Question for nurses, doctors or other medical staff.

15 years ago

DH had to have a same day surgery procedure today and the nurses were wearing a tiny electronic item about 1-2 inches in size. He ask what was it and the nurse said it was to monitor all their activities. Where they went, how long they were with a patent, etc. She laughed and called it her GPS gadget. Not sure why they are doing this, but the staff doesn't seem too upset. I know in some offices and some hospitals it seems to the outsider there is alot of time wasted etc. But many times it is a stressful situation and sometimes the staff just needs a break--for a minute or so!

Question--have you ever worn something like it??

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Comments (5)

mary_c_gw
15 years ago
Well, I'm not on a medical staff, but 2 months ago when DH was in the hospital for 4 days, each staff member on each shift came in and wrote their personal hospital phone number on a white board in the room. These were hospital cell phones on an internal server, so it's possible there was a GPS component to it also.

So there was the his assigned nurse, the charge nurse (in charge of the unit), the nurse's assistant, the orderly, and the cafeteria. We mostly only needed the nurse assistant for help manuvering in and out of bed, but when they finally let him eat after 48 hours, boy, the cafeteria number was wonderful!

I don't know how this sort of system works in every hospital, but there were enough numbers, enough competent people, and enough caring to take care of us.
azzalea
15 years ago
Not a medical staff issue, but DH is a field bill collector for the local utility company. The computers they carry with them as they travel around from home to home have a gps feature. They are monitored every second of the day. They are NOT EVEN ALLOWED to stop home to use the bathroom, if it's necessary and their house is the closest place to where they're working. One guy got fired for doing exactly that--because they're constantly tracked.

On the up side, it is good that the bosses do keep tabs, because it's not unheard of for a disgruntled customer to physically attack or restrain a collector--so as a wife, there's a part of me that knows if my DH gets in trouble, it won't be long before someone realizes he's been at one stop too long and might need some help. Especially since the most violent city in the country is in his territory, and he spends a fair amount of time there.

It's becoming more common in all sorts of walks of life to have one's every action monitored, I'm afraid. It doesn't surprise me that this technology is being used in the medical community.
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Kathsgrdn
15 years ago
We have them and they're supposed to be used to see if we're in a patient's room so there are fewer over head pages (noise on the unit). Unfortunately, they don't use them like they're supposed to be used. I get a hundred freaking phone calls/and or overhead pages a day...like today. I can be in the room and they still call me or call out over the intercom when I don't answer my phone because I'm gowned and gloved in an isolation room. I was so happy when my phone battery died around 6 pm tonight.

What really annoys me the most is when you just left a patient's room after making sure they don't need anything and they call you back for something. You're busy with another patient and they expect you to drop everything and run back to their room NOW. If you can't go right NOW they call over and over and over again.

To make matters worse we are having to take groups of patients on a certain team now so that the doctors can round with us every morning...which they aren't doing. So, for the past few days I've had patients all over the unit, so we're running our @sses off even more than usual. My legs and back are killing me.

Sorry, I know that's more than you were asking.
Toni S
15 years ago
It was like that when I was nursing Kathleen, only we didn't have the computers or the GPS with us. It's really tough when several patients need help all at the same time. When I am a patient I am always willing to wait a while for a nurse. I know what they are going through! Sometimes I think the mobile calls are nice for the nurses, that is until the requests start piling up. I would hate being the units head nurse on a huge floor. They are major multitaskers! Having the computers in each room might save them some time, along with the bar scanners.
Kathsgrdn
15 years ago
Toni, we have computers with scanners but they are on carts we have to push from room to room. We're also not allowed to leave them out in the hallway, makes it a pain when you are trying to run and grab something, supplies or narcs and have your supervisor put your cart up. Although, since the assistance manager has had to work the floor the past few months that happens less now.

Question for nurses, doctors or other medical staff.

Comments (5)

mary_c_gw

azzalea

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