hospital policy on Facebook, cellphones= suspension

[ChristinaEDRN]

and uploading pictures from your phone to facebook while at work? I ask this because my best friend just got suspended for three days for uploading a pict of two of her other co-workers blowing up glove balloons while at work. There was NO pt, pt names or other HIPPA violating info. I saw the pict myself. She was not on FB itself she did a mobile upload. She was told it was because she did it at work. PERIOD. There is a cell phone policy about limited use in pt care areas. She said she expected a written warning, even probation, but not suspension. She said they are very lax on cell phone usage because everyone even the administration uses them constantly. I think this is WAY overkill. I told her to spend her 3 days off investigating the policies and disciplinary actions to see what the norm is for this offense. If she cannot find anything outlining this behavior can she dispute her punishment? What are her options?

Thank You!!

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

My guess is that it is not so much a HIPPA thing as it is a not stealing from your employer thing. As in- being on your cell, FB, and the internet during your work time is stealing time from your employer because that is time you should be productive. As charge nurse I can't tell you how many times I have to go and tell the staff to put their phones away and quit texting!!! C'mon people! Seriously?

It's got real bad when I was a charge nurse earlier this year, with people talking and texting during work. We clamped down and pulled people into the office. People will stop if they are held accountable. It's not so much a problem now.

However, while I agree with the sentiments of a lot of the people here, I think a three-day suspension for a first offense is overkill.

[CABG patch kid, BSN, RN]

The argument for using your phone or being on the internet while at work is that if you have downtime and are caught up on your work, why not? People with office jobs do it all the time; as long as pt safety isn't compromised I see nothing wrong with it.

The argument against saying the above would be to say that not everyone waits until they have downtime or until their work is caught up, and it would be hard to prove one way or the other if you really had the time to spare to be messing around online if one of your pts went south.

[ChristinaEDRN]

Well, I just found out that the nurse in picture was suspended for three days because she was charge even though she did not know ir was FB. The CNA in the picture was fired. When the above Charge nurse asked to see a policy outlining disciplinary actions the DON screamed at her that she didnt have to see the policy but she should be glad she wasnt fired. The charge nurse said the worse part is they are letting her work the next 2 nights and her suspension doesnt start until next week.

[WalkieTalkie, RN]

I know of a couple of techs in our ER who got fired for uploading stupid (non-patient related, but taken in the hospital) pics on Facebook. Just don't do it.

[Seasoned]

:typing the issue isn't about cellphone usage, facebook...etc.

it's "unfairness in the disciplinary action taken". pretend it's you we're talking about and take a few minutes and read all of this carefully. all employers have recourse if politically you want to go that route. and you need to know a few political things...

advice: proceed with caution

1. never ask the offending officer (your supervisor) for the policy! you are just fueling the fire! and trust me, when you challenge an action taken from a nursing super ((90% of the time a woman) you are building a fire - pun intended.

2. research via your employers intranet for the 2 policies / procedures (p&p) or contact your hr depart for the process for a) disciplinary action and b) filing a grievance.

3. if you decide to call, only get one p&p. use another person to call hr or you on another day and ask for the other p&p. the reason for separate calls is to prevent giving anyone in hr a heads -up it's "you" filing a grievance. "cause, girlfriend, that's all you can do once a suspension is part of your personnel file - file a grievance! giving them a heads-up will give warning to your supervisor and the plan is set in motion to get you terminated from that suspension on some minor action to prevent your ability to file a grievance.

4. now with both policies in hand, you are filing a grievance for violation of due process only! the goal is to get the suspension removed from your record and reduced to a verbal warning. :trout:"cause i got to tell ya, fun on the job is fun! fun on the job that costs you your job is just plain dumb!

5. do not mention cell phone use, break time or try to justify or explain anything except why you had poor judgment. plea ignorance of the "spirit" of the policy on cellphone /camera use at your facility. any further explanation should only be about how important you understand your nursing position is and kinda: "i didn't know what i was think'in" tone.

6. do not discuss...i repeat do not discuss what you plan to do with anyone. it will shock you how the wrong people found out! if you need help or opinion on what you write use someone who does not work there, is smart, and really loves you.

7. or leave it as-is and just resign stripping that place from your resume'.

:igtsyt:bottom line: they have now labeled you.

and they will forever come back to your poor judgment, though maybe never in front of you effectively blocking anything you want to do there.

all nursing actions /decisions will always be subjective!!! new things come up too fast and furious to have a specific policy to address every ethical decision. please learn: the politics of a place of employment will never be about the issue . it will be about the what, who, how, where, and when of the issue. that action taken on a psych unit may be considered fun and it end there. it's because the where was fine versus say...in a hospice unit. your unit may be fine except it was "you" instead of say... your supervisor that did it...the who.

the good news is if you decide to file that grievance and win. the supervisor who let her (or his) emotions take over versus hospital policy to process a disciplinary action properly will be labeled too. hr knows well if you belonged to a protected class of people an eeoc or lawsuit can cost the hospital tons of time and money defending it, win or lose!

