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 !!

[chloecatrn]

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.

Unless you're in an at will employment state. Then they can fire you for whatever they want, whenever they want.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Originally Posted by shiccy

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.

Unless you're in an at will employment state. Then they can fire you for whatever they want, whenever they want.

If employeers policy is " No cellphones on during work hours", and you choose to use it anyway, termination is based on violation of POLICY, especially when you signed acknowledgement during orientation. :)

Keep copy of ANY P+P you are provided and especially those requiring signature, so you can pull them out when needed.