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| No. 10 | 
Sep 25, 2009, 01:05 AM
 Re: Hospital patients are happy with nurses' new smart phones
I definiately understand what was said about the interruptions that must come along with the phone calls. It happend occasionaly, but not usually from another patient. It was usually from a nurse delegating a task, etc. When the RN had more than a one patient assignment, which they usually did, they probably would get phone calls from their other patient. I also don't "know any better" so to speak, as I have only had one hospital job, which was the one with the spectralink access.
Also where I was, in Labor and Delivery, you don't have nearly as many patients as you do in other settings, which of course cuts down on the number of patients calling. Of course it was not uncommon for another nurse to call my phone while I would be assisting another RN during delivery, and the last thing that I want a new mom to hear is a loud obnoxious ringing in her ear at the moment her baby is born. Fortunately the phones have the ability to switched to silent or vibrate, and they also have caller ID so you can use your discretion to determine if the call is coming from someone that should be answered immediately, or you can note the number calling and call them back when you can.
Sometimes I would be in delivery when the OB's pager would go off. Because they knew that I had a phone on me, and I can easily contact the RN paging him about his other patient in labor, they would not hesitate to ask me to take the pager off of their side, go through it, get the number, call the nurse, and play messenger. I did not mind too much, unless too much patient info was being exchanged. I can go on about the negative and the positive, but I was overall satisfied, and I think my coworkers were too.
 | | Advertisement Sponsored Links | | | | No. 11 |
Sep 25, 2009, 11:09 AM
Re: Hospital patients are happy with nurses' new smart phones
We use phones. I’m not sure how smart they are though 
We don’t give pt’s the number, but when they ring their call light, it calls us. Everyone else calls directly to us; docs, nurses, SW, CT, transporters, pharmacy, family calls transferred directly to us,... you get the idea. They are great when I want to call out. Not so great when I’m discussing a terminal wean with pt & family and my phone keeps ringing. Not so great when I’m gown and gloved and I stop my dressing change to answer the phone. People say “oh I wouldn’t answer it” … but that is easier said than done.
When we first got them I stepped out of the room every time I got a ph call… that lasted about a week. Now I talk about one pt while I’m in the room with another every day. I rarely do any one task without interruption.
I feel sure it has improved communication for all of those other disciplines to be able to directly get in touch with me, but it sure makes it more difficult to do my job.
| | No. 12 |
Sep 25, 2009, 12:02 PM
Re: Hospital patients are happy with nurses' new smart phones
The hospital I work at now has both a call light system and phones. The pt's do not get the phone #'s. They use the call light and the person at the desk calls the right person. The pharmacy, radiology, etc call the floor and then whoever answers the phone will transfer it to the nurse' phone. I have worked at another hospital where the pts DID get the phone #'s and hated it. Those phones could find you all over campus. If I was down in the lab taking a specimen, lunch, pharmacy- it would ring, so then I would have to call back up to the charge nurse(if I could remember HER number or call the floor and wait to talk to her) if the pt needed something right away. The charge nurse already knew I was off the floor, so with a call system she could have eliminated the middle man, I think. But that's just me. Give me the call lights, anytime.
| | No. 13 |
Sep 25, 2009, 01:49 PM
Re: Hospital patients are happy with nurses' new smart phones
I have not personally worked with this phone system however I have been a family member of a hospitalized patient whose nurse used a similar system and I thought it was rude an inconsiderate for a nurse who is caring for one patient to have to take the time and answer, then talk, to the caller.
When I call my doctor's office to speak with him I usually get a receptionist who tells me my doctor is busy with another patient and has me leave a message. In the hospital the patients are in beds, and are much sicker than those in my docotor's office (usually) so I wonder why should a nurse who is busy with acutely ill patients have to take the time, have her/his train of thought broken to answer a phone? Makes no sense to me. Last I knew nurses could only take care of 1 person at a time just as other health professionals do.
| | No. 14 |
Sep 25, 2009, 02:10 PM
Re: Hospital patients are happy with nurses' new smart phones
Physicians practice a bit differently than nurses in the hospital setting...so comparing access to a doc in an office to a nurse on a hospital med-surg unit is sort of like comparing apples to grapefruit. I am certain that the RNs phone ringing constantly is annoying. As a hospice nurse I am bound to my cell phone. I worked for a hospice that expected me to carry a pager AND a cell phone. That hospice ABUSED their access to the RNs...it was not uncommon for the office to page me 20+ times BEFORE NOON, call me repeatedly on my cell phone, and then berate me if I didn't call back within 15 minutes. This from people who should have known better. Afterall, how the heck can I possibly provide care for people, have family meetings, collaborate with other professionals, etc if I am interrupted every 5-15 minutes?
