Using phones as a sitter-thoughts?

Purple_roses · Jun 15, 2017

That's literally why I said: And I know that my opinion on cells phones is probably irrational.
And then went on to say that I love technology and even said that cell phones have a place in a professional environment, when used professionally.
Sometimes I wonder if people actually read posts, or just pick what they want out of them to criticize. :/

I feel like you took my post a lot more personally than I was intending for it to be written. I was speaking specifically about your hate for cell phones due to people using them in places like grocery lines...I wasn't aiming to make it seem like you have a grudge against all technology. My post was more aimed about acceptance of the usefulness of cell phones as nurses despite the fact that they have many other overused functions.

But honestly, how personally you took my last post makes me wonder about the truthfulness in you "not trying to pick on" my first post. After rereading our posts, I don't see how you gathered that I read one part of your post and found whatever I could to criticize you. I explained why I like cells phones in health care, why I think they're important; I even agreed with one of your points, and then I went on to explain why I personally used technology instead of doing "what millions of people did before cell phones."This is really just a benign thread about cell phone usage....there are juicer threads to battle on. (Kidding...I have no intention of starting a battle with anyone on any threads.)

AbstracRN, BSN, CNA, RN · Jun 15, 2017

I call B.S I do it all the time and I also take care of my patients. I do their peri-care and I take their vitals. The nurses and the techs love me when I sit. And I watch on my phone as the patient sleeps. Plenty of people have down time on the job including your supervisor. I would not say argue but, I would have said you are welcome to see if my patient is clean and dry. I would read my company's policy for sitters. If you are doing your job and keeping your patient safe it shouldn't be an issue, that supervisor sounds like a nit-picker. :bored:

DeeAngel · Jun 15, 2017

You need to find out the institutional policy regarding this matter, you are being paid to sit and watch, not play with your phone.

Flo., BSN, RN · Jun 15, 2017

I just had to do a shift as a sitter. It was brutally boring as the patient was sound asleep the whole time. I started off doing required education and once I finished that, yup the cell phone came out. I think I would have lost my mind, siting for hours looking at a sleeping person if it were not for the distractions. Obviosuly, if the patient is awake and active you need to be attentive. But when they are sound asleep there is room for some leeway.

Volley88 · Jun 16, 2017

As long as the patient is safe and you've attended to all their needs (within reason), you can do what ever you like in between charting and care.

martymoose, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2017

all I want to say is some of you as sitters got lucky to have sleeping patients. We cant even get sitters for the patients who desperatly need them ! No one would be bored with the patients we get needing sitters.

So I contribute to the actual question, anything done not work related is usually not policy. Evan had a gal written up for doing nursing homework...

klone, MSN, RN · Jun 16, 2017

As long as the patient is safe and you've attended to all their needs (within reason), you can do what ever you like in between charting and care.

Oh, are you the OP's manager?

