Nurse tracking devices

[PattonD]

How do you guys feel about wearing tracking devices on your person? Your location displays on a computer screen where you are at inside the hospital at all times.

Thanks

[WinksRN]

What happens if someone puts the device in one place while they go somewhere else, and maybe go somewhere else they really should not be because they have the TRACKING DEVISE as an alibi.

HMMMM:uhoh21:

[ZASHAGALKA, RN]

What happens if someone puts the device in one place while they go somewhere else, and maybe go somewhere else they really should not be because they have the TRACKING DEVISE as an alibi.

I mentioned this before. I have seen employees place their trackers in pt rooms while they went out to smoke. . .

Also, I have seen staff stand at the door and hold their trackers in a room just long enough for the system to 'track' that they answered a call bell, and then move right along. . .

Or, just leave your tracker in the room of the pt always on the call bell for long stretches of time. . .if the tracker automatically turns off the call bell when it notes staff in the room, it serves to short-circuit those calls. Some systems note a call button being pressed when staff is in the room as a higher order alarm (staff calling for help): that just serves to annoy those at the desk that have been turning that light off all shift to more promptly turn off that alarm.

Don't think only administrators can taint the data, if they wish. . .

~faith,

Timothy.

[ZASHAGALKA, RN]

There was an old thread here where somebody suggested attaching their tracker to a remote control car and zipping it in and out of pt rooms with amazing efficiency . . .

~faith

Timothy.

[giRNfl]

A hospital I used to work for had the tracking system. We called it the nurse lojack. Our only worked on our particular unit, but it did know when we were in the bathroom or such. Most of us did not like wearing them & would "forget" to put them on or leave them at the desk. The tracking device would also cancel the call light when one of us entered the room. They could track how long it took to respond to a call bell & who was in the room & how long. It did save one nurse's butt when a patient claimed that she hadn't been in the room all shift. The hospital backed her up after checking the logs. But I have no doubt they would've just as happily used the info against the nurse. We also had to carry around a phone at all times. THe phone could be very convenient but also a nuisance because invariably you would get calls when you were starting an IV, bathing a patient, were in the bathroom or otherwise had your hands full. One particularly crabby unit secretary would yell at us if we didn't answer the phone when she called. The hospital also tried to get us to sign something saying we were responsible for paying $800 for the phones if they became damaged or lost. We all refused. You're going to require us to carry the phones but if we accidentally break one we have to pay for it? I think not. There are many reasons I don't work for that hospital anymore. Can you tell how much I miss it? LOL

Virginia

[carlarn, BSN, RN]

ha ha ha dog collars, leashes. what else in the animal world can we liken this to? how about a bell on a cat? would i wear one of these? probably not. i can get into enough trouble being in the wrong place at the wrong time on my own.

[EmerNurse, BSN, RN]

Hmm.. if they made me wear one of these things, I'd have to give 'em something to track. All those missed or short breaks that I don't log for pay - you're paying me NOW, oh yes.

I like data.. I like Excel spreadsheets - I can make them say anything I want, too.

But it'd be too much work. If it's one thing I've learned, it's that fighting a half-orificed system is a worthless, demoralizing proposition. I now have just as much loyalty to you as you have to me. If they brought dog collars, lojacks, whatever, into my ER, I'd be saying Adios!

I'm a darn good ER nurse - either trust me to do my job or go bother someone else!

[marygirl]

Our hospital uses a walkie-talkie device called Vocera. It is helpful to locate someone, say if there is a condition call on the line and you don't have time to hunt down the nurse assigned the patient--you can just call him/her on Vocera and tell them they have a call. We also use it if someone is in the cafeteria and there is a question regarding their patient--easier to ask the nurse than try to figure it out. Ours can also take outside phone calls and dial out. One time I took a patient being discharged to a drug rehab to meet his cab and the cab didn't show up. I used my Vocera to dial the cab company and found out that the cab was at the wrong area of the hospital. If I didn't have a Vocera, I would have had to take the patient back upstairs to make the call.

I can also receive calls into the Vocera, but we do know we are being recorded. My hubby calls me on it sometimes--doesn't know the number of the unit where I'm working but can get me on Vocera to tell me something quick or ask about the schedule.

