Not that it would be used for anything but an emergency, but how do you feel about being told that you may not carry your cell phone while working?
Even if it's off, even if it's on vibrate. Even if it's part of your PDA that helps you get your job done.
I kinda feel like I'm back in high school. All the "grownups" -- docs, managers, administrators -- may keep their cell phones. But I, a lowly staff nurse (middle-aged, educated, professional, and presumably with decent morals and good judgment), cannot.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i'm obviously in the minority here but why can't family call the unit in an emergency?
in my unit, the secretary is so busy on facebook, she doesn't answer the phone. if she does answer the phone, she doesn't get you the message unless she feels like it. if she likes you, she tends to feel like it more often than not. since i once told her to hang up her cellphone and answer the unit phone, she doesn't like me. my father tried to call me to tell me that my mother had fallen and was taken to the er, and i didn't get the message. i carry my treo (phone turned off) because it's my pda, but i do check for messages a couple of times a day.
Oh, forgot to add -- the final irony -- we do have to carry hospital-issued cell phones. Patients, different departments, the desk, docs, and other staffers can call us at any time, no matter if we're doing assessments or a sensitive teaching, doing a dressing in an isolation room, or even (heaven forbid!) in the bathroom or on break.
And guess what. A lot of those compliant folks who really keep their phones in the locker are using the hospital cell phones with impunity to make those same personal calls that they would've on their own cell phone.
I understand why facilities feel the need for a policy. I had an employee's telephone ring twice withn a 10" period while I was filling out official paperwork. She chatted and casually added "I'm in the supervisor's office right now so I can't talk long..." Grief!
On the other the hand our facility is quite spread out and I have used my personal cell phone to answer pages.
I think having the phones on vibrate is understandable; I also agree it is inappropriate for ANY PERSONNEL to be using them for personal calls in pt care areas
Specializes in Med/surg, pediatrics, gi, gu,stepdown un.
I think that nurses should not carry cell phones while thay are working. It is very unprofessional when working with patients ,to be talking on your cell phone to your family members. How do you feel when someone gets a phone call on cell phone and abrutly ends the conversation with you?
I carry my cell phone at work, but always on viberate, and rarely does it do that. But remember 9/11? Remember all the people who were able to call their families with last goodbys because they had their cell phones with them. We live in tornado alley. If a tornado was to hit our town, I'd want to be touch with loved ones now, yes I could get right back work, knowing they were safe, and them knowing I was safe. Recently an assasin walked into a nearby mall and started shooting. I'm sure all those store employees were not allowed to carry their phones at work either, but most did. By having their phones on them they were able to tell the police where they were hiding and what they were hearing, as well as to call loved ones immediately and say "I'm safe". I realize this is a bit dramatic, but it happens, if it happens I'll be prepared.
I once got written up for having my cell. The accusation was that I was on it all the time, but I use it for notes, calculator and a calender. have used it for the docs. Mine is on vibrate. Wont change either. I would never get my messages so I started carrying mine after I didn't get an emergent one.
I have always had a pager or cell phone with me. I have been a single mom for 21 yrs. I keep it on vibrate and only look at it when I am not busy and have time to go to the break room. Now that my kids are older I still keep it. I have a brother and son in Iraq right now and 5 grandchildren. I am a traveler and even when I was staff a new clerk would tell my kids that I didn't work there. I have seen many abuse it by talking all the time but they should be talked to when managers and charge nurses see it.
they do need to be available for urgent phone calls.
leslie
Usually I agree with you, Leslie, but urgent messages are what beepers are for...A wife calling to tell her Doc Hubby to bring home milk or a docs kid calling to ask permission to get the latest video game..those are not urgent calls. Both are examples of phone calls I had to deal with when I used to answer their cell phones. My other not so favorite kind of phone call was the drug seeker patient calling to have their Vicodin refilled before the weekend(we have a nice surgeon that gives his patients his cell number!). Such people just didn't seem to understand that the doc is scrubbed in and can't talk right now.:stone
My facility uses alpha pagers that print out text-so you can tell if it is urgent or not or they can call into the room phone. So in this instance, I do have a problem with docs being allowed to bring their phones into the OR while the rest of the staff is disciplined like little children. But hey, no one really follows the rule anyway. Short of patting us down, there's no way to really know if we're carrying one or not. And the day that happens is the day I quit..
I do not carry my cell phone with me. I do not prefer them and if I had it my way would not have one at all. However I do believe others should
have the right to do so. That is, carry them on you. But yes, using them
in front of pt's or otherwise unprofessionally is a big no no.
For anyone who look's like they are following policy probably just knows how to do their job and still have the benefit.
To say you can't carry them because it is unprofessional to talk while doing pt care does not make sense. Just because someone is has it on them does not mean they talk on them.
There is moderation here. It does not have to be all or nothing.
To address how it was in the past (pre cellphone)
If there was the ability to have immediate contact with others would you turn it down? Yes, life still carried on but be realistic. We all know that if
emergencies could be addressed quickly with current technology we are not going to stick with the old fashioned way of doing things. That just makes more sense. Just my honest opinion.
One thing we have not mentioned is the patients who also have their cell phones who are talking when the nurse needs to come and medicate them, doctors are ready to sit with them, and the patient will say "Wait, I have to take this call", knowing the clinic or hospital has many other patients that we need to serve. I had one the other day that started telling her friend about what her boyfriend did to her the night before (very graphic-close to Media). And, I had to sit and wait for this conversation to end. It can go both ways...
I leave the room and go on to my next task, then go back to them after. I work in the ER, and there's always something to do. Eventually they get the picture that they will be waiting a long time if they don't get off the phone.
Specializes in Nursing Home ,Dementia Care,Neurology..
Hearing about people using cell phones while actually working with a patient makes me think Ehhww,what about infection control! Do they then clean their cells between rooms or are they carrying infection from one room to another.I keep mine in my coat pocket but I do not get a good signal at work anyway.Anyone that wants me would have to ring the main phone.
It seems the same people who abuse cellphones are the ones being paged w/continual calls from family/kids.
Very true. That's why I tell whoever is watching my son that I'm at clinical, my phone is not supposed to be with me, and so to only call if something is on fire, there's copious amounts of blood involved, or if they are already sitting in the ED.
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Ruby Vee, BSN
17 Articles; 14,051 Posts
in my unit, the secretary is so busy on facebook, she doesn't answer the phone. if she does answer the phone, she doesn't get you the message unless she feels like it. if she likes you, she tends to feel like it more often than not. since i once told her to hang up her cellphone and answer the unit phone, she doesn't like me. my father tried to call me to tell me that my mother had fallen and was taken to the er, and i didn't get the message. i carry my treo (phone turned off) because it's my pda, but i do check for messages a couple of times a day.