no cell phones no personal phone calls at work

[ohmeowzer 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 !!

[shiccy]

Food for thought.

You are required in most states BY LAW to have a 30 minute NON-PAID break. During this time you have full right as you ARE NOT ON THE CLOCK to do whatever you please. As long as your patients are being watched and you're available if absolutely needed, they are NOT allowed to tell you what you can and cannot do on your break. As long as your break activity is not breaking local, state, or federal laws, they cannot touch you.

Also, FWIW if this is a floor or unit specific "rule", unless this was told to you prior to accepting the position or was in writing, this is not an enforceable rule in many places. They can get you on insubordination, but more than likely this would be thrown out if taken to HR. If I were a nurse that was being isolated in a locked psych unit for 12+ hours at a time, you better be d**n skippy I'm going to have SOME form of communication with the outside world, if for nothing else than to dial 911 when your local security staff members refuse to help you with a patient that is a danger to workers, other patients, or him/herself. Believe me from experience this HAS happened, and thus they can go suck a gobstopper up a straw manually for all I care.

WITH THAT BEING SAID ... USING YOUR CELL PHONE WHILE ON THE CLOCK, ON PATIENT CARE, AND ON DUTY IN MOST PLACES WILL GET YOU AT MINIMUM A ONE STEP DISCIPLINE.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

I can absolutely understand the ban on cell phones. If they are even allowed on the premises, you will inevitably find those who carry them into patient rooms ....and answer them there.

As far as cell phone pictures of patients, yes that happens too. There was a thread here just recently regarding a nurse who was fired for taking a picture of her patient and sending it to a friend.

As has been mentioned, a person can always be contacted through the facility's phones. Believe it or not, people used to have emergencies even back in the olden days. We always managed to take care of business.

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

what makes you guys think that even if someone got thru for an emergency that someone would relieve you to attend to it?. Employers dont give a hoot about their employees personal lives- hence why they place these restrictions. Seems like they figure since they pay you - they own you for that time.

[happy2learn]

I would think what they meant by no personal calls at work meaning, don't have your wife call in to ask what you want for dinner, or when you want to schedule the dentist appointment.

I would highly doubt they would write him up if one his kids got sent to an ED an the wife called to tell him.

Also, EVERY employer I've been at (non healthcare or healthcare) has a no cell phone policy. Except they always let you use it in the breakroom. So that part makes no sense.

But I don't think it's the end of the world. We've all gotten to attached to our cell phones.

[SummitRN, BSN, RN]

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

I'm pretty sure labor law protects your freedom to communicate and partake in reasonable activities during a break. Is it really a break if you cannot make a cell call? How about a ban on newspapers? How about a break where you are only allowed to stand up, drink water, or go to the bathroom? I'm not saying that employers don't regularly violate, but technically under FLSA, a rest break would mean being free from duties and restrictions including being allowed to leave the premises AND YOU GET PAID FOR IT.

In addition, under FLSA, you get unpaid meal breaks where you must have no duties or restrictions and are allowed to leave. If you are on call during your meal break and it can be interrupted, THEN YOU GET PAID.

That's the law.

[DogWmn]

Well I graduated in '72 loooooooong before cell phones and we seemed to do OK without them on the floor. We are supposed to be WORKING not chatting on the cell. I have no problem with those rules. If a family member has a health condition then something needs to be put in place so an outside enity can handle it while they are at work.

[Neveranurseagain, RN]

What did people do before cell phones?

If there was an emergency, really an emergency, your family called the facility where you worked and you talked briefly on the phone. Family emergencies don't include Johnny won't give me back my MP3 and I'm crying or Sally won't share her dessert with me, which most people constitute an emergency nowadays. When you are at work, you are being paid to be there. Cell phones cause distractions, and interrupt the flow at work.

I've been a single parent (widow) since my kids were 9 and 10, and I don't have any family living near me. They have only called me at work 1-2 times a year, and only because it was really an emergency. They have gone to the neighbors, or even called friends of mine if there was a situation they needed help with.

