This was a new one on me and I thought I would throw it out there to the nurses and get your opinion. I was a patient today in an outpatient clinic. I was getting my vitals taken, and as the nurse was putting the blood pressure cuff on me, she pulled out her smart phone and said "wow, three text messages!" I said, "Oh, do you have a child emergency?" She said, "No, a friend with a job crisis," and then as the blood pressure machine was taking my blood pressure, she started reading through/responding to her texts. Then, when the machine was done with the reading, she realized she didn't have a pen to write down the vitals, so she took a picture of the machine readout with her phone (which I thought was...creative).
Now, as an employee of the facility at which she works, I know that it's against policy to carry around a personal phone and be seen texting while on company time. I personally would never dream of texting while walking around in the halls, but to whip out a phone and start texting while taking someone's vitals? That's just a whole 'nother level. I was completely at a loss for words. Am I the only one who finds that completely appallingly unprofessional, or is that just how it is nowadays? I brought this up at another message board (not nursing related) and another person said that as long as she knew what she was doing and practiced safely, it was all good. I'm of the opinion that I expect my care provider to practice safely AND be professional.