Ours does have a tracking device but it gives the floor as a general location, can't tell you exactly which patient room you're in. My dislike is not in being tracked because I am generally where I need to be for patient care. My dislike is in having one more item clipped to my shirt front.

[LeahJet, ASN, RN]

Sorry, I'm probably going to get flamed..... but the all the posters that are saying the tracking system is "handy" or "neat" or whatever.... is buying into what upper management wants you to.

It is for them to make more money.

BOTTOM LINE.

It is a way for them to justify short staffing.

Don't be naive enough to think that they are spending millions on things to be handy and neat for us.

Don't be a herd animal.

[rktele]

Our trackers turn off the call light as we enter the room, it's much easier than climbing over the bed to push the cancel button. We also use Vocera, like a walkie-talkie. It makes it easier when I have phone calls: the US calls me on Vocera, tells me I have a call, and can take a message for me if I'm in the middle of something with one of my patients. Ours do not work in the bathroom or break room, as far as I know.

[LeahJet, ASN, RN]

Our trackers turn off the call light as we enter the room, it's much easier than climbing over the bed to push the cancel button. We also use Vocera, like a walkie-talkie. It makes it easier when I have phone calls: the US calls me on Vocera, tells me I have a call, and can take a message for me if I'm in the middle of something with one of my patients. Ours do not work in the bathroom or break room, as far as I know.

mmhmm...so the hospital spent mega-bucks so you won't have to push a cancel button, make it easier for you to take calls, and take your messages?

The manufacturers of the tracking system have two campaigns going here.

One for the nurses to make us compliant. (all the neat stuff it can do..woohoo)

One for management to find a way to make nurses more "productive" and eventually having a reason to hire LESS nurses.

It monitors every thing you do...gathering data.... that will be used against us.

So again I ask everyone to step back and look at the big picture.

How many of you out there work with sub-standard equipment? How many of you truly get paid what we deserve?

Do you honestly think that the hospitals are going to spend all that money on something that makes life easier for us?

You can bet your sweet patootie it's about the $$$. THEIR money.

How will tracking us save the hospital money?

They will have "data" and "proof" that it will be safe to work with less staff. We will be racing around trying to beat times that the system says should be the standard. MORE PRODUCTION....LESS MONEY.... music to administration's ears.

Those that think this is a cool little device to locate people and make our lives easier are buying into what they want us to.

My ER is currently installing this system and it will go online soon.

I have some tough decisions to make.

[Mary Austin]

I encountered these tracking devices for the first time when I was floated to a med surg unit that was newly remodeled. The floor manager made us post 24 hour sheets in each patient room which were divided into hours and shifts. The instructions to each employee was that we had to sign our name to the sheet each time we made patient contact or was in that room in any given hour. What the manager was really doing, unbeknownst to staff, was comparing the written time in the room with the tracking device's log from the previous day. She had these handed in each day for an entire week. I suppose she wanted to see how honest her staff was each day, eh? Perhaps she was looking at productivity or what patient got the mostest from the hostess. Hard to say. Most eveyone followed the directions without asking questions of why we needed to sign a sheet in the room when we made contact. The staff, for the most part were good little followers. I agree with Timothy's reply. He hit the nail on the head with all he had to say about these devices. Heck no they are not spending money for us to find each other....they are going to give us more work to do. Is it any wonder why the US of A will be near a million nurses short in the near future? I know I am most definitely looking for a way out of the hospital by going back to school.

Oh yes, I did leave the "tracker" in a patient's room just for fun. The patient was sleeping...midnight shift. I love reading Timothy's posts. Putting a tracker on a speedy little remote car and weaving it in and out of patients' rooms really appeals to me. That is something I would do if I could!!!!!

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Incredible, excellent arguments Tweety. If admin had put some thought into writing a reasoned response they might have been worth respecting.

I worked in a hospital that used the system and intially I was opposed to it for all the reasons stated in this thread. When we got it, I loved it, though was still wary. They could definitely abuse the system, but it's a great tool when you are working the floor. I figured that if someone didn't like my work and bathroom habits I would be happy to move on anyway, so didn't care where they tracked me. The people that really minded being tracked left their badge at the nurses' station, and as far as I know were never disciplined.