I could not believe this student I had the other night. I picked up a shift on my old unit (telemetry) and the charge asked me if I minded having a student with me as his preceptor had called off sick. Ofcourse not! I love having students. So, I grab my MAR's, Kardexes and tell him we are going to check them over for mistakes. This usually takes about 30 minutes. In that time, NO LIE, he got 2 text messages and an actual phone call. All of which he took.
When I was done I said are you ready? (I will admit, this was said through clenched teeth) and he said, Yeah. CHECKED HIS PHONE ONE MORE TIME:angryfire Then I said, Good. Because the FIRST thing your going to do is take that phone out of your pocket, put it in your coat and leave it there for the rest of the shift.
OMG! I mean, I will call my husband during my break, but I can't think of anyone I need to talk to while I am at work. It was SOOOO inappropriate. Has anyone else encountered anything like this?
I only own a prepaid cell phone & my husband usually takes it now that he travels farther to work. It's strictly for emergencies or if there is an issue with our son. Anyone that needs to reach me should there be an emergency has the number of my unit. They can reach me there, and that's that. I do not feel that I need to be accessible to people 24/7, in fact I often let the answering machine pick up if I'm involved or just don't feel the need to talk at the time.
Having said that I don't understand this phone to ear mentality or texting for that matter... why have a phone it you're going to type?? As far as being a student, it drove me nutz to hear phones vibrating thru lecture... people lived before cell phones & I think it's become like a disease... no make that an addiction... maybe someone should start a support group... totally inappropriate during work to be sitting on the phone!!!
Makes me question why people "want" to be Nurses. I think people need to get their priorities straight. Unfortunately, I feel there are those that want it for the money, but truly don't have " the calling" at the end of the day, it catches up... I wish one of the training requirements before getting a license, was going to a 3rd world country and working for a year where resources, technology are limited, better yet, NO PAY. Money is a big motivator for people. Yes I said it, people want to pay bills and turn out to be lousy at caring for patients and act real dumb( as in the case of that person who takes calls, and texts while at work.) I think "they" should ban cell phones at hospitals, if there is an emergency, the call can come into the Nursing station.
I do keep my cell phone on me at work, on vibrate. Mostly because I've given my husband my work number at least a dozen times and programmed it into his phone but he can never remember that he has the number.
Second, I work in a psych ER where there is only myself and a tech. If my tech is in another part of the hospital and I need him right away for a pt that is escalating or has just come in, I'll jump on my phone and call his but I don't take personal calls at work (unless it's an emergency) or in front of patients.
I have a coworker that spends all day on her phone yaking to her friends and, very frequently, yelling at her (grown) children. (And I do mean YELLING at them on the phone at the nurse's station). She has answered her phone in the middle of giving me report only to say "What do you want? I'm still at work"
I long for the old days when students actually came to the floor ready to work and had a little bit of healthy fear of the nurses. I've been out of my BSN program for 4 years now, but you better believe that I would have never taken a call in front of my preceptor.
Today(and I may take some heat for this) I feel that some nursing students come to clinical like it is just another thing that is going on that day. They talk on the phone, take way too many breaks, and socialize too much.
His school should have a clinical/facility policy that addressed conduct when a student is at a clinical facility. And cell phone usage should definately be one of them!
I have been reading everyone's posts and feel that I must comment. Keep your cell phone in your locker or car. Not only students are checking for messages and answering texts. Some nurses do it too. It drives me crazy. In the case of an emergency, someone should know what # to call at work. There are phones in the hospital, and someone can get a message to you. We were in a room with a women who was delivering her baby when a student's cell phone rang. We all turned and looked at her as she answered the phone. The doctor yelled at her to get out of the room. Later she was boo hooing that the doctor was mean to her. Are you kidding??!!
Well the place I used to work at (hospital pharmacy), some of my co-workers would spend hours (3 or more) on the cell phone doing nothing. It was horrible. I turned them in but nothing was done about it. And whats worse, this offender might be going to nursing school! She also was seen going to the mall for a couple of hours and came back to work. That was illegal. Would you like your nurse going shopping on the clock while taking care of you?!! I really hope she doesn't get in.
