IPODs

nurse4theplanet, RN · Apr 11, 2007

Completely inappropriate.

IPODs, cell phones, etc. should be used during break times in non-patient care areas. This is a huge pet peeve of mine.

If you have your IPOD in your ear, even on low, you cannot devote your full attention to your patient. To use the excuse that the patient is vented and sedated is laughable. There are still monitors and IV poles, vent alarms, overhead paging systems, call systems, and your fellow coworkers to listen out for.

What ever happened to professionalism?

nurse4theplanet, RN · Apr 11, 2007

Asoldierswife05's List of Productive Ways to Pass the Time at Work:

1) Check your pt...again

2) Ask a fellow co-worker if they need help

3) Straighten up the nursing station

4) Restock the Med Room

5) Fill the Copy Machine with Paper

6) Brush up on some of your P&P's...they do update them with changes from time to time

7) Read a professional magazine

8) Look up that new medicine that the drug rep is pushing at your facility

9) Read through your pt's charts...who knows, maybe you missed something during the beginning shift rush

10) Check in with the newbie nurse on your unit and see how he/she has progressed and let them know you are a resource

11) Check the code cart...if you are the next one that needs it you want to be sure its in order even if someone else was responsible...things get overlooked

12) Ask your coworkers if they need help (again)...afterall, where have they been while you have been attending to all the above?

13) Make a list of broken equipment, lights that need to be replaced, etc.

Feel free to add on

TazziRN, RN · Apr 11, 2007

I even get irritated when people leave their bluetooth cell phone thingies in their ears when not on the phone

That kind of defeats the purpose of the blue tooth.......it's not exactly hands-free if you have to keep putting it in and taking it out of your ear.

mim-o · Apr 11, 2007

Work is Work and there is no place on a hall or unit for an Ipod or similiar gadget. VERY, VERY , VERY UNPROFESSIONAL- :nono:

loquacity · Apr 11, 2007

when i worked as a porter over summer (transfering pt's, charts, supplies etc. between units) i wore it on night shifts 11pm -7am. But i wore it under clothing & took it off when working with patients. I don't think it is appropriate to wear when working with patients (though i don't seem a huge problem if they are unconcsious, and the volume is low enough to hear any alarms). I never would've worn it on a day or evening shift though, only night shift.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Apr 11, 2007

Never cease to be amazed by what some people will think is acceptable for the work environment. Particularly a hospital unit, when full attention is expected to be on the patient, not the tune of the moment.

I work nightshift, and am often straining to hear just where a distant beeping is coming from, to figure out what patient needs what. I don't care how low the volume is, if I can hear the music, I doubt I can hear that patient's IV at the end of the hall. Maybe I need super hearing, LOL...

If I were the patient and saw my nurse working on my equipment while humming along to a tune that's coming from a plug in her ear, I'd have a few things to say about that the next day.

Cattitude · Apr 11, 2007

That kind of defeats the purpose of the blue tooth.......it's not exactly hands-free if you have to keep putting it in and taking it out of your ear.

Thank you Tazzi! This is the 2nd post I have seen on the internet where someone is irritated by Bluetooth earpieces. I just got mine and love it.

I get a lot of calls during my work day and it would be a PITA to keep taking it on and off my ear. I have even managed a way to slip my stethy in my ear without taking it off!