Leave the phone at home !!

disney158 · Oct 22, 2008

I just remembered, is it Bluetooth ?

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Oct 22, 2008

I carry my cell in my pocket at all times, it is on vibrate and I have manners and would never ever dream of talking on it in a patients room.

I also have two teen agers that drive, and two little ones at home and a husband who for some reason can not seem to remember my work sched.

I have been known to txt my kids and spouse through out my shift, but only at the nursing station or in the break room.

Just cause I carry a cell phone does not mean i have bad manners!! lol. Even though yes I know some people do...

Oh ya and at 0500 I seem to always get a txt "whats the census?"

disney158 · Oct 22, 2008

You do have manners and I carry a cell too, but can you believe someone would do this to a resident. And to top it all off , to get natsy to me when I told her not to use the Bluetooth ever on the floor, can you imagine what they can do to already confused residents, arent' the residnets to be the focus of care, that wouldn't even be tolerated at Walmarts.... which is where I wanted to suggest she go work, but I held back..

infectionRN · Oct 22, 2008

I know what you mean, I walked into the clean utility room the other day and CNA was in there on the phone. I gave them a written warning, it is posted everywhere no cell phones allowed in the clinical area. I'm sure they all still use them,it will be a matter of time before they get caught and terminated.

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Oct 22, 2008

You do have manners and I carry a cell too, but can you believe someone would do this to a resident. And to top it all off , to get natsy to me when I told her not to use the Bluetooth ever on the floor, can you imagine what they can do to already confused residents, arent' the residnets to be the focus of care, that wouldn't even be tolerated at Walmarts.... which is where I wanted to suggest she go work, but I held back..

No she was totally 100% out of line...poor resident, if she wasnt confused enough already!!

As far as walking into the linnen room and finding someone one thier phone, where they on thier break? Would you rather have them using the desk phone? My thought is this, as long as the work is getting done and the call lights answered I am fine with staff using thier cell phone, MOST people would never dream to use it in a patients room. But I can txt my kid in 4 seconds "dont forget you have a Dr app tomorrow at 3"

Nurses now work 12 closer to 13 hour shifts, I do need to get ahold of my kids and spouse from time to time.

We dont have the no cell phone rule at my hosp, luckily mgmt still at this point treats us like adults. Heck mgmt also uses thier cell phones, in fact my main form of communication with my mgr is via txt. I never know her meeting sched and I can txt her and eventually she will txt me back. It is easier/faster than a phone call.

Technology is what it is.

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Oct 22, 2008

We are a smaller facility and have most of our staff with kids. My rule...I'm okay with a few phone calls, kids checking in after school, I'm home from baseball, or what ever....But...just a few phone calls. I'm not a receptionist. I also permit them to make phone calls home. Rarely does it ever become an issue for us. I'd rather them use our phone instead of a cell. Cell phones are permitted to be used on a break. Again...we don't have a problem and no one abuses our system.

CathRN · Oct 22, 2008

I carry my cell phone with me at all times. When I'm in on a case, it is silenced and placed in my locker, the rest of the time, it is in my pocket. I check it during down times throughout the day.

When my mother was still alive, my phone stayed with me at all times. I was her POA and dad couldn't/wouldn't make a decision without talking to me. Bless him. Mom bossed him around for so long, he didn't know what to do.

I think that it is possible to be in touch with loved ones, but at the same time have manners. I would never pull out my phone in front of patients, doctors, or other staff. Breaks are the time to check messages. Just my two cents.

sam945 · Oct 22, 2008

I also use my cell phone to text people occasionally throughout the night, but not when I'm with a patient of course. And I always keep in on vibrate. We have a couple of techs who are on the phone ALL NIGHT LONG. Yes, that includes while they're doing vital signs. Half the time, it's not even English. It's so frustrating sometimes, but they have been written up and reminded of the policy over and over... they still do it.

LUVtxNursing · Oct 22, 2008

Yeah, I made a boo-boo with my cell phone the other day, but it was kinda urgent at the time. I am on orientation in the OR and we were wrapping up a case, the Dr. was closing the skin, everything had been done. I had been trying for several days to get my daughter in to the Dr. to get her refill on her ADHD meds that she's been out of for a couple of weeks. Anywho, my friend works for the Dr. and she sent me a text telling me that a cancellation came up and she was scheduling my daughter for the next day at 3:30, I was like..o crap..I have a dentist appointment that day, so I whipped out my cell just to text her and tell her I would call her in a few minutes about the appointment and not to leave the office. The nurse I was with fussed at me pretty hard for doing that, and I was upset with myself that I did it, but I had debated it for a few minutes and I figured it wouldn't hurt to send a quick text, afterall, the nurse that reprimanded me was looking on the internet at sexy halloween costumes with one of the scrub techs. I figured if they thought it was appropriate to do that, then I should be ok to take care of my business as long as it was done quickly and didn't take my attention away from the case, which it didn't at all. Of course the nurse I was with reported this to the educator that is over us right now, but she really didn't come down to hard, just reminded us all to keep cell phones out of the OR.

I have never used my cell phone before this time during a case. I have it on me, on vibrate, and if someone calls or texts I always wait until the case is over or when I take a break. If I think it may be urgent then I will step out of the room for a sec to take the call. I just made a spur of the moment decision that time, and I'm sure it could have waited, but I knew the office was closing and I needed my friend to wait at the office so I could talk to her. I really thought the nurse and the scrub tech looking at the halloween costumes on the internet was more inappropriate than what I did, I mean the Surgeon's eyes were bugging out of his head so he could get a look at some of them...LOL! I didn't report that to anyone, but I probably should have, but I didn't want it to seem like I was trying to make light of what I did. Well, lesson learned, won't happen again!

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Oct 22, 2008

You work in an OR and you used a cell phone IN the OR???????? Please tell me I misunderstood.

CABG patch kid, BSN, RN · Oct 22, 2008

A lot of people I work with carry their cell phones with them, but its mainly to text, they only talk on their phone during breaks.

Oh and I can't believe that no one mentioned "smart phones", phones that can be used to access the internet and also can utilize software for drug info, etc. Like if you come across a med you haven't given in a long time and want to look it up, you can just whip out the phone and get the info you need, just like a PDA. A lot of nurses have smart phones to have access to tons of information at their fingertips.

Of course, the same phone ettiquette applies. I would never dream of using my phone in front of a patient or carrying on a loud conversation right outside a patient's room (its so annoying when people do this, especially at night).