Accessing work email at home

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Dec 13, 2018

Do you have access to work email outside of work? Yes and intranet access for access to pay stubs, education, timecard, scheduling, and much more

What are the stipulations (if any)? Must download "Duo Mobile" to access hospital server. You login to the server from the hospital's website. Server sends verification to your Duo Mobile App to verify YOU are accessing the server. You hit "acknowledge" on the app and the server gives you access on your computer.

How many beds are in your hospital/or are you part of a large system?part of a large hospital system

What state are you in?KY

Pros and cons of getting email (in your opinion). Not sure what the cons for being able to access your email at home would be. I don't usually access it at home unless I am expecting a certain email response that I need before my next work shift.

Editorial Team / Admin · Dec 14, 2018

Hi All! Currently, our system does not allow bedside nurses to have home/remote access to email. If a nurse is in Shared Governance, they can be approved, but not other nurses. Would you mind answering a few questions?
Do you have access to work email outside of work? Only salaried employees have access outside of work. This is because checking email is considered a work activity and must be monitored and compensated for hourly staff.
What are the stipulations (if any)? Encrypted apps, 6 digit passcode to unlock phone, must be salaried employee (meaning management, executives, independent licensed practitioners- absolutely no direct care staff)
How many beds are in your hospital/or are you part of a large system? 650? Plus part of a much larger system.
What state are you in? Prefer not to say
Pros and cons of getting email (in your opinion). Con: can't get away from work. Restriction helps with the work life balance. If employees are unable to check email when on the clock, then they need to request time to allow this.
We are required to read our email, and most don't have time during their shift. It is the most commonly thing asked for by our bedside nurses.
I am chair of a corporate bedside nurse shared governance committee next year, and I'm going to bat to get the nurses email....thanks in advance for your help.

Answers in quoted portion.

Wuzzie · Dec 14, 2018

We have access but are not supposed to use it if we aren't on the clock. They monitor this. We are free to access benefits and other information in that vein at any time. I work in a huge university system with multiple facilities and well over a thousand beds total. I don't want to look at work stuff when I'm at home. I can if I have to but the stipulations help me make the choice to enjoy my time off.

Emergent, RN · Dec 14, 2018

Currently, at my main job we get correspondence on our personal emails. I prefer this. Most of us don't bother with the hospital email system there.

I worked for a small hospital where we could access from home. That was good as well, although there is always a lot of clutter on these company emails to sift through.

I have a Per Diem job in a tiny hospital that doesn't allow access and I get very few updates on my personal email. I've complained that I don't work enough to get updated and engaged there, to no avail. They always complain that pool workers end up not picking up shifts after awhile and I think this is a huge factor.

marienm, RN, CCRN · Dec 15, 2018

Do you have access to work email outside of work? Yes. We can access it via a webpage that requires a sign-in. I think there might be an app, too. The webpage version works pretty well on mobile devices, although it's a program that I am overall not crazy about.

What are the stipulations (if any)? None, surprisingly. I'm even able to forward it to a commercial email address. To be fair, I never receive patient-specific info via email. It's a lot of required training modules, emails about stuff on my unit, hospital news, shared governance minutes, etc.

How many beds are in your hospital/or are you part of a large system? About 700 divided between two hospitals in town.

What state are you in? NY

Pros and cons of getting email (in your opinion). I don't have time at work to read it. I'm a charge nurse with a full patient assignment...the last thing I'm going to pay attention to during my shift is an email about a wellness workshop or some new required education. I prefer to read it at home/on my phone and deal with it when I choose to. I would say that I get 5-15 emails a day just from work. Occasionally it is annoying to feel like I "need" to deal with an email on a day off, but most of the time I prefer it. My manager is not very tech savvy so if there's something I don't want to deal with from home I can say "I couldn't access that from home--I'll look at it on Thursday night when I work" and she is fine with it.

humerusRN · Dec 17, 2018

Do you have access to work email outside of work? - Yes, we have secure remote access. It does require set up with our IT department, but it's easy to get it accomplished, and it's a one time deal.

What are the stipulations (if any)? None outside of protecting patient privacy as per usual.

