The annoyance of having to carry a wireless while on duty

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2003

I suggest that you leave it in the pocket of your scrubs - and toss it in the laundry - at the facility.

Either that or quit - you really don't want to work there \, do you.

P_RN, ADN, RN · Mar 28, 2003

For awhile we had these boxy thingies that fit on a belt and had a kinky cord that went up to a microphone you clipped on your shirt pocket. They all broke.

We then got cordless phones like you showed, they all broke and Best Buy stopped replacing them.

Then we got very expensive cell phones that for some reason had been "fixed" so as not to interfere with machines etc. They all got stolen.

Do you want fries with that?

unhealthyfries020904.html

cindyln · Mar 28, 2003

I like the idea of leaving it in the pocket of your scrubs to go thru the laundry. At my hospital we wear these tracking badges so they can hunt us down whenever they want to.

KC CHICK · Mar 28, 2003

We have them.

It took me a few times to train the secretaries and nurse aides NOT to blind transfer calls to my phone. THAT was a little irritating. Let's see..."I'm in a patient room and can't drop what I'm doing to talk to so-n-so's family right now. Put her/him on hold or I'll call her back.":rolleyes: It's gotten a lot better. They just call to let me know there's a call and I'll say...I'll be up there in a minute.

If my phone rings when I'm doin' something nasty in a patient room, I have the patient push the call button...or I will, and will tell whoever answers the call light that I'm busy and ask what they want. That's pretty easy.

Simply put...it is a convenient tool...especially if a patient is going bad or is becoming aggressive....help can be contacted immediately. (ie: security or code call - you can't do that with the call button in a patient room)

If you can't answer it...then don't. If it's an emergency, someone will find you. They did before phones, didn't they?

Tip: the phones aren't quite as heavy if you take the leather case off....if you have those.

Anne:nurse:

sjoe · Mar 28, 2003

So what is your union doing about it?

And why not?

(It used to be pagers--in the old days.)

oldgirl, RN · Mar 28, 2003

Had 'em, dumped'em. Too heavy , broke all the time, hated by the staff. Don't these hospital administrators ever talk to each other to find out what does and does not work before they spend big bucks on DUMB STUFF!?!?!?

askater11 · Mar 28, 2003

We had them at my last job.

I worked at a urban cardiac step-down unit. It was a fast paced unit with lots of post angioplasty patients. I actually liked the phones.

We had the phones on us at all times. But if we were busy we won't answer the phones...what would happen is the cordless would ring 3 or 4 times...if we didn't answer the cordless the caller would be re-directed to the desk phone.

When patients weren't doing well. I didn't have to run up to the desk...talk to the Dr. on the phone...and run back to the patient.

I don't know I really found the phones convenient.

Oh regarding stolen cell phones. Our phones didn't work outside of the hospital. But I can still see people walking out with them. ANd not returning. The present hospital I work at has beepers...and if you leave the building with the beeper...the pager beeps. (which is great...because I'm forgetful)

CCURN · Mar 28, 2003

Dont you just hate that phone call when you are in the middle of report........many many times I have just asked the HUC to take a message, and called back later......duh I have been with my patients.

One time I had this family member shout at me on the phone, asking me why I was so long to call back, and what was I doing with the patient for all that time, duhhhhhhhhhhhh

I was really p**********s off as you would expect........I work in a ICU, I dont really have all the time in the world to talk to families, obviously it is important, but when there are people calling every hour it seems then that gets stupid..........

Some families are really good at making a point person, so I tend to get them to call that person, or if they are in the waiting room, I have the call transfered.............

I guess we must remember that families dont know what we as nurses get up to during our day,,,,,,,,,,so they probably think we have all the time in the world, because when they come and visit, all they see is us sat at the computer..................I guess some people might think that we sit on our bums all day,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Just venting I suppose...................but families can just be really difficult sometimes,,,,,and the last thing on my mind is speaking on the phone when there family member is crashing...............

Unless of course I have to call them to come in........

adrienurse, LPN · Mar 28, 2003

Okay the real issue is nobody really consulted us before buying the phones. Our manager (who doesn't carry the phone and quite frankly is never around to see how much they suck) extolled the virtues of the phone to upper management once out pilot trial (sic) was over. I do not ever recall being asked for my opinion. They then went ahead and bought them for the whole facilty still thinking everything was hunky dory with the phones.

Now they are trying to guilt us into wearing them by telling us the sad story about how much they cost to buy yadda yadda yadda. Sorry, but I don't give a rats ass! It is not my fault that they didn't do any feasibility studies on the thing.

Our DON got downright abusive about the whole thing yesterday.

yodakelly · Mar 28, 2003

Ugh, what a pain. I work in an ICU, but on the stepdown that our patients go to when they leave us, they just got similar phones for the nurses to carry; they aren't for family phone calls, but rather for the monitor tech to call them! The monitors (and therefore the tech) got moved to another area of the same floor (further away), so now when they notice something, they call the nurses on the phone. too funny. the best part is that a nurse recently told me that she had noticed from the bedside monitor a rhythm change and was at the patients side, taking a bp, assessing, etc, when about 15 minutes later the montor tech calls and informs her to check the patient because they had just noticed a change in rhythm (at the central monitor). the nurse was like, "yes, thanks, i'm already on it." man, good thing they have that phone.

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2003

Does anyone see the potential for Hippa violations in this?