Use of cell phone apps on the job?

[SanDiegoCaliRN]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and I don't know if this subject has come up before so forgive me if it has. I'm wondering if you can use your cell phone on the job? I found some great apps on my iPhone that would come in handy at the bedside (particularly for drug reference) but they can be pricey so before I invest, I thought I'd ask some questions. If you do use cell phone apps while working, how do you prevent from looking like you're standing around texting instead of taking care of your patient? Also, I'd love to know which apps you guys find most helpful and worth the investment. TIA for your help (on everything - this sight and you guys are great!)

[Twinmom06, ASN, APN]

its funny, the one local college requires the nursing students to purchase an iPod Touch with all the apps pre-loaded (to the tune of $400) and none of the hospitals around here allow their use...

[casi, ASN, RN]

I will use my phone occasionally. My facility has one hard to use medication book and staff nurses have no access to the internet. So once in awhile I will use my phone to look up information. I only use it at the nurses station though.

[danh3190]

We're not supposed to use them on the floor. I do use mine occasionally as the apps on my phone are superior to those on the computer. I've used it in a patient's room if he asks a question I don't know the answer to. I just tell him I'm trying to look up the answer for them and they're fine with it.

If there is a specific question about how to administer a med however, I always use the hospital's reference or call the pharmacist.

[rn undisclosed name]

I've used it in a patient's room. Usually the calculator. The patient's know what I'm doing. Where I work people are pretty good and I don't see cell phones out very often except in the break room. I've worked at other places where employees always had them out checking facebook, etc. That was my biggest pet peeve and totally inappropriate.

[AndiSN]

I am a tech right now and our hospital policy is no cell phones, however our unit is pretty lax on that as the sups use theirs on a regular basis. I use mine as a timer and calculator. If I ever need to use it in a patient room I make sure to let them know what I am doing and most of the time hold it up where they can see. I never want to give the impression that I am using my phone for personal needs. My patient's deserve my full attention while I am in the room with them.

[AngelofLTC]

I love the Skyscape apps....I will use my phone in the office to search meds or diseases and disorders (they have nursing interventions etc). I also like the lippincott clinical skills for my blackberry :)

The doctor at my facility pulls out his skyscape app all the time.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

Aren't there still areas where phones interfere with equipment in the hospital? (ok, I'm old :lol2::loll:)... I'd check that first. :)

[SweetseRN]

I always used to put my phone on airplane mode during clinicals. No one ever had a problem with me using my Nursing Central App which has the complete Davis Drug Guide, Tabers, Davis Lab & Diagnostic Tests and Diseases and Disorders. In fact, my instructors encouraged it. As long as your phone is in a mode that doesn't allow texts and calls during work, your phone is no different than any other reference source. I hope to use my apps when I start my new job and I plan to explain how I handle my use of technology responsibly before I use it on the floor.

[SweetseRN]

Pt confidentiality is one reason why staff at any level are not allowed to use cell phones. There is no way that I know of to make using a cell phone look professional short of going into the break room where you cannot be seen by patients or visitors. Resources in the form of drug books, medical dictionaries, etc, as well as online resources are available where I work, making a cell phone or other electronic device unnecessary. This has been the case at every hospital I have worked for, and I would be shocked if your facility didn't have them available in some form too.

Also I have to add here, it's hard to call these smart phones just a phone. They are powerful mini computers. Why waste time finding, flipping through and looking up the info you need when it can all be right in front of you in a few simple key strokes? As long as you use your device responsibly, as any professional should, what is the problem?

[GM2RN]

Also I have to add here, it's hard to call these smart phones just a phone. They are powerful mini computers. Why waste time finding, flipping through and looking up the info you need when it can all be right in front of you in a few simple key strokes? As long as you use your device responsibly, as any professional should, what is the problem?

First, it's not my policy; it's the facility's. But I do support it. Many people don't know the definition of responsible and professional, let alone implement it. Too many have chosen to talk on the phone or surf the net instead of working. Then, as already stated, there is the problem of pt confidentiality through the use of picture taking. Some people just can't be trusted to use good judgement, thereby forcing the policy of no cell phones for anyone.

If someone truly feels the need for an electronic device for nursing apps, there are still great PDAs out there with many, many more apps available for the healthcare setting than cell phones have.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

I have an iPod touch and I really like the Lab Values app as well as Micromedex, which is FREE, btw! It's a lot like Lexicomp. Anyway, I never use it in my patient's room. If I need to look up a drug, I will do so before giving it, and it is also our hospital policy to have med COWs in the room with us when administering meds. If a patient has a question about a medication and I do not know the answer, we have reference manuals that we can instantly pull up from the MAR that also has an education leaflet section for patients/family members. We can also access Lexicomp from our COWs.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Me too. This is why I did not purchase an iphone years back. I bought an itouch. I used it in college and still use it now. I have so many very useful apps on it. All you need to do is show your NM and announce to your coworkers, etc. that it is an itouch and not a phone - just so there is no noise from the peanut gallery about you using it.