JKL33 · Jun 16, 2017

In my opinion, work-related tasks are fine. Paperwork, reading, policy & procedure review, use of a laptop or tablet to do continuing education or on-line coursework, etc. Having a beverage and/or snack is fine too, if it is possible for the staff member to consume it without placing his/her own health at risk (a clean place to eat without threat of infection control issues.) I also believe it is imperative that the other staff members on the unit offer frequent breaks, or at least pop their heads in the room to check on the sitter. My sister and I were more than willing to cover for breaks, but hospital policy did not allow it, which I do understand. I guess my point is that the sitter is working and needs to conduct him/herself in a professional manner, despite being confined for long periods in a single room. Scrolling on one's phone is not considered professional in the patient-care setting, and I don't see this as an exception.
We had some wonderful sitters and some lousy ones, which undoubtedly is typical. The first 48 hours or so were difficult for our loved one who was experiencing delirium and trying to climb out of bed, pull out lines, etc. We were genuinely concerned for safety, fearing a fall. I am not a physically large person, nor do I have experience working with confused adults. There were times when I had to raise my voice to get the sitter's attention as my loved one was climbing over the bedrails and I couldn't keep her in bed myself. Once the sitter appeared to be sleeping. Once she was so engrossed in her phone that she didn't notice what was going on right in front of her, or was simply trying to ignore the situation and leave me to handle it. Hours passed without seeing a nurse, I think in large part because they assumed the sitter had the situation handled. When I requested a visit with the nursing supervisor at 0230, I was met with attitude. You asked what the "good sitters" did. In a word, they did their jobs. They interacted with our loved one. Talked calmly to her. Tried to distract her. Were on their feet when she was trying to get out of bed or trying to pull on lines. Spoke to us and offered their suggestions of how we could be helpful. Communicated with the staff when warranted to ask for additional assistance, evaluation by the nurse, etc. The sitters who worked really hard on our loved one's behalf were almost all agency staff. The ones who presented themselves poorly and did little other than take up space were hospital employees. It left us with the impression that "sitter" was a code for "night off with pay."
Perhaps this is a little too fresh in my mind for me to be objective. The care at this Big City Magnet Medical Center left much to be desired.
But old-fashioned as I may be, it seems that during an 8 hour shift (sitters were limited to 8 hours at this facility), it is not too much to ask a direct caregiver to keep his/her phone away from a patient's bedside.

Jolie, I typed a couple of replies yesterday but decided to let my thoughts settle out a little bit before posting.

Thank you for taking the time to write about your recent experience. I know stuff like this unfortunately goes on regularly, but still I am sincerely disappointed (sorry) that you and your loved one were recipients of such horrible care.

This topic compels me because I think it is a case of "we get what we ask for" - not you personally - allow me to explain:

We (that is to say, the "healthcare industry") treat(s) bedside caregivers terribly, generally speaking. These days, doing good solid work (or even excellent work) really earns the caregiver nothing to speak of in the way of trust or a reasonable amount of autonomy from the employer - and we already know it's not earning a lot of money, really, so workplace conditions are all the more important. I only became involved in this discussion because it bothers me on an ethical level. And it should bother all of us - because what we end up with is good people leaving as soon as they have the opportunity. To a large extent, good bedside caregivers (and that includes nurses, not just techs) are being supplied more and more by the revolving-door mechanism, rather than any viable attempts at retention. Another reason it should concern all of us is because it doesn't make sense ethically, emotionally, or intellectually to accept the idea that front-line caregivers who have tons of responsibility about things that really do matter for others' health, safety and well-being, should not expect that when they perform WELL, they will be treated accordingly! In simpler words, you/we can't treat people like crap day after day while at the same time expecting them to perform at the highest levels of excellence in all areas. Life simply does not work that way. Basic ethics should make this obvious.

"Sitting" is a very difficult job, and the particular scenario that the OP describes is not likely what applicants may imagine when they take a job doing direct patient care. Now you have a good bedside caregiver who finds herself in a situation that, by it's nature, is quite different than what most tech job descriptions would imply. She wants to do a good job and not accidentally doze off. She wants to be able to mentally tolerate this aspect of her job that is kind of a unique situation. One of the very first replies she received actually advised her to simply accept this situation in order to be a "good employee". I'm sorry but I find that to be an absolutely shameful implication that ONLY serves to maintain a status quo that should bother every single one of us. Being told to sit in the quiet dark and stare at a sleeping patient is a set-up for failure, even for an excellent bedside caregiver. Now WHY can't a profession full of people who want to provide excellent care to others, EVER rally to advocate true, real-time care and a modicum of respect for each other/ourselves???

There is no reason that the OP (and I mean strictly the OP's situation, not lazy techs, not people who ignore their duties, not situations where family interactions should be taking place etc., etc) should not have a little bit of leeway in keeping herself awake in the dead of night, in the dark, while her patient is well cared for and sleeping. NO ONE here has put forth a good reason against it. The only bottom-line halfway reasonable reason is because one should not be doing personal tasks while on the clock - - fine, but keep in mind that is a completely reductive argument that cycles us right back to "you/we get what you ask for". The way employees are treated will eventually determine what kind of employees sign up for that program for any length of time. I suspect that your recent observations bear out my theory.

