Should Staff At Nursing Homes Be Banned From Having Cell Phones With Cameras?

[chase4myheart]

After reading and listening to the news about staff taking nude photos of residents at Waddell Nursing Home in Galax Virginia, I am sickened by the thought of how anyone could do something like this. Two staff members (CNA's) took nude photos of residents without their knowledge. Police are unsure yet if the photos actually made it on the internet. As a nurse, I am wondering how do I protect my residents from this where I work? At least 99.9% of the staff where I work have cell phones with cameras on them, and how easy would it be for someone to snap a picture without the nurse or supervisor's knowledge. Our policy is that cell phones are to be turned off or placed on vibrate while in the building, but I think that I'll just suggest that cell phones not be allowed in the building. If there is an emergency, staff can be contacted by the facility phone. I just can't stand the idea of my resident's being violated in this manner. Anyone else have any feelings on this?

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

There is simply, NO REASON for ANY staff member at a hospital or otherwise, to carry a cell phone.

I am sick and tired of the "I've got kids!" excuse..I have children..I don't carry my cell phone at work. My family has my work number. I am no more than 15 feet away from that phone all day. The school has it as well.

Patient care doesn't deserve to be interrupted for any reason other than a life-or-death emergency.

[ShayRN]

Well, I for one think that cell phones have no place at work. It is a very big pet peeve of mine to see someone looking at their cell phone or checking messages while on the floor. So I guess, yes. I think cell phones should not be allowed while at work. There is really no need for it.

[MedSurgeMess]

Where I was employed at before entering the field of nursing, cell phones weren't allowed due to risks of blue prints and designs being photographed and copied. If you were found with a cell phone on the premises, you were fired. Are you saying that residents rights and privacy are less important than that? Also, the sad fact is that a lot of people can't be trusted. Just food for thought. Anyone else have any opinions?

This is a commonplace practice in the manufacturing world. I think that anyone working in direct patient care should not be allowed to carry a cell phone on their person while on the clock. Leave it in the purse/locker/car/at home or whatever suits you. To many also spend too much time texting, or on personal calls. It really torques me off at work, and gives the whole crew a bad name--many patients families complain that "all of the nurses were sitting around playing with their cell phones"

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

To quote my husband, though, those who took the pictures "should be duct taped to a tree, smeared with honey, and the bears should be let out" AND their pictures should be taken then and posted on the internet!!

LMAO! :chuckle ... Thank you for the comic relief on an otherwise serious matter ...

I am sick and tired of the "I've got kids!" excuse..I have children..I don't carry my cell phone at work. My family has my work number. I am no more than 15 feet away from that phone all day. The school has it as well.

I totally agree with you! I am taking A&P2 right now (still a pre-nursing student) and the student next to me is constantly texting during the labs. During a break I asked her why she needs to always be on the cell, and she gave the "kids" excuse -- but I hardly think she's texting with her 1-year-old or his elderly caretaker who probably does not have a cell phone anyway! I say: the world was just fine when we were kids and cell phones did not exist! There was always an emergency # or some landline # to reach my parents. I turned out OK without cell phones, why do people feel it's a necessity now? I say stick to the work numbers!

As for banning cell phones, that's over the top because you will always have people sneaking them in. Also, the MAJORITY of cell phones now have cameras in them, along with video capability even -- and the number will only go up. Cell phones have become so ingrained in our lives it's like taking away computers from the workplace. I am for enforcing rules about consequences for those who break them. I have no problem seeing rulebreakers get fired ASAP. They need to realize that in these economic times unemployed people qualified to replace them are a dime a dozen and they better be on their best behavior if they want to keep a job these days!

[Plagueis]

As much as I hate seeing people who are supposed to be working using cellphones, I don't see how employers are going to be able to ban them from workplaces. Are they going to force people to empty their pockets and bags when they clock in to work?

However, I do believe in policies that state that healthcare workers should not be on them while passing meds, doing patient care, etc., but employers need to enforce the rules they already have against cellphone usage while performing job duties. It is appalling to me to see nurses texting and talking on cells while on a med pass, or CNAs talking on cells while feeding residents, for instance, and there is no justifiable reason for doing so.

