Texting while doing patient care?

caliotter3 · May 22, 2012

I would report it, unless you care to go back to the place and talk to the person in question. If she comes at you with the wrong attitude, perhaps you would still end up reporting the behavior.

chevyv, BSN, RN · May 22, 2012

I would not report it unless the pt was complaining. Being new is hard enough but starting on the wrong foot could be bad for you.

I carry my phone with me at work but only look at it if it's vibrating around the time my children are getting off of school. This I do at the nurses station and never ever in front of pts or staff. I'm the only rn on my floor and feel the need to set a better example.

klone, MSN, RN · May 22, 2012

I'm not a new RN. I was the patient.

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · May 22, 2012

I would probably report it, but be very general in my statements. For instance I might just say, "During my recent admission I noticed some unprofessional behavior by some staff members, inlcuding cell phone camera use and texting during patient care. As an employee of this facility, I feel this not only violates policy, but also reflects badly on the facility and thus on me. I am bringing this to your attention so that some staff re-training can take place to improve on this problem." Hopefully management would send some general reminders about policy and step up enforcement, yet no one person would be singled out.

nurse2033, MSN, RN · May 22, 2012

Not surprised, but I agree it is unprofessional. I do text at work (not that often) but only in non-patient areas.

Dixielee, BSN, RN · May 22, 2012

This person would have been fired if she worked in my department, and I agree she should be! I have been walking patients out to discharge and had them running into doors while texting! I refuse to even try to triage a patient who is texting or on the phone. I tell them to let me know when it is convenient for them so I can attempt to help them. I even had one man recently actually answer a call while I was interviewing him, and he continued the call even after he told the caller he was talking with the nurse and it was not a good time. I walked out and told him I would be back later.

This texting/phone call thing is way out of hand. I see people check their phones literally two or three times a minute. What is so important??

Taking a picture of the vital signs with the phone??? That is just plain lazy. Yes, you should complain! This kind of stuff gives all of us a bad name.

redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN · May 22, 2012

Maybe she just assumed (you know what happens then) that you would be OK with another employee of the facility texting while she worked...since everyone does it, right? (Ok, not me, and not a lot of people I work with)

I suspect that this is the case as well. Whenever I get outpatient blood draws at my hospital, the phlebotomist always acts like a friend and talks about things in a way she probably wouldn't talk with someone who wasn't wearing a hospital name tag. Not that it's appropriate for this lady to text while taking care of you, at all....

EDIT Never mind, I see that she didn't know you were an employee.

OCNRN63, RN · May 22, 2012

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.
thoughts?

there. are. no. words.

if that had happened to me, i would have brought the hammer down on her. i would have asked for the medical director, and i would have made them get him/her for me. i'd have reported exactly what happened and there would have been a come to jesus meeting--immediately.

what is the matter with people? how did we live before there were smartphones?

i'm trying to think of a word more extreme that "appalling." i'll come back when i do.

OCNRN63, RN · May 22, 2012

i don't know if it's specifically sanctioned, but it happens, a lot. i don't believe anything has gone through my phone that would be an issue though.
the hospice nurses are always ticking away at their blackberries- apparently the company has gone 'paperless', but they got blackberries instead of laptops. it drives them nuts- they are always fussing about not being able to see.

i had a blackberry for like 30min. i couldn't see the print, and the keys were so tiny i couldn't use them properly. my iphone and i live in perfect harmony.

but personal text messaging is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

OCNRN63, RN · May 22, 2012

okay, next question - if you were in my shoes, would you report it? i'm not interested in getting the nurse in trouble, but point out a glaring hiccup in their patient care. this just shouldn't be happening. i don't even know what her name was, so if i did report it, it would be from the standpoint of "this happened on xyz day..."

would i report it? big time.

psu_213, BSN, RN · May 22, 2012

I suspect that this is the case as well. Whenever I get outpatient blood draws at my hospital, the phlebotomist always acts like a friend and talks about things in a way she probably wouldn't talk with someone who wasn't wearing a hospital name tag. Not that it's appropriate for this lady to text while taking care of you, at all....
EDIT Never mind, I see that she didn't know you were an employee.

Yeah, I've seen to OP's followup that the nurse caring for her did not know she was an employee. Anyway, that was a possible explanation for the behavior of this nurse, not an excuse for it. Yes, report it!

psu_213, BSN, RN · May 22, 2012

Okay, next question - if you were in my shoes, would you report it? I'm not interested in getting the nurse in trouble, but point out a glaring hiccup in their patient care. This just shouldn't be happening. I don't even know what her name was, so if I did report it, it would be from the standpoint of "this happened on XYZ day..."

We get a copy of our Press Gainey comments from pts. We see comments such as "my nurse told me to quit complaining about my pain, she said I had way too much pain medicine already." My first though is what nurse would deliver this message in such a way to patient? Yet, time and time again, pts say that nurses said stuff like this, so I'm pretty sure it is actually happening (albeit in small amounts). My point--the reputations of all nurses are brought down by the select few who say/do stupid things in front of pts. This facility may not realize such a thing is going on, and your comment might be the impetus for them to strengthen their policy.