good luck

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

While I can understand you and your co-worker feeling it is harsh, there have been some major facebook issues where I work. Several co-workers have taken pictures of minor patients and posted it on facebook, as well as pictures of things that came out of patients, etc. I personally don't see a problem with being on facebook on your break at work (alot of the people on my floor do access it during downtime), but I do see what can happen when it goes to far.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

The biggest problem? People are stupidly (IMO) friending their patients. So guess what, when you go and post that you're goofing off at work (even on break) then our patients see it. And guess what, they don't care that you were on break, or people in other jobs do it. Know how patients think that all that time we spend charting is just us "wasting time on the computer" instead of catering to their every need? This kind of unprofessional stuff adds fuel to that fire, because now they see nurses doing JUST THAT. Patients don't want to see us get a lunch break, they sure don't want to see that nurses have time to blow up gloves. It seems facebook and myspace make people stupid. "Why can't I post pics of myself drunk and half-nekkid and still get a job?" "Why can't I post pics of myself goofing off and still keep my job?" I'd tell your friend to suck it up.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

This is the main reason I bought a iTouch instead of an iPhone (no phone, no camera). It will be used strictly for work reference and will be on me at all times. I'll be sure that I let everybody know that it is an iTouch, even let them see what's on it and maybe play with it if they are nice :wink2:

[RuRnurse?]

I have to agree with most other posters here...using a cell phone at work is a big no-no! If you can't put the thing away for a few hours, it's a problem.

I have worked with people who were actually doing care with a cell phone tucked under their chins, yakking away to the friend, the husband, etc. Very unprofessional!

C'mon guys, you DON'T have to be "plugged in" 24/7. Use the phone on your breaks, but put it away when you are on the job!

[whipping girl in 07, RN]

I've seen some of my friends who've updated their Facebook or Myspace from their phone when they were at work. I even had a student last year who was doing her rotation with our service and I saw her update hers while she was at the hospital and I was off that day and happened to be on FB! I told her the next time I saw her that while I wasn't going to hold a first offense against her, it could be perceived as unprofessional by some and she should probably wait till she's either off work or at least on break (and mention being on break in the posting).

Another RN friend posted some of her 3 AM ICU toga party pictures a few months ago. While I got a kick out of them knowing that some things never change (I always had fun working nights there), I would be concerned if I was a patient or family member and saw pictures of the nurses at work goofing off. I mean, you can't deny it if there's a picture!

Also, think about who all you are friends with on MS/FB and remember that they can see everything you post and the general public can see it too if your profile is not private. My sister-in-law works for a physician who had her checking out job applicants' MySpace or Facebook pages if she could find them. Several of my former co-workers are friends on FB with their boss. When I still worked there I was always nervous that she'd send me a friend request because I did not trust her. I am friends with my current boss as but she actually is a friend. She will sometimes comment on my updates, like when I put a :-( after I say I'm going back to work after 5 days off. I think she knows it's not that I don't like my job, I just like being off with my family, but still, it's all about perception.

Several years ago, before my previous hospital blocked any Internet sites at work, I was looking at my Myspace on my lunch break at the nurse's station. We almost never had enough staff to cover meal breaks and our routine was generally to go get food and eat at the desk. If a patient needed something, someone who wasn't eating would take care of it if possible. Anyway, I had allowed family to come in between visiting hours and there were several in the room singing to my patient. Suddenly he went into a dysrhythmia. I quickly rushed into the room, assessed him, tried a couple of different tricks to see if I could get it to break and paged the doctor who called me back quickly and gave me orders. I went to the OmniCell and got the med and stopped at the computer to use the calculator to doublecheck the dosage (it was weight-based and I'd lost my pocket calculator). The family saw me stop at the computer and they had seen me looking at my Myspace while I'd been eating, so they assumed that I stopped to look at one more thing on Myspace instead of taking care of the patient. They complained to the charge nurse and I had to report off to another nurse at 3 and pick up another team for 4 hours. All because of perception.

I learned a couple of lessons from that experience:

1. Bending the rules for a family will bite you in the a$$.

2. Take your lunch break away from the unit, even if it's difficult to find coverage. Force them to cover for you.

3. Don't look at personal stuff on the Internet at work.

4. Don't lose your calculator. I've also had people think I'm texting if I used the calculator on my cell phone.

While the suspension sucks, I think she's probably lucky she wasn't fired. I just hope they will be consistent about enforcing the rules. You really can go 8 or 12 hours without texting or updating your FB. It's possible.

[litbitblack, ASN, RN]

Yes i have to agree with some of you. But, working 2 more nites then getting the suspension to start is bs. I would definately talk to hr about that. What....your good enough to work cause we don't have coverage but as soon as we do you can have your punishment. I don't think so....Also if you are on your break then your on your break. you can do what you want...

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Sorry if this is a redo... my laptop just crashed....

I was gonna second Whipping Girl on the employer checks. I used to do 'em with my boss (physician) we'd get in front of his office computer and check everybody out. If you were MS/FB, and remotely seemed like you wouldn't fit our group, you could expect your resume to go in the trash. This was usually after work entertainment with a pizza. His other pet peeves: smoking, and looking out of shape/overweight.

If you are hooked on MS/FB, my advice is to shut it down while you job search.