[littlebitark]

CNA's also took pictures of residents sleeping in a nursing home in Mountain Home Arkansas

[azhiker96, BSN, RN]

I've worked in several different industries. I've seen this approach before, flogging everybody for the actions of a very few. I think that's done when management doesn't have the will or skill to punish those who transgress. For example, working for one company they decided that some folks might look at dirty pictures on the internet. So they blocked the internet. The problem was solved except it created more problems. We had also used the internet to research information/suppliers for parts to keep our equipment running. To me, a better solution would have been to put out a warning that anyone caught looking at dirty pictures would be fired, then follow through if someone is caught.

For the nursing home example, would they also ban cell phones with cameras for the residents, family members? Maybe have them leave their phones at the door when they enter? After all, anyone could take compromising pictures.

I do agree there is way too much texting and personal calls on cell phones in my area. I'm paid to be there for the patients, not to text my friends/family. To me, it's a professionalism issue. A nurse busy texting does not look professional to me.

[keithjones]

this whole issue is akin to the gun issue(concealed carry). those who will misuse them have no regard for the law and will do it anyway and you violate the rights of the innocent by banning them! Also, my generation and younger are likely carrying a phone, camera, planner, alarm clock, drug and nursing reference, email, text messenger, internet portal, etc. all in a single device. you do away with one and you lose them all. there is nothing better than texting a MD at the bedside and getting a response within a couple of minutes!

[azhiker96, BSN, RN]

True, just make it clear that anyone who uses their phone to take inappropriate photos will be fired, reported to the board, and prosecuted for violating the pt's privacy. In other words, the photographer needs to ask themselves if it's worth their job and possibly license/certification.

[SunnyAndrsn]

Well, I for one think that cell phones have no place at work. It is a very big pet peeve of mine to see someone looking at their cell phone or checking messages while on the floor. So I guess, yes. I think cell phones should not be allowed while at work. There is really no need for it.

I agree, cell phones should not be on while at work. But, I don't think banning the actual phone from the workplace is the answer.

I carry my phone in with me, turn it off and put it in my bag. I turn it back on again during my breaks (punched out) and when I leave the building.

While I'm in a small town, I've done clinicals--including my preceptorship--at large metro hospitals. Leaving late at night, walking through dark parking garages, my phone was in my hand and I was dialing my husband. Call me paranoid...but when you have had the experience of searching fields looking for your neighbor and a classmate you get a little paranoid. The neighbor's body was found, the classmate's was never found.

Late at night these things go through a person's mind. My current work places are in safe areas, one in basically a residential neighborhood, the other a very small town. Still, I'm walking to my car after dark in one case. My phone will not remain in the car during work. Period.

It WILL remain off and with my personal belongings. I do agree that staff do not need it on there person, and that the "I have kids excuse" is BS.

[pinksugar]

I cannot imagine why anyone would want to look at naked photos of nursing home residents. Really. I really can't.

I think that someone that is sick enough to want to do something like this will find a way to do it, no matter what. That being said, I too get irritated when people are using their cell phones on the floor at work. It is just so unprofessional. I feel ashamed when I am in charge and I have to pick up my charge phone when I am in a patient's room. I couldn't imagine people taking personal calls on a cell phone in a patient's room, but I have actually seen that with my own eyes as well.

[Trishalishus, PhD, CNS]

Judging from the comments so far, I wonder if any of you has actually been to investigate this story. For example

this organisation appears to be leading the charge:

And charge it is! They are like hounds after the foxes. The whole thing is being pumped up beyond all reason - including this headline

Family members of Waddell Nursing & Rehab Center want answers

is followed by an interview by the intrepid reporter "on your side" with one unrelated resident's wife, who says only "I am concerned and I would like for us to find out what is going on," and "My mother-in-law was here before and they were really good to her."

And while you're checking out the provenance of this beat-up in small town USAmerica, check out the posted comments, too, everyone baying for blood.

What I want to know is why people like to get so hysterical with pompous rage about other peoples' mistakes (check these two women out - neither of them is a "monster" - neither of them has a lawyer either - hmmmm ... funny that.) I find myself feeling very sorry indeed for them.

Save me from the people who leap to judgement with such busy sanctimonious rectitude.... isn't there something about judging not lest ye be judged in USAmerica's holiest book?