Crazy Rules

At work, we are all walking around with dead beepers in our pockets. Administration occasionally checks to make sure that we are wearing our beepers and if anyone is beeperles, there is hell to pay. They don't work, but if our carrying a small, dead electronic device makes the bigwigs happy, we will comply.

Actually, we are happy that the beepers died. When they were alive, they drove us nuts. If any patient anywhere on the floor hit their call button, then all of the pagers would go off. The noise or buzzing was non-stop. Several times, I threatened to soak all of the nasty noise-makers in a bucket of water. Perhaps, someone beat me to it. Anyway, they are dead. Woo Hoo!

Administration has come up with a new rule that makes as much sense as carrying a dead beeper, only it is much more dangerous. It involves restraining patients. Administration will not allow us to both put a patient in restraints and have a sitter watch them.

What this means is that if a strong, highly agitated, confused patient must be tied up for their own safety, we are not allowed to have anyone watch them to make sure that they remain safe. We must all leave the room and just hope that they don't break the restraints or hang themselves when they wiggle down and try and jump from the bed. A few years ago, we had to watch a video about a patient who died this way.

We will continue to do what is right and will watch people in restraints when necessary. It is one thing to carry a broken pager, it is quite another thing to allow a dangerous, out of control patient to be left alone. Some rules are meant to be broken.