This was a new one on me and I thought I would throw it out there to the nurses and get your opinion. I was a patient today in an outpatient clinic. I was getting my vitals taken, and as the nurse was putting the blood pressure cuff on me, she pulled out her smart phone and said "wow, three text messages!" I said, "Oh, do you have a child emergency?" She said, "No, a friend with a job crisis," and then as the blood pressure machine was taking my blood pressure, she started reading through/responding to her texts. Then, when the machine was done with the reading, she realized she didn't have a pen to write down the vitals, so she took a picture of the machine readout with her phone (which I thought was...creative).
Now, as an employee of the facility at which she works, I know that it's against policy to carry around a personal phone and be seen texting while on company time. I personally would never dream of texting while walking around in the halls, but to whip out a phone and start texting while taking someone's vitals? That's just a whole 'nother level. I was completely at a loss for words. Am I the only one who finds that completely appallingly unprofessional, or is that just how it is nowadays? I brought this up at another message board (not nursing related) and another person said that as long as she knew what she was doing and practiced safely, it was all good. I'm of the opinion that I expect my care provider to practice safely AND be professional.
Beyond irritating to try to speak to a coworker and have them paying attention to their phone. Or to give report. I can't imagine what the patient was thinking when this was happening. I have said before--stopping in mid sentence--Oh, I see you have texts you need to deal with. Are they priority or should I finish my report to you?
And about texting work stuff between employees--privacy law violation--unless your phones are "encrypted" and for in house use only, this could get you in some hot water.
I'd be annoyed if a patient was texting while I was assessing them, and I'd be just as cranky if a nurse did the same. Her attention is supposed to be wholly on her patient.
Completely unacceptable and there is never a good enough reason to have your phone with you on the floor. If there is some kind of family emergency, they can contact you through your work number.
Full disclosure, she did not know I was a nurse or an employee there.
if she is doing it to you, then she is doing it to other patients. maybe you should email her and let her know she's busted and you are going to keep it between yourselves
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
So do nurses really text with each other for work purposes on their personal smart phones during work time? And that's work-sanctioned?
I know our hospital just sent out a big email about how text/SMS communication has gotten in trouble with HIPAA compliance issues, and a 5-physician group just got a huge fine because they were texting each other and using patient names in their texts.
The use of the patients name is the key here.
For What it is worth? I would report that employee immediately. No one can multitask that much....it has been proven that being distracted is more dangerous that being drunk.
If it was my employee I would have zero tolerance for texting in front of the patient or have a patient wait because they were texting. One very harsh warning and It happens again...you're fired.
One of my pet peeves is when someone continually texts in front of me. One message, i can understand, but the people that fire off an entire dialogue while also trying to interact with me - how rude! And i haven't even touched on the nursing aspect of this yet!
No - no texting in front of patients. The purpose of a text message is to relay something without disturbing the person with a call. Ignore the text and answer it later!
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Okay, next question - if you were in my shoes, would you report it? I'm not interested in getting the nurse in trouble, but point out a glaring hiccup in their patient care. This just shouldn't be happening. I don't even know what her name was, so if I did report it, it would be from the standpoint of "this happened on XYZ day..."
it is against policy in our hospital to be seen USING your cell unless you are in a break area. As for taking pics, that could be a HIPAA violation and is not worth the risk to me. People need to decide if they want a job or do they want to socialize. Cannot do both at the same time effectively. I do not want my caregiver that distracted!
I don't know if it's specifically sanctioned, but it happens, a LOT. I don't believe anything has gone through my phone that would be an issue though.
The hospice nurses are always ticking away at their blackberries- apparently the company has gone 'paperless', but they got blackberries instead of laptops. It drives them NUTS- they are always fussing about not being able to see.
Interesting - we are getting notebooks, not laptops, for our new hospice program. Better than Blackberries I suppose.
I like Tweety's advice and talk to the nurse first. And not in an accusatory way as that just makes folks defensive and they don't listen.
Locally, I don't think our surgery centers have techs/aides. When I had my colonoscopy, I had one nurse caring for me before and after. Same with my son's shoulder surgery. One of my friends works there and I've never seen a tech/aide but I'll have to ask her.
It doesn't matter if it was a nurse or tech though - still unprofessional.
jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B
9 Articles; 4,800 Posts
Beyond irritating to try to speak to a coworker and have them paying attention to their phone. Or to give report. I can't imagine what the patient was thinking when this was happening. I have said before--stopping in mid sentence--Oh, I see you have texts you need to deal with. Are they priority or should I finish my report to you?
And about texting work stuff between employees--privacy law violation--unless your phones are "encrypted" and for in house use only, this could get you in some hot water.