Beepers

[Gute]

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Why do some doctors, particularly the attendings, keep their beepers on "as loud of an annoying noise possible," especially during conference/lectures where such disruptions obviously create a scene? Its the same routine everyday, we sit down for conference and just as we are either about to finally understand WTH the lecture is about or finally begin to nod off despite sitting, the most shrill, high-pitched noise possible occurs and there is always a momentary moment of distraction shared by everyone in the room. I seriously want to kill myself everytime I hear the beeper go off in conference.

People, we know you are doctors and that you sometimes need to be contacted urgently. Why can't you just use the vibrate function and not bother the rest of us? I use the vibrate function on my pager (as do all the other students, but it seems that only student know of this feature) and it is very very good at grabbing my attention.

Not too mention, it is completely unprofessional for the beeper to deafen patients at the bedside.

 

[Depakote]

A few reasons I can think of...

pagers are great on vibrate if you're wearing them, but if it's across the room when you're at home, then you need to hear it.

if you get paged when you're asleep on call, then it needs to wake you up.

having a loud pager is excusable, "oh, I didn't hear/feel my pager b/c it was on vibrate" is not an excuse for missing a page...

 

[SoCuteMD]

A few reasons I can think of...

pagers are great on vibrate if you're wearing them, but if it's across the room when you're at home, then you need to hear it.

if you get paged when you're asleep on call, then it needs to wake you up.

having a loud pager is excusable, "oh, I didn't hear/feel my pager b/c it was on vibrate" is not an excuse for missing a page...

Mine won't ONLY vibrate. Can't turn it on silent b/c I like not getting written up for answering answering my pages.

Also, mine takes a minute or so to switch from ringer to ringer - too long! And if I forget and toss it in a white coat pocket I risk not feeling it vibrate.

 

[EBI831]

Dude, you better get used to it. My mom used to keep that bad boy on at Church when I was growing up. I thought it was unnecessary then but now I think differently. The fact is: you're just a lowly student, no one is really paging with anything important so vibrate I guess is sufficient to you. But, when you are managing many patients and working on a team that requires your input for even the slightest decision, you better not miss that page. I put mine on vibrate and wear it all the time but several times, I've missed pages just because I'm running around and taking care of something for some patient or even wearing the droplet precaution gown...fortunately, my input doesnt matter and the most that'll happen if I'm late or miss the page is getting chewed out by my team.

 

[Gute]

Dude, you better get used to it. My mom used to keep that bad boy on at Church when I was growing up. I thought it was unnecessary then but now I think differently. The fact is: you're just a lowly student, no one is really paging with anything important so vibrate I guess is sufficient to you. But, when you are managing many patients and working on a team that requires your input for even the slightest decision, you better not miss that page. I put mine on vibrate and wear it all the time but several times, I've missed pages just because I'm running around and taking care of something for some patient or even wearing the droplet precaution gown...fortunately, my input doesnt matter and the most that'll happen if I'm late or miss the page is getting chewed out by my team.

you should still feel the vibration, unless you are wearing it over the isolation gown.

The vibration keeps going on and on until you view the page. Maybe you guys have some weak vibrator action pagers, but everytime mine goes off it kinda scares me since the vibration function is so sudden and strong. I understand turning on the audio when you take a nap, but its really not that difficult to change the pager settings, esp for a conference where things should be quiet enough that even a weak vibrating pager should be heard/felt by the person wearing it.

 

[Ashers]

Mine has vibrate + sound which I use. It vibrates for the first 10s then beeps. I miss the vibration a good 1/3 of the time when I'm wearing my coat since I keep it in my coat -- less falling off and dropping on the ground. I don't use plain ole vibrate since I found as a student I missed that a lot. It wasn't nearly as important when my friends were paging me silly messages

The only sound settings on my pager are "individualized" tones soft, and "holy crap, I'm awake I promise!" loud on the just regular beep/vibrate beep. There is no way to control the volume.

 

[smq123]

you should still feel the vibration, unless you are wearing it over the isolation gown.

The vibration keeps going on and on until you view the page. Maybe you guys have some weak vibrator action pagers, but everytime mine goes off it kinda scares me since the vibration function is so sudden and strong. I understand turning on the audio when you take a nap, but its really not that difficult to change the pager settings, esp for a conference where things should be quiet enough that even a weak vibrating pager should be heard/felt by the person wearing it.

Well, you have to remember that each hospital issues different models and brands of pagers. It's unlikely that we're all using the EXACT same kind of pager as you.