HermioneG, BSN, RN · Jun 18, 2017

I have no opinion on the phone/no phone debate, but I just wanted to offer some thoughts from my own experiences.

I had a job for years that required me to sit for hours on end. Granted, it wasn't at night and I had lots of stimulation from other people, but I developed several ways to pass the hours.

The first one is one that I just started fairly recently, which is memorizing poetry. I currently have several poems by Yeats, Poe, and Dickinson memorized. I'm currently working on memorizing "When You Are Old" by WB Yeats. I know it sounds weird and random, but it helps the time move quickly for me and keeps me alert. Would you be able to sit with the curtain cracked just enough so that you can read things on a paper if they're written in enormous letters or something? It doesn't have to be poems either. It could be anything you're passionate about, such as names of fluorescent bacteria or the year that different states entered the Union. Whatever you want it to be, you just need to write out a list before you go in to work so it's in easy memorizable form.

Another one I've done is have mental debates in my head. I give myself 20 minutes to mentally argue a topic that I'm passionate about, and then 20 minutes after that rebuttal myself. It spends time, and I've also been able to figure out some pretty interesting things about myself and what I believe in. One time I even changed my own mind. It was actually pretty fun. The key though is to not let yourself stop your mental speech/argument until the 20 minutes is up (unless, obviously, you're needed). It can kind of turn into a giant filibuster.

I also spent an entire shift dreaming up what my own city would look like. This included location, weather, population, a university, jobs, laws, etc. The key to keep my brain stimulated is to mentally picture it and never let it change (so it's like you're drawing on paper in your mind). The trick is to see how much you can come up with and remember. Eventually you can even start to visualize this place in your mind.

I also think of my grandparent's house, and their town. I try and mentally "google earth" or street view from their front door to the grocery store. Then down to the church, or the local park. I try and remember all the sights and smells, and every tiny detail that I can as I mentally "walk" down the street. It's incredible what you can (or can't remember).

I've imagined myself and what my life would be like if I lived in a different country or century. What would my husband do for a job? Would we have kids? Would I still want to be a nurse? What were nurses even like back then?

I've also spent a lot of time thinking about philosophical things. You could keep a list of "things to ponder" with you. Things that, if you know where you stand, could make for an excellent lively debate with someone else sometime. People love it when you've put a lot of thought and heart into what you believe in.

Of course you still need to be alert and aware when you're off doing all this imagination, but if you're able to sit there quietly and have all this going on in your brain it can keep you entertained for quite some time. I'm able to do it and still stay 100% alert and on my toes, but it's also enough to keep me going through the slower moments.

Those are a few of the things that I can think of off the top of my head. I've actually never told anyone about this before (besides my husband, he always cracked up when I told him about some random thing I dreamed up) so it's kind of funny that I'm saying it now. I know it's unconventional, I just think that with technology a lot of people have lost their ability to imagine.

I know that it's not ideal, that most of us would prefer our phones, and that imagination takes work and can be tiring... but if you have no other way to pass the time, maybe you can give it a shot hahaha :)

TriciaJ, RN · Jun 18, 2017

I call B.S I do it all the time and I also take care of my patients. I do their peri-care and I take their vitals. The nurses and the techs love me when I sit. And I watch on my phone as the patient sleeps. Plenty of people have down time on the job including your supervisor. I would not say argue but, I would have said you are welcome to see if my patient is clean and dry. I would read my company's policy for sitters. If you are doing your job and keeping your patient safe it shouldn't be an issue, that supervisor sounds like a nit-picker.

