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!!

[transkat]

wooh -- I think you're right. If not FB then it would be cell phones or magazines. It's really about work ethic . . . and that's not an easy fix.

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

[WalkieTalkie, RN]

They blocked Facebook and MySpace at my work. Now it's all about YouTube, killsometime.com, PopCap Games, Yahoo games, etc. The lazy people are still the ones spending most of their time on the internet.

[teresa m, rn]

co-worker went home one morning after shift at work, posted on facebook about the bad shift she had been through and how difficult it is to "clean up" after "baby nurses"; this was posted on facebook on her own time and did not list any names, the hospital, and of course did not mention anything about any patients; she was essentially released and told she has 45 days to appeal the decision or it would just be considered a 'parting of ways'; do we no longer have the right to vent, have an opinion or freedom of speech? she was told that it "didn't reflect well on the hospital" for anyone she may be friends with who would see the post;

[ivorybunny]

I work as a staff nurse (36 regular hours) on a med/surg unit and volunteer to pick-up prn 12h shifts from time to time. Yesterday when I picked up my assignment sheet for a prn shift I noticed that I was given the extra admission and one of the larger teams of patients. I didn't think twice about it at the time. I like to stay busy and didn't complain.

My first admit was at 7:30 and my second at 9:30. One of the four other patients needed 2u PRBC to be transfused, 2 IV antibiotics to hang, tube feeds started and dressing changes. (All orders were written on the previous shift. There were no supplies or pumps in the room.)

I worked as fast and efficiently as I could. When I would pass the nurses station I noticed no less than 3 people at a time (a mix of RNs and CNAs) using the computers for FB and other non-work related sites. I did "interrupt" my assistant several times for patient assistance.

By around 2:30 I was caught up on passing meds. and treatments and began to chart. A liver patient started with bleeding problems. I placed a call to the doc and received several stat orders that would require much of my time to carry out. I talked to the charge nurse (also a FB user) and asked if anyone was available to pick-up a device that was needed from another unit. She got up and walked away from the area and said I could send one of the CNAs. I "interrupted" an RN's facebook time to ask for assistance. She said one of her patient's was receiving blood and declined to help. I then asked the RN beside her (also on FB) and she agreed to help. All orders were carried out by 6:30 and all patients were in good condition. I sat down to gather my thoughts to give report and realized I was exhausted. (I made the mistake of slipping off my shoes and my feet were so sore and swollen I could barely get them back on.)

By 7:30 I was the only one still on the floor from my shift. It would take me an additional 1.5h to complete charting and paper work after report. I received a call the next day from my manager asking if I would pick up another shift. I declined.

Patient care is jeopardized when the staff chooses to use computers for personal business. My concern is that even new graduates (May '09) feel a sense of entitlement to computer play time at work.

My thought . . . if an employee logs into FB or uploads to FB from their cell while on the clock . . . it should be viewed as their resignation. Harsh? I don't think so. Nursing is serious business where people are entrusting their lives to us. I wouldn't want to tell a family member that I'm sorry their loved one passed while I was updating my status in FB.

Wow- thank you for sharing this... this is exactly the reason that FB is a blocked website at our hospital. We have had multiple issues with texting, people on the phone and playing on the internet. Whereas a suspension might seem harsh- maybe it will be a wake up call to those saying Hey, you're at work- why don't you work and maybe help the person next to you that is drowning....

[ivorybunny]

Venting should be allowed- and it's interesting how technology has affected us. Now I don't know what a Twitter is- but I could imagine that venting about something on the job through that or a facebook status should be safe. I've vented on my status how I'm tired of cleaning up after people, or how it's so frustrating when a patient who is alert and oriented not to get up- and they do... and break their femur... yeah I vented a lot about that- but hey, since you took away my smoke breaks where I would get to vent there- I guess all I have left is a public forum... and you're right- there are freedom of speech issues there... guess I should remove what company I work for on my profile

[mc3, ASN, RN]

take the suspension as her indication that she shouldn't be using a cell phone at work.

there's a few places that explicitly prohibit cell phone use while on the job in our market. i personally took a pic of a friend so i could have a contact picture when they call and ended up getting a tele monitor in the pic as well. i destroyed the pic right when i found it out, but something similar could have happened in this case (even though it didn't).

also, if you think about it, each glove is something like $0.03 or $0.06 / glove. technically they're wasting company materials by blowing up gloves (as stupid as it sounds).

finally, unless you're in a union and are willing to fight for your rights, and as long as there isn't a rule against cell phone use while on the job, then by all means fight it! the only problem is that while she only got a slap on the wrist for goofing off when something more productive probably could have been accomplished at the same time, if she fights the suspension and demands payment, in many states it's very easy to dismiss an employee for absolutely no reason what-so-ever. forget to do an i&o on a patient? write up - you weren't doing your job correctly. forget to sign off a prilosec? write up - could potentially be a med error. (etc etc etc).

finally, almost every place has some kind of rules against cell phone use, etc. even though it's not been enforced / they've been lax in the past, maybe they've decided to start cracking down b/c of a complaint, or maybe they've decided that they need to start cracking down because of a lawsuit. either way, it's their decision, and a complaint from a pion rn isn't going to accomplish much other than mark yourself as a bad egg, a bad employee, and somebody that needs to be gone by the end of the year.

in short i would take the 3 days suspension and use it as a mini-vacation, don't get too worked up about it, and either leave the cell in the locker rooms from there-on-out, turn it off completely, leave it in your bag and take it out on breaks only, or leave it in the car / at home.

gee, no cell phone means no cell phone! she should spend her time learning that rules are made for a reason.....

mc3:nurse: