Cellphones

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Recently at my facility, cellphone use while working on the floor with the residents have become an issue with me. Our facility's policy states no cellphone use inside of the building. Well, this didnt stop anything everyone and their brother has their cellphone in their pocket and answering it no matter what they could be doing at the time? I personally dont have a cellphone for any other use than an emergency at which I keep it in my glove box of my car. It's just down right ridiculous how many nurses and staff use them while assisting residents etc. I finally had it when a nurse I asked to help me change an incontinent resident answered her cellphone and proceded to chat with the party on the other end !while we were taking care of this patient! I immediately demanded that she call the person later that this took priority! She said okay, but this didnt stop her using the cellphone later on when she was with residents. What do you think?

Specializes in Perinatal, Education.

We had an agency nurse who I really like and respect keep her bluetooth ear peice in all day at work. I feel that was just totally unacceptable. If I was a patient, you better bet my nurse would hear something from me if she had that thing in her (or his!) ear!! It kind of brought my respect for her down a lot.

There is a policy against cell phone use at my job, also, but some people get away with it and some don't. A nurse/co-worker of mine got written up, AFTER she had clocked out, was outside on the way to her car when her cell rang. She answered it and someone saw her and reported her for talking on her cell and she got in trouble for it, even though she was clocked out. They said the reason was that she wasn't supposed to even have it in the building and she must have had it in the building if she was on her way to her car when it rang.

And then on the opposite end of the spectrum, I see people who use their cells and just sit and talk and get away with it, right in front of other staff.

I have my cell with me, but I monitor it closely so it doesn't ring inside the building. I can always check for messages later, and I do not let mine become an issue between me and my work.

But some people do it openly just as if in defiance and those people

are the abusers.

Specializes in ortho/neuro/general surgery.
When I was in the OR with 2 surgeons in school, one of their phones rang and he had me get it out of his pocket, answer it, and tell his 4 year old son that "your daddy is helping someone, but he will call you back when the person is all better." I thought that was both appropriate and sweet.

Awwwww..... That IS really sweet! :heartbeat:1luvu::redpinkhe:redbeathe:

Specializes in nursing home care.

I think using a cell phone on duty is totally unprofessional and should be deemed as gross misconduct. Would you like the person wiping your butt ti be talking about their plans for the night? Speaking of unprofessional as a nursing student I once saw an anaesthetist eating his lunch whilst in the operating theatre!

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

if your facility policy is no cell phone use inside the building then as a charge nurse it is part of your responsibility to help enforce that (re-read your job description). check with your supervisor/manager/don on how they want you charge nurses to handle people who don't follow the policy and then follow through very consistently with everyone who fails to follow the rules. you can't be a milquetoast about this. if i had seen this same person chatting on her cell phone later, i would have gone up to her and stood quietly at her side until she finished her conversation (an assertive technique). when she was finished, i would have reminded her of the facility rule and that if i saw her on her cell phone again i would have no choice but to write her up or start the writing up of a disciplinary report. get the wrong doing in writing for the don. as a supervisor of subordinate workers you should know the disciplinary policy of your facility by heart. this, unfortunately, is a fact of life when being a charge nurse. you have to follow through on policies and continue to reinforce and follow the hospital disciplinary policy. if you don't, the animals run the zoo. i never took that crap about "other charge nurses don't make us do that" from the cnas either. it's a manipulative childish ploy and i don't particularly care what other bad behavior charge nurses are willing to tolerate from their cnas; i won't tolerate it. (i was raised by a mother who came from the same mold as judge judy and dr. laura.) as a charge nurse you not only are responsible for the management of the patient's under your charge, but for the actions and supervision of the subordinate staff working with you. you, to some extent, represent the administration of the facility whether you like that idea or not. it comes with the job. you earned that responsibility and you are obligated to live up to it. you will find that after exerting your power and authority responsibly a few times (this doesn't mean you have to be an ogre about it) it gets easier and your working life gets a whole lot better as you become more adept at dealing with these kind of subordinate worker problems. good luck to you.

one ltc facility i worked in had wall phones mounted in all the patient hall ways for the convenience of the nurses. guess who used them the most? my solution? when i saw a cna constantly using these phones, i made sure the cna was in the hall so they could see me walk up to it and remove it from the wall and walk it back to the medicine room where i locked it up. if they gave me lip i told them i was saving their butt from getting written up for using a facility phone to make personal phone calls. you always gotta be one step ahead of some of these people.

Specializes in 27 yrs in long term care, 5 yrs office.

The whole cell phon issue has gotten out of hand. I've taken care of patients before that can't answer your questions because they were on the cell phone. Also my husband works out in the public everyday and has witnessed accidents because people were preoccupied on there cell phone, and also seen local law enforcement driving with there cell phones up to there ear, I'm pretty sure any police business is still carried out of there car radios. Since when did we need to be so connected with the rest of the world. I do like mine for travel, and as we get older I worry about staying in touch with family if needed, but there is no respect with the cell phones for many people.

Heh.

Nothing to do with employees.

However.

A resident's son gave her a cell phone. We'll call her Mary. Mary is paranoid, and spent that first night calling the sheriff and the fire dep't with her conspiracy theories. Of course, they have to answer. The facility was in something of an uproar.

The next morning, Mary is being taken by an aide - we'll call her Nancy - to an eye doctor's appt. Mary's talking to someone all the way there and keeps asking Nancy what exit they're at. Nancy tells her and asks, "Who you talkin' to?" "My daughter."

They get to the eye app't and the state troopers are waiting for Nancy. Mary had told them that she was being kidnapped and driven away in chains. Well, the WC IS chained in so it doesn't slide! Poor Nancy.

May's son took the phone back, having been alerted by the troopers (the phone was in his name) that his mom alleged she was being kidnapped, "Mother, you have gone too far."

He took the phone back.

I totally agree that cellphones on duty is unprofessional, yet my facility is reluctant to address this issue with a policy, it was reported to me that a lab tech drawing blood stopped to answer her ringing cellphone leaving the needle in the pts arm, while both her hands were on the phone, a co-worker who also teaches nursing told me students interrupt his class all the time with cellphone calls and that I should get use to it and get with the times!!!:banghead:

Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

I'm afraid Daytonite is right, you'll have to take her advise if you want to gain control of the situation, otherwise things will keep running amok.

Specializes in med-surg 5 years geriatrics 12 years.

Cell phones at work bother me too. And the hands free ear pieces !! How can you give your patient good care if you're distracted, not to mention how rude it is. My cell phone is on silence and in my purse in my locker. Only keep it there to check for messages while on break....have a spouse on chemo who won't call the workline otherwise it would be left in my car. Seems

Specializes in Government.

I hate cell phones and do not have one. Very few of us are that important.

Specializes in Hem/Onc, LTC, AL, Homecare, Mgmt, Psych.

It's become an epidemic! Most CNA's and a nurse at my facility have mastered the art of texting and walking down the hall, they text under the dining room tables when they are feeding people, text when they are in a room waiting for a pt to get done on the bedpan, send each other raunchy songs and videos at every possible moment! They don't have to even look at the phone to text. Whenever I see it, I give warning, it's not allowed. Now they just sneak around me. Just think how much their phones are crawling with germs......

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