I agree with this. I don't think it matters whether you use a phone or don't use a phone. The issue is staying awake, alert and attentive. If the phone helps you do that, great. If you can't be bothered to pay the slightest bit of attention to the patient, then it doesn't matter whether you distract yourself with a phone or policy manuals.

If you're doing your job and keeping your patient safe, no one should have an issue. If you're distracted by your phone, or fallen asleep because you have no phone then you aren't doing the job you're being paid to do.

TriciaJ, RN · Jun 18, 2017

I have no opinion on the phone/no phone debate, but I just wanted to offer some thoughts from my own experiences.
I had a job for years that required me to sit for hours on end. Granted, it wasn't at night and I had lots of stimulation from other people, but I developed several ways to pass the hours.
The first one is one that I just started fairly recently, which is memorizing poetry. I currently have several poems by Yeats, Poe, and Dickinson memorized. I'm currently working on memorizing "When You Are Old" by WB Yeats. I know it sounds weird and random, but it helps the time move quickly for me and keeps me alert. Would you be able to sit with the curtain cracked just enough so that you can read things on a paper if they're written in enormous letters or something? It doesn't have to be poems either. It could be anything you're passionate about, such as names of fluorescent bacteria or the year that different states entered the Union. Whatever you want it to be, you just need to write out a list before you go in to work so it's in easy memorizable form.
Another one I've done is have mental debates in my head. I give myself 20 minutes to mentally argue a topic that I'm passionate about, and then 20 minutes after that rebuttal myself. It spends time, and I've also been able to figure out some pretty interesting things about myself and what I believe in. One time I even changed my own mind. It was actually pretty fun. The key though is to not let yourself stop your mental speech/argument until the 20 minutes is up (unless, obviously, you're needed). It can kind of turn into a giant filibuster.
I also spent an entire shift dreaming up what my own city would look like. This included location, weather, population, a university, jobs, laws, etc. The key to keep my brain stimulated is to mentally picture it and never let it change (so it's like you're drawing on paper in your mind). The trick is to see how much you can come up with and remember. Eventually you can even start to visualize this place in your mind.
I also think of my grandparent's house, and their town. I try and mentally "google earth" or street view from their front door to the grocery store. Then down to the church, or the local park. I try and remember all the sights and smells, and every tiny detail that I can as I mentally "walk" down the street. It's incredible what you can (or can't remember).
I've imagined myself and what my life would be like if I lived in a different country or century. What would my husband do for a job? Would we have kids? Would I still want to be a nurse? What were nurses even like back then?
I've also spent a lot of time thinking about philosophical things. You could keep a list of "things to ponder" with you. Things that, if you know where you stand, could make for an excellent lively debate with someone else sometime. People love it when you've put a lot of thought and heart into what you believe in.
Of course you still need to be alert and aware when you're off doing all this imagination, but if you're able to sit there quietly and have all this going on in your brain it can keep you entertained for quite some time. I'm able to do it and still stay 100% alert and on my toes, but it's also enough to keep me going through the slower moments.
Those are a few of the things that I can think of off the top of my head. I've actually never told anyone about this before (besides my husband, he always cracked up when I told him about some random thing I dreamed up) so it's kind of funny that I'm saying it now. I know it's unconventional, I just think that with technology a lot of people have lost their ability to imagine.
I know that it's not ideal, that most of us would prefer our phones, and that imagination takes work and can be tiring... but if you have no other way to pass the time, maybe you can give it a shot hahaha :)

This is amazing. Those sound like great techniques for surviving a sitter job, a long bus trip or solitary confinement. I'm impressed.

Harveyslake · Jun 21, 2017

One can ignore current trends or embrace them. As nurse, I actually had my manager text me at work at ask me to do a double shift. I replied that as per hospital policy I could not respond to her text because I was not to have my phone on my person on duty. She laughed. I agreed to do the shift. Now, as a Hoise Supervisor, I often text people to come work extra shifts. It's all in the context in which the phone is used. Don't a abuse the priveledge and all should be well.