Mine vibrates, but it's weak. If it's in my white coat pocket, there's a good chance I wouldn't feel it if there's a folded piece of paper next to it.

The vibration on my pager doesn't keep going "on and on until I view the page." It stops after a while.

Sometimes, I think that people start to tune their pager out. When you're a student and unaccustomed to carrying a pager, you're acutely aware of it. But once you start carrying a pager and actually getting paged frequently, unless the sound is enough to startle you, you could very well tune it out.

And, like Ashers, I carry my pager in my white coat as well. Less chance that it could fall off and crash to the floor or (worse) fall into the toilet.

 

[VincentAdultman]

Because switching your pager back to "audible" after a conference is one more thing to remember.

You'll understand when you grow up.

 

[SoCuteMD]

And, like Ashers, I carry my pager in my white coat as well. Less chance that it could fall off and crash to the floor or (worse) fall into the toilet.

Today I kind of wished my pager would fall into the toilet.

 

[Gute]

Because switching your pager back to "audible" after a conference is one more thing to remember.

You'll understand when you grow up.

I'm glad that when I'm a "grown up," I will be able to blatantly ignore the daily instruction to "please silence all pagers/cellphones"

 

[Depakote]

I'm glad that when I'm a "grown up," I will be able to blatantly ignore the daily instruction to "please silence all pagers/cellphones"

they actually try to tell you to do that... in a hospital?

that's a pretty stupid/dangerous rule. not surprised everyone ignores it.

 

[ZagDoc]

On one of my rotations, there was an intern whose patient coded on him because he missed a page. Nursing never paged him twice, which is unusual, but still... that's the type of scenario that demonstrates that when you reach a certain level on the food chain, you can NEVER miss a page.

Our pagers, when on vibrate, only vibrate 10 times or so. I would miss it all the time, especially if it goes off when I'm walking, even though I keep the damn thing clipped on my scrubs and it tends to drift midline and uncomfortably close to the family gems. I have to keep it on 'migraine-inducing audible' out of necessity.

 

[MJB]

Because switching your pager back to "audible" after a conference is one more thing to remember.

You'll understand when you grow up.

That is a pretty difficult task...I can see why people that have completed Medical School would have trouble with it.🙄

 

[smq123]

That is a pretty difficult task...I can see why people that have completed Medical School would have trouble with it.🙄

Hey, don't make fun. 🙁

As a resident, when you're suddenly taking care of 15 patients (instead of the 2-3 you had as a med student), it's easy to forget to do a LOT of things.

I was at tumor board a few weeks ago. I dutifully turned my pager to vibrate.

The vibration was not very loud, and the white coat was away from my body. Plus, right as I was leaving from tumor board, I ran into the attending who grabbed me to go do walk rounds.

I was so busy and distracted that I didn't remember to turn my pager on until 30 minutes later...during which time I missed SIX pages. None of them were critical, fortunately. It could have been a disaster, though.

I am not going to turn my pager to silent or vibrate ever again. Do I care if it "disturbs" the med student sitting next to me? Not particularly. I'd rather have him be disturbed than run the risk of forgetting to turn my pager back on.

 

[SoCuteMD]

Hey, don't make fun. 🙁

As a resident, when you're suddenly taking care of 15 patients (instead of the 2-3 you had as a med student), it's easy to forget to do a LOT of things.

I was at tumor board a few weeks ago. I dutifully turned my pager to vibrate.

The vibration was not very loud, and the white coat was away from my body. Plus, right as I was leaving from tumor board, I ran into the attending who grabbed me to go do walk rounds.

I was so busy and distracted that I didn't remember to turn my pager on until 30 minutes later...during which time I missed SIX pages. None of them were critical, fortunately. It could have been a disaster, though.

I am not going to turn my pager to silent or vibrate ever again. Do I care if it "disturbs" the med student sitting next to me? Not particularly. I'd rather have him be disturbed than run the risk of forgetting to turn my pager back on.

Exactly. I might remember to change my pager bac, but inevitably there will be times that something will happen that distracts me from it from time to time.

My fave page today: are you guys going to round on Mr. ------- today (a unit patient in the CLOSED unit in which I'm rotating currently). Mind you this page came at 630 when rounds don't even START til 730. "Um, no, we just thought we'd let him fend for himself, we'll be back to see him tomorrow."

 

[h2cooper]

As a surgery intern, we switched pagers with every service. (We cover a million hospitals and its easier to let everyone memorize that xxx-xxxx is the Surgery ICU Intern's number than change it up every month...) Now, every pager was a different model, so I could never figure out how to change all the different pagers to vibrate, music, "soft pleasing ring" or anything other than "blast your ears out and make you throw up beeping."

