect, tell your social worker and something can be done without anyone knowing you were involved.
While it is nice that you are there to get help for your roomie when she needs it, it would be good if you could be where your sleep is not disturbed.
1 person likes this
@OreoBrownie (3755)
• Commerce, Georgia
25 Apr 19
I sleep when she sleeps. Some nights she is quiet. I took 2 pics last night where 2 CNAs placed her call light out of reach. The first one was with the call light looped through the rail and put the call light on the floor. The second one was with the call cord wound around the back of the bed and tied so it could not be reached. I emailed these pics to the administrator.
Admin came to see me this morning and said to tell them that they cannot keep the button out of her reach. I said I was afraid the CNAs would be angry and treat me badly. Admin and social worker said not to be afraid because the CNAs will be fired.
I had the nurse unwind the cord and put it in her reach.
1 person likes this
@PatZAnthony (14749)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
27 Apr 19
@OreoBrownie You are in a tough position and right to be concerned about your own safety.
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
24 Apr 19
I have had coworkers who thought that it was a good idea to hide the call light, but it is not an acceptable solution. In case something happens and the person really needs to help, the consequences could be very serious. I don't know what to do instead. In many cases we didn't find a way to solve the problem, and the person kept calling for help.
1 person likes this
@OreoBrownie (3755)
• Commerce, Georgia
25 Apr 19
I've been told to speak up and tell them they can't do that and to record each time this abuse happens. The SW said with the pics they finally believe.
I've reported it to nurses before and even showed them when I saw the cords hidden and the nurses didn't do anything. Now it's being investigated and they are taking it seriously.
This resident is 90 years young. She can't help herself. I try to take care of her when I know things are wrong.