A friend of mine is a correctional nurse, and she has to leave her cell phone in the car. It took some work, but now her kids only call her at the prison only if it is an emergency. Now, they usually call me, another parent or one of the neighbors. They have gotten to know their neighbors that way, too.

[coolpeach]

I am lucky....I work or a big hospital system who is a bit more understanding. Our director says she understands we work 12 hour + shifts and there are things we have to deal with while at work. If we must take a call we just step into a private area and do so. I keep my cell phone on vibrate, and will check it when I leave the patients room. During the school year I have my soon send me a text when he gets home from school just to know he is safely home.

[baldee]

And all you people TAKE YOUR BATTERY OUT TOO! I hate microwaves flying around targeting and blocking my blood and plasma flow in my body.

Bluetooth is the WORST and almost a microwave weapon. People holding those up to their head are making their heart beat 20 bpm more (from blood brain barrier defense protection). You only have so many heart beats warranty!

For those who don't have a clue... some day.

[GreyGull]

We allow no cell phones in the work area and this came after years of abuse with nurses sitting around the station talking on their phones and charting or hanging meds with a cell phone propped up on their shoulder in the patients' rooms. We have also banned cellphones from the common breakroom since there is nothing more disturbing than trying to relax for a few minutes while having someone talk at the top of their "outdoor voice" on the phone and to have them repeat over and over "Can you hear me now?" It is just about a little old fashioned courtesy and respect for others around you.

For emergencies, the family should have the unit number and the nursing office number if you float. The nursing office would need to be notified anyway if you must learn urgently. If you are on friendly terms with the unit secretary, you can tell them of your situation but don't take advantage of them with using this person as your personal answering service. Your employer and the patients should expect 100%% from you when at works. Distractions while with a patient or while charting could lead to bad errors made by you.

Makes you wonder how us oldsters ever managed to raise a family, make all of our appointments and plan our social lives while living way back when cell phones were too big to carry in our pockets or we actually had to use the pay phone in the lobby when those in the unit were restricted use.

[SummitRN, BSN, RN]

And all you people TAKE YOUR BATTERY OUT TOO! I hate microwaves flying around targeting and blocking my blood and plasma flow in my body.

Bluetooth is the WORST and almost a microwave weapon. People holding those up to their head are making their heart beat 20 bpm more (from blood brain barrier defense protection). You only have so many heart beats warranty!

For those who don't have a clue... some day.

There's a thread all about that here: Dementia, Tumors, DNA mutations from WIFI, Cellphones, Laptop etc. - Family, Health, and Entertainment

Read it. Hopefully you will be enlightened.

Another example of why Physics and Statistics should be part of the pre-nursing curriculum.

[TDCHIM]

I can absolutely understand the ban on cell phones. If they are even allowed on the premises, you will inevitably find those who carry them into patient rooms ....and answer them there.

As far as cell phone pictures of patients, yes that happens too. There was a thread here just recently regarding a nurse who was fired for taking a picture of her patient and sending it to a friend.

As has been mentioned, a person can always be contacted through the facility's phones. Believe it or not, people used to have emergencies even back in the olden days. We always managed to take care of business.

No argument, family members can call the facility on the regular phone line. As you said, that was the only way to contact an employee up until about 15-20 years ago! However, this particular post indicates the employer is taking a hard line on all calls, not just cell phones, and seems to be very emphatic about their control over employees. With the personal situation the OP said her friend faces, as well as the general management trends made possible by the recession and the glut of available nurses, I'd be concerned about whether the employer would A. consider the event a "real emergency" and B. notify the employee of it.

The cell phone ban on the floor makes sense to me. Not having one on the premises is a bit more extreme, but I guess there are ways to justify it. But no personal calls, no cell phones even during break times in staff-only areas, and the heavy-handed emphasis on Big Brother is Watching You? Put all those factors together and I'd be pretty uncomfortable. I wouldn't want to be worried at work about whether my employer would deign to inform me during my shift that, for instance, my spouse had just been involved in a serious auto accident and was in the nearest Lev. 1 trauma center ICU with major injuries. I'm not saying everyone should or would feel the same way, just that it sounds to me as though it wouldn't be a good fit for the OP's friend given his family situation.