In a fancy conference last year, our chair asked everyone to turn their pagers to silent and we all sat there for 5 minutes making various beeps until it was accomplished. And then, in the middle of the guest speaker, the Trauma Service Chief's radio went off at top volume..."We've got a 46 yo male with a GSW and vitals of .....

 

[Depakote]

My fave page today: are you guys going to round on Mr. ------- today (a unit patient in the CLOSED unit in which I'm rotating currently). Mind you this page came at 630 when rounds don't even START til 730. "Um, no, we just thought we'd let him fend for himself, we'll be back to see him tomorrow."

This does remind me of a funny story one of my attendings told me about how he accidentally signed off on a patient where he was the primary.

 

[Gute]

Hey, don't make fun. 🙁

As a resident, when you're suddenly taking care of 15 patients (instead of the 2-3 you had as a med student), it's easy to forget to do a LOT of things.

I was at tumor board a few weeks ago. I dutifully turned my pager to vibrate.

The vibration was not very loud, and the white coat was away from my body. Plus, right as I was leaving from tumor board, I ran into the attending who grabbed me to go do walk rounds.

I was so busy and distracted that I didn't remember to turn my pager on until 30 minutes later...during which time I missed SIX pages. None of them were critical, fortunately. It could have been a disaster, though.

I am not going to turn my pager to silent or vibrate ever again. Do I care if it "disturbs" the med student sitting next to me? Not particularly. I'd rather have him be disturbed than run the risk of forgetting to turn my pager back on.

"my pager was in my white coat" is a poor excuse. There's a reason for the belt clip on the pager holder.

 

[45408]

"my pager was in my white coat" is a poor excuse. There's a reason for the belt clip on the pager holder.

I'm glad you have figured everything out and can explain these things to us! I was just lost before I found this thread.

 

[smq123]

"my pager was in my white coat" is a poor excuse. There's a reason for the belt clip on the pager holder.

A lot of people choose not to wear their pager on their pants because it easily falls off when you're going to the toilet. (At least if you're a female, like I am.) Once you lose one that way, you're leery of putting your pagers on your belt.

(Not to mention the fact that I now have to carry TWO pagers - a service one, and my personal one.)

Dude, LET IT GO. So your attendings leave their pagers on! Who cares? Why does it bother you so much? Do you have so little to do on your rotations that you can put your energy into that?

The point is, there are a lot of reasons to leave your pager alarms on. If you're so inflexible as to not understand that, then that's something that you can work on between now and when your attendings have to comment on your housestaff potential.

 

[45408]

(Not to mention the fact that I now have to carry TWO pagers - a service one, and my personal one.)

Once you have 2-3 pagers, your scrubs get a nice sag to them. It's pretty cool, cuz I see all the guys walking down the street with their pants sagging real low.

 

[SLUser11]

I seriously want to kill myself everytime I hear the beeper go off in conference.

People, we know you are doctors and that you sometimes need to be contacted urgently. Why can't you just use the vibrate function and not bother the rest of us?

Not too mention, it is completely unprofessional for the beeper to deafen patients at the bedside.

Well, it's not really about you. I doubt the doctor cares much if his pager woke you up from a mid-conference nap or distracted you from playing dope wars on your phone.....

Without knowing anything about you, I've already decided that you belong to the class of med students that feels especially entitled....bold enough to tell the resident "why don't you page me when something interesting comes in," etc etc. I won't be at all surprised when you have problems with authority, butt heads with nurses, and get in trouble for running your mouth.....

Even if I'm wrong, that's how you'll be perceived by your residents, so I'd be careful about what you say and do. Of course, you're going to respond to me that all the residents love you, and you're too smart to let your underlying contempt show, but we know more than you think we do.....

Once you have 2-3 pagers, your scrubs get a nice sag to them. It's pretty cool, cuz I see all the guys walking down the street with their pants sagging real low.

There's nothing funnier than the resident bat-belt: 2-3 pagers, phone, PDA, name badge, and then sometimes a stethoscope clip for good measure...

 

[NonTradDO]

They need to wake them up... and I doubt they care that you don't like it going off during conference and we probably won't either when we're in their shoes.

 

[MJB]

They need to wake them up... and I doubt they care that you don't like it going off during conference and we probably won't either when we're in their shoes.

It's not about whether it annoys med students...I couldn't really care less. It's about showing respect for the presenter.

Another one I've noticed....answering personal phone calls or reading personal texts in the middle of patient visits.

Some people have respect for others, some don't. That's a fact of life I guess.