M9bile phone use in home hospice

[4boysmama]

Today my clinical mgr pulled a few of the field nurses aside to "remind" us that we are not supposed to share our phone 's with pts, ever. Problem is - we are not provided with work phones, so we all have to use our personal mobile phones (a practice that is unofficially condoned by our company, since they reimburse us $ each onto for personal mobile phone use) . So a pt calls office E, office relays msg to you - If you *67 to block # before calling a pt/family.... They never answer! (I admit, I'm guilty of this too, I don't answer blocked calls) Anyway, so you have to unblock to actually get them on the phone, and then they've got your #. Most of mine have been respectful and not abused having the number, still use office/on call for after hours etc. But apparently our corporate office wants zero pts having nurse #s.

So, how do your hospices deal with field staff and phones?my response was pretty much "if you don't want us using our own phones, then give us work phones. But we need to have reliable mobile methods of communication for pts and docs to talk to us!"

[caliotter3]

Phone use never was an issue with my hospice patients, however, each and every extended care home health family that I so trustingly shared my personal cell number with, abused the privilege, whether or not, they had assured me that they would not do so. Have never worked for a hospice/home health agency that reimbursed for personal cell phone use. If such were the case, I feel it would be upon me to refuse the stipend if I was not willing to freely use my personal number between the patient family and the employer.

[nutella, MSN, RN]

In my agency we used our own cell phone and got a monthly reimbursement. However, that lead to problems at times and I blocked my phone number 100%. The agency would tell people to accept blocked callers because that is how I would come up when calling. The problem were doctor's offices that often do not accept blocked calls.

My agency has given company cell phones to all field staff and now there is no problem in regard to giving out numbers plus we use the company phone to connect our computer to the server.

[nutella, MSN, RN]

In my agency we used our own cell phone and got a monthly reimbursement. However, that lead to problems at times and I blocked my phone number 100%. The agency would tell people to accept blocked callers because that is how I would come up when calling. The problem were doctor's offices that often do not accept blocked calls.

My agency has given company cell phones to all field staff and now there is no problem in regard to giving out numbers plus we use the company phone to connect our computer to the server.

[softrbreeze]

We have occasionally had a pt or PCG call our personal cell after hours. I have a voice message on my personal cell directing callers to call the after-hours number if after 5pm on weekdays or on weekends. I don't give my number out to all of my patients, just a special few so I haven't run into problems yet.

[BerryhappyRN, MSN, RN]

We have work mobile phones but are still reminded to block our numbers before we call patients. If a patient/family member does not take blocked calls I typically wait until I return to the office to call them. I stupidly provided my number ONE TIME and the caregiver began TEXTING me (even though I requested them not to) which eventually ended up with me telling the wrong family that their loved one had died. UGH what a mess. NEVER let them have your number, even if it means finding a pay phone, or delaying your call until you get to an office phone.

[knitnurse72]

All of our field staff at my company have iphones, and they have them set up so that whenever we make a call, our company's name comes up on caller id, not our personal name.

[pookyp, LPN]

All of our field staff at my company have iphones, and they have them set up so that whenever we make a call, our company's name comes up on caller id, not our personal name.

I was just gonna say this. We have iPhones too. I give that number out if I have to.

[4boysmama]

I came up with a creative solution that my clinical manager was happy with - I bought a cheap tracfone and 180 minutes/180 texts for $30 and 90 days of service. That's more than enough for my needs in communicating with patients. When I am working, I have the phone set to ring, and when I am not (overnight and weekends that I'm not on call) I have it forward to our on call manager phone, so that anyone who calls my # will always get a real person who is working at that time to help them. Worked great this weekend, a pt tried to call me and got the on call nurse :)

[HeavenlyRN]

Our company requires us to use our own cell phones. We receive a stipend of $60 per month. We were told in orientation not to give our phone number to families or facilities. I never do because once they have your number, there are no boundaries and people call you whenever they want to. I had problems when I took over my patients because the previous nurse gave out her cell phone number and also encouraged people to text her as well. Needless to say my families and facilities were not happy with me initially when I would not give out my number, but referred them to the main hospice number.

It's not that I am uncaring, I love my patients, but if you do not set boundaries, this job can consume you and you will find yourself working when you should be off.

[HeavenlyRN]

4boysmama thank you for sharing your solution. It is a great idea I will have to think about. Just not sure I want to carry 2 phones and have another bill ( even though $30 is extremely reasonable!)

[LindaRossmanWilliams]

We use our personal cell phones. We are reimbursed monthly. I don't answer if I don't recognize number. My voicemail says "this is linda the weekend on call nurse for xyz. Please call the office number at ............. to reach your case mar or the on call service. We've got to have a running tally of on call patient reauests/calls. This is the only efficient way for me to handle 130 pts/families