There is no question that this sort of technology opens up new avenues for abuse. There does seem to be good evidence, however, that it improves efficiency and satisfaction in many settings.
| | No. 15 |
Sep 25, 2009, 02:16 PM
Re: Hospital patients are happy with nurses' new smart phones Originally Posted by cjmjmom  I have not personally worked with this phone system however I have been a family member of a hospitalized patient whose nurse used a similar system and I thought it was rude an inconsiderate for a nurse who is caring for one patient to have to take the time and answer, then talk, to the caller.
When I call my doctor's office to speak with him I usually get a receptionist who tells me my doctor is busy with another patient and has me leave a message. In the hospital the patients are in beds, and are much sicker than those in my docotor's office (usually) so I wonder why should a nurse who is busy with acutely ill patients have to take the time, have her/his train of thought broken to answer a phone? Makes no sense to me. Last I knew nurses could only take care of 1 person at a time just as other health professionals do.
because the nurse with acutely ill patients has too many acutely ill patients and no eyes on every side of her head and i doubt it will change anytime soon. i have been using the phone system for quite some time and i really overall love it. wouldn't you want your train of thought interrupted if a CNA called you to tell your pt was vomiting blood, or the monitor tech called you to tell you your pt had gone into a 3rd degree block, or the lab to tell you your pt's hgb is 5.5, or the pt's family calling you to tell you the pt is now drooping on one side of their body?? with so many patients, there is only so much you can do at one time---my patients know what the blue phone is for and that it is very important for me to answer it... those seconds make a difference.
| | No. 16 |
Sep 25, 2009, 02:48 PM
Re: Hospital patients are happy with nurses' new smart phones
Yes I know what nurses and doctors do are different and when a nurse is working in a hospital setting on an inpatient floor chances are the patients she is caring for are more acutely ill than the ones at the doctor's office.
Of course I would want to know that one of my patients is vomiting blood or a lab value is critical but I may be at a bedside with another very acute problem with another patient who needs (and deserves and is paying for) 100% of my attention! Last I knew code buttons could be utilized for emergencies unless that's now also attached to the nurses phone system...
I cannot be everywhere all the time. Many of the demands put on us are above and beyond what is humanely possible or in the BEST INTEREST OF OUR PATIENTS. Having a phone to ditract me is something I hope I never have to deal with.
I am glad many of you like and use them. Will be interested in the next large study about preventable health care errors like the IOM 1999 study. Now we can include telephone distractions at the bedside.
| | No. 17 |
Sep 25, 2009, 04:57 PM
Re: Hospital patients are happy with nurses' new smart phones Originally Posted by flightnurse2b i kind of thought that too when we first started using them.
but at the beginning of the shift when i provide my pts with the phone number, i make it clear that it is my priority to answer that phone if it rings... they know if they need me they can call and i will answer right away, but that my 7 other patients have access to me as well and if i need to take a quick call while i am with them then i will. i also explain that the phone is a life line for them because it connects me to the monitor techs who are watching their heart beat for 24 hours a day and can help save their life quickly in an emergency. they usually understand. 
7 patients?!?!?!  I love the ICU...lol 
Mex
| | No. 18 |
Sep 25, 2009, 05:13 PM
Re: Hospital patients are happy with nurses' new smart phones Originally Posted by cjmjmom
Of course I would want to know that one of my patients is vomiting blood or a lab value is critical but I may be at a bedside with another very acute problem with another patient who needs (and deserves and is paying for) 100% of my attention! Last I knew code buttons could be utilized for emergencies unless that's now also attached to the nurses phone system...
i agree with you, our patients are too sick for us to have so many, and they do deserve better care, but there is only so much you can accomplish with 8 of them on tele. unfortunately it all comes down to the almightly dollar and that if the patient is not satisfied it is the nurse's fault.... when we are spread so thin you sometimes have to decide who gets coded first, and it's a shame. but the phones really have more than once alerted me to a problem much quicker than it would have been if someone was hitting the call light or coming down the hall looking for me or holding on the phone at the desk for me.
anyways, they disabled our code buttons, too many false codes from people bumping them, patients hitting them or family members using them. we now have to pick up our portable phone, and dial the code phone, and tell the operator where we are and the color code we are calling. the last patient i had that coded, i called and was like "CALL A CODE TO ROOM 340!!" and he was like "uhh... what kinda code??".. i was like OK, now you're wasting my time, and i simulateously screamed code blue into the phone and the hallway.
| | No. 19 |
Sep 25, 2009, 09:46 PM
Re: Hospital patients are happy with nurses' new smart phones Originally Posted by flightnurse2b i kind of thought that too when we first started using them.
but at the beginning of the shift when i provide my pts with the phone number, i make it clear that it is my priority to answer that phone if it rings... they know if they need me they can call and i will answer right away, but that my 7 other patients have access to me as well and if i need to take a quick call while i am with them then i will. i also explain that the phone is a life line for them because it connects me to the monitor techs who are watching their heart beat for 24 hours a day and can help save their life quickly in an emergency. they usually understand.
How is privacy handled? I dont know about anything but call lights (I'm a student). Do you step out of the room? But, then you have just left a pt. I am not contradicting, just questioning how privacy is upheld...  |
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