Cries For Help

A patient's call light was on. I walked over and as I got to the doorway, the patient yelled "Help." I hurried in the room, wondering what the emergency was. The patient pointed to a portable DVD player and asked how to turn it on.

It was tempting to grab the DVD player and throw it against the wall. Instead, I just found the play button and showed it to her. In the future if she keeps that nonsense up, her cries for help may not be a priority with the nurses.

Later, in another room, there was a loud crashing sound followed by someone yelling for help. I rushed over, expecting to see a patient on the floor. Instead, it was just a food tray that fell off a table and crashed on the floor. The person yelling for help was in another room. He was saying "Help, help, a pill fell."

He was a little hard of hearing and thought that the crashing sound was a pill falling to the floor. Even if a food tray hitting the floor sounded like a falling pill to him, why call for help? No, he wasn't confused.