Nurses Activism
Published Sep 10, 2002
NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN
10 Articles; 18,367 Posts
About two dozen nurses at Eden Medical Center near San Jose, Calif., have turned in the personal locator devices the hospital had required them to wear. The hospital contends the devices help provide more efficient patient care, but the nurses say they are a Big Brother-like intrusion.
San Jose Mercury News, Sept. 6, 2002
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/4015298.htm
oramar
5,758 Posts
These things give me the creeps. George Orwell never thought of this but he should have.
SharonH, RN
2,144 Posts
Those nurses are my heroes. I'm going to send them a word of support.
sjoe
2,099 Posts
I like that: they spent $273,000 in order "to help nurses" rather than hiring more staff to REALLY help out.
But why does it seem to take something as extreme as this for nurses to stand up for themselves?
Heather333
206 Posts
Good for them...
The money should have been spent on staffing which I am sure would have improved patient care.
Heather
NMAguiar
128 Posts
Brita01
350 Posts
I work as an agency nurse in a hospital that uses this device. The annoying thing about this system is that there is a "locator" box in every pt's room and the lounge. You can be standing in a pt's room talking to them and a loud voice will come over the box calling your name and telling you that pt "so and so" needs "such and such". Kind of an invasion on pt "so and so's" privacy. Also really aggravating if you're trying to do quiet rounds on a pt who needs to sleep and someone's loud voice comes in over that box. And you can be in the lounge trying to take a 2 minute breather when someone comes over the locator box and bugs you when you're trying to take a much needed break.
Repat
335 Posts
I wouldn't wear one of those things, period. This is not a 'knee jerk' reaction. Call lights are just as quick, and the break room is just that - a place for a break. And NMAguiar, how about implants next - that's Star Wars, too.
NMA--the point you seem to be missing is one of trust.
If admin actually wanted to use these devices in order to help nurses, then why were not these nurses part of the decision-making process in the first place, as they so obviously were not?
If nurses trusted admin's use of these devices, if they trusted the facility's leadership and support, there would be no problem.
The point is that nurses have, from long experience, learned to NOT trust these people--they weren't all just born paranoid, I think we can assume. Their mistrust is based on many years of hard experience.
Two small points:
1) Nurses are not dogs. IMHO
2) Did your poms agree to these implants beforehand?
caroladybelle, BSN, RN
5,486 Posts
So how about locators on the MDs?
On the Suits?
On the CEO's?
What, aren't they important too?