no cell phones no personal phone calls at work

just wanted your opinion on this... my friend who just graduated from nursing school just started a job where he cannot get personal phone calls or cannot bring his cell phone into the unit.. they are worried about pictures being taken ectra with the cell phone.. he has 6 kids and his wife has MS .. they told him if they catch him with a cell phone on the unit it is a write up .. it is a psych unit.. i understand the facility worries.. but to cut you off of all communication from family seems to much .. they told him they wrote up 2 nurses last week for bringing their cell phones in .. you cannot even use them on your break .. that is where they caught the nurses to write them up.. they also warned him they have cameras and voice recording all over the unit and will catch them if they are not on target with their job ... is this excessive control over a nurse about cell phones and personal calls for a psych unit.... seems like it to me... they use the cameras to see if the nurse really does her job and what she says besides the safety of the staff and patients...

what do you think ?? thank you in advance !! Last edit by ohmeowzer RN on Aug 14, '10
i'm just a nursing student but i do work for the U.S> Dept of Ed and we have some of the same regulations your cell phone cant be see or heard while on the floor...but you can leave the floor on your breaks to use it just not in the facility...but to say that someone can't use it at all is ridiculous. He should at least be able to go in to the cafe or break area or something to use it.

Quote from Mesha913i'm just a nursing student but i do work for the U.S> Dept of Ed and we have some of the same regulations your cell phone cant be see or heard while on the floor...but you can leave the floor on your breaks to use it just not in the facility...but to say that someone can't use it at all is ridiculous. He should at least be able to go in to the cafe or break area or something to use it.

I don't know all i can think is that they just want the nurse to give 100% of there attention to the patients which i can understand, or maybe some special equiment that can't be interefreed with by cell phone waves, but they might need to be a little more understanding of their staff as well especially in situations like your friends. I hoe someting works out for him.

In case of an Emergency(ONLY) family should be allowed to call the workplace.

thats what i'm saying whats if something goes wrong with the wife thats has MS or one of the 6 kids, then what???

Quote from ohmeowzer RNi understand the facility worries.. but to cut you off of all communication from family seems to much

Quote from Mesha913thats what i'm saying whats if something goes wrong with the wife thats has MS or one of the 6 kids, then what???

It's ridiculous that you cannot use the phone on break. That seems counter to labor laws.

Quote from SummitAPIt's ridiculous that you cannot use the phone on break. That seems counter to labor laws.

Quote from Intern67brrrrrringggg...."Sacred Smattering of Hope Psychiatric Facility, this is Nurse Ratched, how may I help you?""My husband, Mr. Wonderful, is a nurse there and we have a family emergency, could you please get a hold of him?""Absolutely, Mrs. Wonderful, we will find him and if he is unavailable, we will have him call you right away."Something like that, I suppose.

As others have said, if his family needs to reach him in an emergency the unit must have a phone line. He is probably playing the price for others bad behavior. I have a coworker who checks, if not uses, her personal cell frequently during work. Her grown children also call the nurses station frequently. It is ridiculous and, yes, we have complained.

Food for thought.You are required in most states BY LAW to have a 30 minute NON-PAID break. During this time you have full right as you ARE NOT ON THE CLOCK to do whatever you please. As long as your patients are being watched and you're available if absolutely needed, they are NOT allowed to tell you what you can and cannot do on your break. As long as your break activity is not breaking local, state, or federal laws, they cannot touch you.Also, FWIW if this is a floor or unit specific "rule", unless this was told to you prior to accepting the position or was in writing, this is not an enforceable rule in many places. They can get you on insubordination, but more than likely this would be thrown out if taken to HR. If I were a nurse that was being isolated in a locked psych unit for 12+ hours at a time, you better be d**n skippy I'm going to have SOME form of communication with the outside world, if for nothing else than to dial 911 when your local security staff members refuse to help you with a patient that is a danger to workers, other patients, or him/herself. Believe me from experience this HAS happened, and thus they can go suck a gobstopper up a straw manually for all I care.WITH THAT BEING SAID ... USING YOUR CELL PHONE WHILE ON THE CLOCK, ON PATIENT CARE, AND ON DUTY IN MOST PLACES WILL GET YOU AT MINIMUM A ONE STEP DISCIPLINE.