no cell phones no personal phone calls at work

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

just wanted your opinion on this... my friend who just graduated from nursing school just started a job where he cannot get personal phone calls or cannot bring his cell phone into the unit.. they are worried about pictures being taken ectra with the cell phone.. he has 6 kids and his wife has MS .. they told him if they catch him with a cell phone on the unit it is a write up .. it is a psych unit.. i understand the facility worries.. but to cut you off of all communication from family seems to much .. they told him they wrote up 2 nurses last week for bringing their cell phones in .. you cannot even use them on your break .. that is where they caught the nurses to write them up.. they also warned him they have cameras and voice recording all over the unit and will catch them if they are not on target with their job ... is this excessive control over a nurse about cell phones and personal calls for a psych unit.... seems like it to me... they use the cameras to see if the nurse really does her job and what she says besides the safety of the staff and patients...

what do you think ?? thank you in advance !!

[CrazziiRN913, ADN, BSN]

i'm just a nursing student but i do work for the U.S> Dept of Ed and we have some of the same regulations your cell phone cant be see or heard while on the floor...but you can leave the floor on your breaks to use it just not in the facility...but to say that someone can't use it at all is ridiculous. He should at least be able to go in to the cafe or break area or something to use it.

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

i'm just a nursing student but i do work for the U.S> Dept of Ed and we have some of the same regulations your cell phone cant be see or heard while on the floor...but you can leave the floor on your breaks to use it just not in the facility...but to say that someone can't use it at all is ridiculous. He should at least be able to go in to the cafe or break area or something to use it.

thats what i thought.. they don't want you to enter to unit with the cell phone... talk about big brother watching ... gees,,

[CrazziiRN913, ADN, BSN]

I don't know all i can think is that they just want the nurse to give 100% of there attention to the patients which i can understand, or maybe some special equiment that can't be interefreed with by cell phone waves, but they might need to be a little more understanding of their staff as well especially in situations like your friends. I hoe someting works out for him.

[healthstar, BSN, RN]

In case of an Emergency(ONLY) family should be allowed to call the workplace.

[CrazziiRN913, ADN, BSN]

thats what i'm saying whats if something goes wrong with the wife thats has MS or one of the 6 kids, then what???

[Intern67]

i understand the facility worries.. but to cut you off of all communication from family seems to much

No one is cut off from all communication from family. Your friend can give his famliy the facility's phone number and they can call in an emergency.

[Intern67]

thats what i'm saying whats if something goes wrong with the wife thats has MS or one of the 6 kids, then what???

brrrrrringggg....

"Sacred Smattering of Hope Psychiatric Facility, this is Nurse Ratched, how may I help you?"

"My husband, Mr. Wonderful, is a nurse there and we have a family emergency, could you please get a hold of him?"

"Absolutely, Mrs. Wonderful, we will find him and if he is unavailable, we will have him call you right away."

Something like that, I suppose.

[SummitRN, BSN, RN]

It's ridiculous that you cannot use the phone on break. That seems counter to labor laws.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

It's ridiculous that you cannot use the phone on break. That seems counter to labor laws.

There's a labor law that protects an individual's right to carry a cell phone?

[TDCHIM]

brrrrrringggg....

"Sacred Smattering of Hope Psychiatric Facility, this is Nurse Ratched, how may I help you?"

"My husband, Mr. Wonderful, is a nurse there and we have a family emergency, could you please get a hold of him?"

"Absolutely, Mrs. Wonderful, we will find him and if he is unavailable, we will have him call you right away."

Something like that, I suppose.

From the original post, it sounds to me like the facility wouldn't contact him under the circumstances you described. Now, it's possible they're just trying to cut down on non-emergency personal phone calls by taking a hard-line stance and don't actually intend to bar access to true emergency calls from family members. However, given the way many employers are pushing the envelope lately, I wouldn't be at all confident in assuming Mr. Wonderful would be notified of a home emergency if his spouse or children called the facility in the middle of his shift.

@OP, I suggest your friend ask for clarification on the policy. If the managers immediately bristle or turn aggressive and threatening over the question, I'd take that as a pretty clear indicator that he'd be difficult or even impossible to reach in an emergency. If the family has a dependable safety net (grandparents, longtime family friends, etc.) who could be reliably reached for assistance while he's working, it might be worth it to try to stick it out for six months to a year in order to gain some experience that will help him find a new job down the road. If not, I suggest he start looking for a job while continuing to work at his current facility until he lands one.

[MzMouse]

As others have said, if his family needs to reach him in an emergency the unit must have a phone line.

He is probably playing the price for others bad behavior. I have a coworker who checks, if not uses, her personal cell frequently during work. Her grown children also call the nurses station frequently. It is ridiculous and, yes, we have complained.