Cell Phone Useage

dusky1228 · Jan 7, 2009

My agency has provided cell phones for all of their staff for many years. Prior to that, those of us who worked in designated areas, those who were on call, and those who had an unstable client group were assigned cell phones. The "allowance" at that time was $50/month. Now there is no real limit, because with the free mobile to mobile, the charges are limited.

annaedRN, RN · Jan 7, 2009

We use our own phones and get an allowance of $4o/mo. Some people choose to have a prepaid phone that they use specifically for work and use the $40 for the minutes. Of course there is the initial cost of the phone - I think you can get them at Walmart pretty inexpensive. I average anywhere from 300-500 minutes a month - the $40 covered me increasing my plan from 450/mo to 900/mo...atleast now I have rollover each month

RubyRN,CHPN · Jan 7, 2009

I worked for an agency for many years and they didn't provide a cell phone to their employees for calls. They had a cell phone for you to use when you were on call but never phones for the staff making visits. We had numeric pagers which they provided and they would get upset when we would not return pages timely .Once HIPPA came and we couldn't always discuss patient care matters when out making visits or on pay phones within earshot of the public. Still they would not provide us with phones. We were told we could have anything over our usual plan paid for by the agency with appropriate "proof" that these calls were business related. Imagine the time and energy to request and sort through a statement to get reimbursed from your employer not to mention the invasion of your privacy and disrespect to one's personal time. I dug in, resisted, did not provide them with my personal cell number. Dispite my resistance, my patients needs were well met.

Seems like early on in home health we learned respect of your patient's personal property. It's frustrating to know that not all employers will respect ours. I like the idea of a cell phone allowance as it seems to make life for easier for everyone.

I now work for an agency who provides me with a cell phone with unlimited minutes for business calls, a bluetooth, my own number, and wireless internet for my work laptop. I have to say, it's working out well.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jan 7, 2009

The time and energy to get and process a cell phone statement from staff so employer can reimburseme them ....and realization that 99% of our staff not using/responding to pagers led to termination of pagers at 4 of 5 branches and starting flat $25.00/month cell phone reimbursement for field staff working > 32 hrs/wk; prorated for other staff.

RubyRN,CHPN · Jan 8, 2009

Bravo, $25.00 is by far better than a big fat zero. I would have gladly accepted $25 a month to offset my PERSONAL cell phone bill for BUSINESS calls. Not to mention my personal time to obtain an itemized statement from my carrier and to audit my phone bills for personal calls vs. business calls.

NurseRoRo · Mar 4, 2009

I'm not sure how our agency calculates the exact usage of cell phones but they supply us with cell phones. Most staff actually use this for their personal use as well. We were using Verizon but switched to Sprint because the coverage is better in the rural areas we go into. I think they dole out the same amt of minutes per person and if we go over it (I've worked there for 2 years and never got charged), we pay 35 cents per minute we're over.

BabaLouRN · Apr 20, 2009

I now work for an agency who provides me with a cell phone with unlimited minutes for business calls, a bluetooth, my own number, and wireless internet for my work laptop. I have to say, it's working out well.

I want to work where you work!!