texting at work

DARLA766, BSN, RN · Dec 7, 2009

Some of us seem to think it is ok to text at work if there is free time, but what if it were your business...would you like to pay someone to text? No. There is always something constructive you can be doing at work besides texting. What are you texting that cant wait? Unless, you are waiting for the text that the match for your kidney transplant has arrived there is no reason to text.

Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN · Dec 7, 2009

We used to have some evening staff who would watch TV during their "free time". Management caught on to this. The manager stayed late a couple of nights to work on the budget and noticed this. Looked at her budget - 5 nurses X 1 hour = 5 hours of nursing time.

Evening staff was cut by 1 staff. No more free time.

questionsforall · Dec 8, 2009

We used to have some evening staff who would watch TV during their "free time". Management caught on to this. The manager stayed late a couple of nights to work on the budget and noticed this. Looked at her budget - 5 nurses X 1 hour = 5 hours of nursing time.
Evening staff was cut by 1 staff. No more free time.

A few people abusing free time can lead to there being not a minute to breath.

Disco_Superfly · Dec 8, 2009

I will continue to carry my cell phone wherever I and whenever I choose until someone ruins it for everyone else. Not for my amusement or entertainment, but based upon general principle: My family doesn't have my work number. If an emergency should arise, they can leave a message on my phone. (I rarely have it on my person and certainly not in pt's rooms)

The argument about the cell phones is starting to become less about the phones themselves but how nurses spend the time they are supposed to be 'nursing'. Every night there are as many as 3 lines tied up at once with mindless jabbering to someone by the staff... totally non-work related.

I try as much as possible to overlook certain behaviours, but sometimes it gets really difficult. If we complain about it, then our own rights (those of us would like to protect our rights to carry our cell phones) would be curtailed.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: If people would only use these things judiciously and operate with a little common sense, we would all be better off.

rngolfer53 · Dec 8, 2009

I'm in nursing school. The texting annoys me only slightly less than the students using their laptops to "take notes" who area actually using them to shop or update their facebook pages during class. First, it's a distraction to the rest of us and, second, you may as well stay home and save your gas money if you really don't need to listen to lecture.

Aghhh, caught me.

I used my laptop to take notes, and most of my textbooks were on there as well.

There were a couple instructors whose lectures were famously non-informative, and I did surf, etc. But, I sat in the back during this lecture. Makes all the difference. :jester:

If the class mentioned wasn't in the middle of the day, I would have stayed home.

tabbysrn · Dec 8, 2009

I'm sorry if you couldn't make it through the shift without texting, but much sorrier for your patients and co-workers. I turn my cell phone off while I'm on the floor, and use it to check voice mail, text, whatever, during breaks. If I don't have time for a break, I sure as #@$% don't have time to text!

Hooray for everybody who's been backing up "questionsforall!"

allnurses Guide · Dec 8, 2009

JPride2011;4009078]Your reply clearly illustrates your misunderstanding that I have no problem doing what I feel like doing in my free time as long as patient care is not lowered. I didn't take offense to this, it just seems that all these people are attacking the younger generation for admitting to texting.
My job doesn't have downtime protocols in place.

Is a "downtime protocol" something real, or just jargon-y shorthand? I don't see this as older attacking younger. There are quite a few responses in here from 20-somethings that sound just as irritated by the texting habits of their co-workers. This is getting micro- analyzed to the point of ridiculousness. Not by you, Pride. You are very lucky to work someplace that has an abundance of staff like that. I see your point about the grandkid discussions and the coupon clipping, etc.

I think what us critics are visualising is a clueless individual standing in the hallway texting with their boyfriend or BFF and ignoring work around them as co-workers bust their butts taking up the slack. You are obviously not like that, relax!!

Eaglelady · Dec 8, 2009

"The argument about the cell phones is starting to become less about the phones themselves but how nurses spend the time they are supposed to be 'nursing'. Every night there are as many as 3 lines tied up at once with mindless jabbering to someone by the staff... totally non-work related.