How many beds are in your hospital/or are you part of a large system? - we are part of a very large system in the southeast.

What state are you in? NC

Pros and cons of getting email (in your opinion). I like keeping up with things, and sometimes things are short notice and I would miss them if I did not routinely check my email at home. I only work part time, so I am sometimes out of the hospital for over a week at a time, depending on how my schedule lines up. I have heard people say that it makes them feel like they never can "escape" work, but no one is FORCING me to check my email. I do not work from home, I am not getting paid to read my email... lol... so therefore I skim everything every other day or so and leave it at that.

Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM · Feb 1, 2019

On 12/13/2018 at 8:49 AM, SaraE67 said:
Hi All! Currently, our system does not allow bedside nurses to have home/remote access to email. If a nurse is in Shared Governance, they can be approved, but not other nurses. Would you mind answering a few questions?
Do you have access to work email outside of work? Our hospital only has access for salaried employees.
What are the stipulations (if any)? Salaried only.
How many beds are in your hospital/or are you part of a large system? I think around 130
What state are you in?
Pros and cons of getting email (in your opinion). I have felt very out of the loop since this change was made. I used to use my work email all the time to pull up scheduling for classes, inservice times, reading long/detailed emails when it is quiet and I have more time to digest it. Now I have to forward anything I need to my home email and if I forget I have to call someone and ask if I am on a long stretch off. Now management has to text everyone anytime they need anything when we are off because we can't check it. I did make it a point to check it once a day.
We are required to read our email, and most don't have time during their shift. It is the most commonly thing asked for by our bedside nurses.
I am chair of a corporate bedside nurse shared governance committee next year, and I'm going to bat to get the nurses email....thanks in advance for your help.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Feb 4, 2019

On 12/13/2018 at 5:49 AM, SaraE67 said:
Do you have access to work email outside of work?

All nursing staff can access their work email from a computer not attached to the work network (home, public computer). Email can also be accessed via personal smartphone.

On 12/13/2018 at 5:49 AM, SaraE67 said:
What are the stipulations (if any)?

We all have to follow guidelines such as using a two-step authentication process with a smartphone app to make sure that whoever is accessing the email is indeed the person the account is granted to through an app called Duo Mobile, as another poster mentioned. If accessing email on a smartphone, we have to be linked to the institution's Outlook settings.

We have strict policies on making sure our devices are secure and to report a stolen device promptly to IT. We have yearly online learning on cyber security that goes in detail about phishing, spam emails, and or other forms of harmful attacks that can occur while using work emails. Any communication via the company email should only be work-related. Common sense dictates not using work email for communication that can get you fired or targeted.

On 12/13/2018 at 5:49 AM, SaraE67 said:
How many beds are in your hospital/or are you part of a large system?

Part of a large university health sciences campus.

On 12/13/2018 at 5:49 AM, SaraE67 said:
What state are you in?

West Coast

On 12/13/2018 at 5:49 AM, SaraE67 said:
Pros and cons of getting email (in your opinion).

For my role, it makes it easy to communicate with others in the company by email on your day off especially with smartphone access. Because we use Outlook, there are many available customizations that allow email distribution to specific groups (i.e., all RN's, all CCNP's, all MICU RN's, etc). It's a great way to communicate CE sessions that the medical center is offering on certain days. We get lots of email about medical center updates, Pharmacy recalls and shortages, new Policies and Procedures, campus security issues, etc. Having such immediate access does make it seem like you are connected to work 24/7 but you can have the option to shut off email access while on vacation.

AutumnDraidean · Mar 9, 2019

I don't really want to post my state, I work for a cottage type hospital as a substitute school nurse and I have access to my e-mail on my phone. someone got into a lot of trouble because a spouse got access to their e-mail and a hullabaloo ensued. What blew my mind was that for a long time they were sending an e-mail every week with a unit census, I sent my manager an e-mail explaining why this gave me the willies, after a good month these little bombs ceased with absolutely no explanation.

I need my e-mail off site, it's how I get offered work and how I turn in my time sheet and other administrative things. I have to go on site every 90 days to change passwords.