Dozens of nurses at Northern California hospital balk at wearing locators

BamaBound2bRN · Sep 28, 2005

IF you are able to gain acceptance to a nursing program and IF you are able to complete same you just might find that there are reasons for what you characterize as paranoid behavior.

Oh, I am so sorry, since I am only a "Pre-Nursing Student" and have a different opinion than you, I am obviously NOT as intelligent as you and probably won't succeed as a nurse. :angryfire Well, I will probably get warned or even banned from AllNurses, but frankly at this point who cares...................... :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Sep 28, 2005

Oh, I am so sorry, since I am only a "Pre-Nursing Student" and have a different opinion than you, I am obviously NOT as intelligent as you and probably won't succeed as a nurse. :angryfire Well, I will probably get warned or even banned from AllNurses, but frankly at this point who cares...................... :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

Don't be silly, BB, he wasn't commenting on your intelligence or your capabilities. He was merely suggesting that you might see things a little differently after you're actually working as a nurse.

As far as the warning or banning goes, I'm sure you're intelligent enough to figure out how to say what you want to say without offending anyone. If you can't, you truly might rethink your career decision. Nurses have to say a lot of things and do a lot of things that are done for the sake of political correctness on the job, whereas here, the TOS are more in line with common courtesy and respect for one another.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Sep 28, 2005

PS My hospital uses cell phones to communicate with everyone. IMO, locators do nothing for the nurses or the patients. If I have a patient crashing, I can at least alert the other nurses, my charge, and my AOD by placing a call.

If management started using locators, I'd have to put up with it. After all, it's just a job. The hospital will be there long after I've moved on to a better place, and they have a great track record for mucking up patient care when they start impinging on the nurse's duties.

Because if you look at history, this has all been done before, with disastrous results.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Sep 28, 2005

from 2001 ana article:

[color=#3366cc]

[color=#3366cc]tool or weapon? nurses talk about being 'tracked'

http://www.nursingworld.org/tan/01marapr/tracked.htm

loved this key point from joy roberts, msn, rn:

"it devalues nurses because it implies that they are not doing their work. physicians would never tolerate it."

imho: if a tracking system is installed all employees should wear it from engineering, security, housekeeping, respiratory, nurses,inhouse physician's and management.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Sep 28, 2005

Thanks for the article, Karen. I found it very interesting.

For the nurses who preferred the locator system, I was left wondering why they simply didn't prefer to call other nurses directly from their cell phone, or why, if disrupting the quiet was an issue, they could not simply put the cell phone on vibrate, rather than have a third party (notifying two people now) call into the room on the overhead (making more noise than a vibrating phone)?

But like I said, I work for them, not the other way around. I'm not in a unionized state, and I don't make management decisions, no matter how costly or ineffective those might prove to be.

I would hope, however, that if management insists on having a locator on nurses, that an experienced floor nurse would interpret the data to them. They simply have never believed what we do in the course of a shift, and this is once again, another fruitless effort to try to cut nursing staff, IMO.

I'm certainly not worried about lacking work when they once again create a nursing shortage based on mythical results from the latest management cost-cutting fad.

BamaBound2bRN · Sep 28, 2005

Thank you NRSKaren- that was a very insightful article. I have drawn my conclusion that some people love the idea and some can't stand the idea. I also believe, that not IF, but WHEN I complete my schooling and get into the hospital, that the idea would be a welcomed tool that I would gladly wear.

teeituptom, BSN, RN · Sep 29, 2005

I just think its funny someone reactivated this old thread from way back

USA987, MSN, RN, NP · Sep 29, 2005

I, too, have first hand experience with these locators. I have to say, Zash is right on!

Believe it or not, they even referred to your "stats" on your evaluation. Very interesting I thought for a device that was advertised to me when I started at the facility as a "personal safety device".

One of my closest coworkers was actually written up for "spending too much time in some pts. rooms"s!!!!

Needless to say, I didn't work there for too long. :uhoh21:

ZASHAGALKA, RN · Sep 29, 2005

I just think its funny someone reactivated this old thread from way back

I rebumped it.

In the intervening 3 yrs, these things have quietly infiltrated 25% of hospitals.

Where are our Professional Organizations standing up for Nurses? Where is the ANA on this? Where is Amer Assoc of Critical Care Nurses?

This is the most anti-nurse thing to come down the pike since the concept of flexing up/down staff to ensure that nurses are always at their peak ratios.

It is so anti patient advocate. It is such a demeaning device. IS IT NO WONDER NURSES ARE LEAVING THE BEDSIDE IN DROVES. I love working at the bedside, but I will not wear a dog collar. The day is coming when this overtakes all of us. That day will be my last at the bedside.

~faith,

Timothy.

geekgolightly, BSN, RN · Sep 29, 2005

I have not read all 12 or so pages of this thread, but have any of you considered that a cell phone issued to each nurse at the beginning of each shift would be much more efficient as well as protecting the rights pf patients as well as it does not dehumanize the nurses?

\

We used this system at my hospital in Houston and I loved it. I would NEVER wear a tracking device. I am not a prisoner. I am not a dog. But a cell phone is very handy.

geekgolightly, BSN, RN · Sep 29, 2005

PS My hospital uses cell phones to communicate with everyone. IMO, locators do nothing for the nurses or the patients. If I have a patient crashing, I can at least alert the other nurses, my charge, and my AOD by placing a call.
If management started using locators, I'd have to put up with it. After all, it's just a job. The hospital will be there long after I've moved on to a better place, and they have a great track record for mucking up patient care when they start impinging on the nurse's duties.
Because if you look at history, this has all been done before, with disastrous results.

I see it has been brought up: the use of cell phones. It's a great systema dn I miss using it. I wish my current employer would use this system.

Nancy2 · Oct 4, 2005

I have not read all 12 or so pages of this thread, but have any of you considered that a cell phone issued to each nurse at the beginning of each shift would be much more efficient as well as protecting the rights pf patients as well as it does not dehumanize the nurses?
\
We used this system at my hospital in Houston and I loved it. I would NEVER wear a tracking device. I am not a prisoner. I am not a dog. But a cell phone is very handy.

We used cell phones at the last hospital i worked for, and the nurses kept losing them, or taking them out of the protective cases and then would drop them (of course an accident) but this got very expensive. They started to charge a deposit to the staff and there was such backlash from this that they did away with the system. In theory it is a great system, but in practice it can be prohibitive.