I try as much as possible to overlook certain behaviours, but sometimes it gets really difficult. If we complain about it, then our own rights (those of us would like to protect our rights to carry our cell phones) would be curtailed.I've said it before and I'll say it again: If people would only use these things judiciously and operate with a little common sense, we would all be better off. "

The whole purpose of this WAS about nurses who text at work and just like any other complaint we nurses have we should have a right to complain here on this board but unfortunately it will not change and even if they do change the rules someone will not adhere to them there will always those at work who do not obey no matter what

caffeineRx · Dec 8, 2009

If I couldn't text at work I could not survive the shift

Please tell me you were only joking. And please tell me that the people who gave this

poster kudos were also joking. I'm in my mid-20s and comments like these make people

wonder what's wrong with our generation.

I personally find it annoying and appalling.It's absolutely sickening and ridiculous to the..

hmm....4,567th degree! Everyone I KNOW even interrupts talking to you for a text or some

stupid social network "update".

DARLA766, BSN, RN · Dec 9, 2009

you are right. If something is a family emergency they can get a hold of you at work. For many milleniums people survived without texting.

DARLA766, BSN, RN · Dec 9, 2009

originally posted by ohboy123

if i couldn't text at work i could not survive the shift

please tell me you were only joking. and please tell me that the people who gave this

poster kudos were also joking. i'm in my mid-20s and comments like these make people

wonder what's wrong with our generation.

i personally find it annoying and appalling.it's absolutely sickening and ridiculous to the..

hmm....4,567th degree! everyone i know even interrupts talking to you for a text or some

stupid social network "update".

i wish i could put a thousand kudos for your post !

Emergency RN · Jan 17, 2010

Your reply clearly illustrates your misunderstanding that I have no problem doing what I feel like doing in my free time as long as patient care is not lowered. I didn't take offense to this, it just seems that all these people are attacking the younger generation for admitting to texting. My job doesn't have downtime protocols in place. Our rules are no phones in use in patient rooms or hallways. Nursing station is allowed. I refuse to be a drone and stare at another employee for hours if all of my tasks are done. Just as well as people take issue with the phones I could take issue with the nurses who do their RN/MSN work at the desk, or tell story after story about their grandkids that I don't want to here or participate in. Working in an ER I wouldn't expect you to have time to text, but if a nurse has one patient, should they go into the room and offer to rub their patients legs (at 3 am) just because they finally get to sit down and take a break? If I started playing farmland on the computer, or shopping on HSN.com or qvc.com like the older employees, would you approve then? How about clipping coupons? Or should I start smoking so I can go outside and smoke and text at the same time while a baby experiences a variable decel after variable decel (sorry I work in L&D). I don't mean to be rude, but in the winter when we have 9 nurses splitting 17 assignments where some nurse might not have patients for half of a shift what would you do? We have surgical techs to stock, nurse extenders and PCAs to assist in triage and stock and those aren't even 3 hour jobs, let alone 8 hour jobs, what would you have the rest of your staff do? Clean? We have environmental services for that.

I have seen people text in an OR. That bothers me. I have seen people transport patients into a room while talking on the phone. That bothers me.

Sorry for not getting back, but I just saw your response, LOL... My original point still stands. When you talk about "I have no problem..." or "I feel like doing..." and whatever; what I'm getting is, your insistence that the decision making authority in all of this rests with you. Well, if you own the hospital and write your own paychecks; then yes, you're right. If not, then none of it is really up to you, is it? If your employer came in and instructed you to sit in corner all night reading the policy and procedure manual; well then, will you refuse?

Further, telling a judge that you should be excused for larceny because murderers abound is not any sort of real defense. Sure, other nurses will lie, steal, cheat, kill patients, or are planning to amass weapons of mass destruction, etc. But none of that has anything to do with whether you can text on your employer's dime or not. That is, you're using a red herring argument to distract from the issue of your texting.

Source: http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/red-herring.html

Frankly, I don't see why your employer doesn't rethink their staffing levels if so many people are sitting around doing things that have nothing to do with what they're being paid for.