Patient's mobile phones in Psych units

1. do any of the psych units you work in allow patients to keep their mobile phones or does the unit have a policy that requires all phones to be handed over on admission and returned on discharge. thanks in anticipation MHN

   Last edit by MHN on Feb 7, '03

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2. 

   About MHN

   Joined: Feb '02; Posts: 118; Likes: 2
   MHN

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3. 
   Feb 7, '03

   No mobile phones allowed on my unit.
4. 
   Feb 7, '03

   None on mine either.
5. 
   Feb 9, '03

   negative on the digital phones here also, MHN.
6. 
   Feb 10, '03

   No phones no pagers
   The rationale is that one needs to focus on the treatment as it will be a relatively short stay.
7. 
   Feb 10, '03

   I had a patient we sent to Psych for eval.....He called me at the nurses station after 4 days..fron the unit..and told me he needed me to make transport for him to return...Told patient "Gee..usually social workers or nursing directly arrange this..how come he was calling me about his discharge?"He told me since he was his own responsible party..they told him to make his own ....told him to hold on..called unit on another line....No was not being discharged yet..but they could not confirm to me if he was a patient(PRIVACY)...I told them they might want to check out their floor just in case someone by this name was there..and that they were calling around...They told me it didnt matter..patients were allowed to use their own phones ad lib..only the community phone was monitored!!!!does this make sense????
8. 
   Feb 11, '03

   No it doesnt.
   
   One could argue that one client with a cell phone could violate the confidentiality of others "Hey Mom that guy that works at Safeway is here!...."
   Or very delusional folks repeatedly calling 911.
   Or the addict calling their connection and arranging to have contraband smuggled in.(I believe this is the primary reason the rules were originally implemented.)
   Or the victim of domestic violence calling the perp to start the cycle all over again.
   I'll bet ther are many other compelling reasons to keep phones off units. It is supposed to be safe place.
   My above post was the reason we gave to all the clients that protested having their phone placed in the safe. Ther is some legitamacy to this reason. too.
9. 
   Feb 11, '03

   Mobile phones are handed in on admission the interesting part is they reappear. That is some patient's ? have another or visitor's bring one in. It is diffcult to keep track sometimes. However
   staff need to keep to policy otherwise mobiles will become a negetive influnce for patients.
   
   Loray.
10. 
    Oct 31, '03

    No in most units I've worked in but...there was that one unlocked unit.
11. 
    Oct 31, '03

    No cell phones ANYWHERE in the hospitals here. Could you imagine the headaches if pts could keep there phones?
12. 
    Oct 31, '03

    here they are unofficially allowed in most psych units though general hosp rules are no phones. staff dont ask patients for their phones, they may ask them to turn them of but in general they are allowed as long as they dont ring loudly. gives patients a means to keep in touch with the outside world.
    
    yes there are confidentiality issues but a patient will tell visitors things when they visit too so do we ban visitors alltogether?
    
    photo phones are gonna be a different matter though.
13. 
    Nov 1, '03

    No cell phones & no pagers
14. 
    Nov 2, '03

    At the only remaining open psychoanalytic hospital in the country, patients are allowed to have TV's, phones, and computers in their rooms and you know what? None of them are homeless or on SSI/SSDI like the pts in other psych hospitals who are denied basic amenities like phones and TV's.

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