You say that nurses should always ask the patient if
anything else is needed before we leave the room, and to also
tell them that we have the time to help them.  What if we don’t
have the time?  It feels like lying.

Response:

There is a funny comic strip that has a military leader gazing over a hectic battlefield packed with fiercely fighting archers, with arrows flying in all directions.  A man pulling a cartload of rifles and boxes of bullets is tugging at the coat of the general, but the general says, “Not now!  I don’t have the time to deal with you!”

In just about every area of life, there are steps that should be done first, no matter how pressed for time you may be.  Nurses are famously short on time, and the nation’s nursing shortages won’t be disappearing any time soon.  The key is discovering the best practices that help patient care teams make the most of the time they have, and proactive approaches with patients work.

Hospitals can’t just tell employees what to do—you also need to tell them why it should be done if you want enthusiastic compliance.  A “because I said so” approach doesn’t work all that well with children, and it works even less effectively with your professional patient care teams.  Education is the key to emotional buy-in from your staff.  Proactively communicating with patients will give patient care teams more time, not less.  When a patient is asked if anything else is needed (and the staff also assures the patient that there is time to help), the number of call lights will decrease.  It is undeniably important to respond to every call for assistance in a timely manner, so the key is to make each trip as productive as possible. 

As you leave, ask the patient if anything else is needed, and assure the patient you have the time to help.  Is this lying?  Absolutely not—because research shows patient care team members will have less time if they don’t do this with each patient. 

Other time-building best practices include:

• Patient Journals:  Give your patients a journal and encourage them (as well as their family members) to write down questions as they have them throughout the day.  Every time patient care teams have contact with patients, ask about any questions that were written down.  This gives you the opportunity to deal with questions and problems all at once and nip problems in the bud before they become time-sapping events.  This best practice also leads to increased patient safety—journals will help identify new issues and uncover gaps in the patient’s knowledge about the care plan.  How many medical ‘mysteries’ out there could be solved if patient care teams knew all the symptoms going on with patients?  Journaling produces a wide range of benefits.
• “I’ll Be Back At . . .” Signs:  Knowledge is a powerful tool, and patient care teams will see many benefits if they manage the patients’ expectations.  By informing your patients when you expect to check back on them (with a cardboard clock, for example), they will be far more likely to wait for your return.  Knowing when you will check on them will decrease call lights.
• Proactive Assistance:  You are medical professionals—you know what your patients ask for over and over again.  Pillows, blankets, water—whatever the list is with your patients, proactively offer them.  Sometimes a patient doesn’t realize she is thirsty until 15 minutes later—but if you had asked her if she wanted more water when you were in the room, she probably would have said yes. 
• Give Patients Something to DO:  Bored patients require more maintenance than busy patients.  Look into ways your hospital can make the passage of time productive for patients.  This can be done with improving visitation policies (the more opportunities patients have for visitors, the happier they’ll be), games, a wide range of reading materials, and even internet access—who hasn’t surfed the web and seen hours fly by?