If it is an emergency the student nurse is not the one to call 911 is the number for emergencies. If it is a real emergency the student is in no position to do anything about it. If it is not something you would call 911 for then it is not an emergency.
Ok, gotta disagree with you on that one.
I have a husband that travels during the week. Guess how many family members there are to pick the kids up from daycare if one of them gets sick? Me. Only me.
In my state, if you don't return a sick call within 2 hours, the daycare will call social services.
I don't carry my cell-phone to clinicals. However, the daycare I occasionally use for both my children know when I'm at a clinical site and have been given strict instructions that the number is NOT to be used unless it's to tell me to come and pick up my child...all other calls are to be directed to my cell phone voice mail...which stays OFF and in my car, and I check it during my lunch hour and of course...when I leave for the day.
Don't assume, that everyone has just loads of family that can pick kids up from school, etc...OTHER people work jobs...and someone would have to have one heck of a nerve to call a family member and say, "Hey, can you leave work and not get paid for the day and go pick up my child so I can finish clinical today?"
No way, Jose.
I am REQUIRED to pick up my child, if he/she has a fever, vomiting, diarrhea, or has an injury that the staff has deemed that they do not desire to treat (more than just a scraped knee).
As a new grad, i am very new and in tune to the cell phone world. I do have a cell phone myself, but would NEVER take it out at work to use. If i need to make a personal call i do it on my break. It is not professional or appropriate to be doing this in a medical setting with patients and family members around. This is just giving you a bad name. However, if it is an emergency, then you should notify the people around you, so they are aware and dont frown on you.
I could not believe this student I had the other night. I picked up a shift on my old unit (telemetry) and the charge asked me if I minded having a student with me as his preceptor had called off sick. Ofcourse not! I love having students. So, I grab my MAR's, Kardexes and tell him we are going to check them over for mistakes. This usually takes about 30 minutes. In that time, NO LIE, he got 2 text messages and an actual phone call. All of which he took.
When I was done I said are you ready? (I will admit, this was said through clenched teeth) and he said, Yeah. CHECKED HIS PHONE ONE MORE TIME:angryfire Then I said, Good. Because the FIRST thing your going to do is take that phone out of your pocket, put it in your coat and leave it there for the rest of the shift.
OMG! I mean, I will call my husband during my break, but I can't think of anyone I need to talk to while I am at work. It was SOOOO inappropriate. Has anyone else encountered anything like this?
that was totally appropriate for you to be a little nasty to that student!
did he asked permission from you or inform you that he's gonna take the call? or did he said it was something important? If he asked you, that would make a different story... but since it wasn't said in your post, then that was a totally rude thing to do (what the student did)! :redpinkhe:redpinkhe:redpinkhe
I understand that this would be very irritating. But is it possible that he may have a family member or friend who is in some sort of trouble? We had a nursing student a few years ago who was reported for something similar, turned out that a close friend of hers was in a car accident and on life support.
If it's just social then it's completely inappropriate, I agree with your handling of the situation and IMHO the nursing school/preceptor should be made aware.
Most healthcare facilities don't allow cell phones. Was he using it against policy???
did he asked permission from you or inform you that he's gonna take the call? or did he said it was something important? If he asked you, that would make a different story... but since it wasn't said in your post, then that was a totally rude thing to do (what the student did)!
eccentricRN
174 Posts
I only own a prepaid cell phone & my husband usually takes it now that he travels farther to work. It's strictly for emergencies or if there is an issue with our son. Anyone that needs to reach me should there be an emergency has the number of my unit. They can reach me there, and that's that. I do not feel that I need to be accessible to people 24/7, in fact I often let the answering machine pick up if I'm involved or just don't feel the need to talk at the time.
Having said that I don't understand this phone to ear mentality or texting for that matter... why have a phone it you're going to type?? As far as being a student, it drove me nutz to hear phones vibrating thru lecture... people lived before cell phones & I think it's become like a disease... no make that an addiction... maybe someone should start a support group... totally inappropriate during work to be sitting on the phone!!!