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Care Opinion

Phones

Posted By outflowtn34

"Phones"

About: Busselton Health Campus

(as a relative),

Sitting in the waiting room, eagerly waiting for my partner I was so surprised to see so many nurses, doctors and other staff with their heads seemingly so into their phones that they were bumping in each other, the doors and just missing hitting a patient.

Where’s the duty of care, actually, where’s the social distancing? I believe mobile phones are a distraction, should they be in the place where we need people really focused? I love the job nurses do, but, in my opinion, maybe it’s time to leave the phones at home.

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Responses

Response from Caroline Booker, Clinical Nurse Manager, Busselton Health Campus, WACHS South West 2 years ago
Caroline Booker
Clinical Nurse Manager, Busselton Health Campus,
WACHS South West

Submitted on 15/11/2021 at 2:07 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 2:21 PM

Dear outflowtn34,

Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. I really appreciate you taking the time to write to us.

We do not condone the use of mobile phones accessed whilst at work for personal use. The staff do use many medical apps to look up drug dosages and other medical items and this is supported. I will follow up with the staff on duty on Sunday and also the rest of the team.

I am very interested in talking to you further to discuss your concerns and encourage you to contact me by phone.

My work phone number is 9753 6061.

Thanks again for your notification of this issue.

Kind Regards

Caroline Booker

Clinical Nurse Manager

Emergency Department

Busselton Health Campus

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by outflowtn34 (a relative)

Good morning Caroline,

Thanks for your response. Again, I feel that no matter what they're looking at, it's a safety issue to walk with your head buried in a phone. So if they are accessing information on their app and are walking, scrolling up and down, texting etc.... I believe that's a lot going on within themselves in an environment that has older people that can't see, children running around etc etc. I feel that people in public spaces need to pay attention to the people in it.

In my opinion, there's no excuse- if you need to look up something, stop, go to your desk, sit in a chair, don't be walking around bumping into people- I think showing some professionalism is needed.

Response from Jodie Omodei, Operations Manager, Coastal, WACHS South West 2 years ago
Jodie Omodei
Operations Manager, Coastal,
WACHS South West

Submitted on 16/11/2021 at 6:16 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 17/11/2021 at 3:28 PM

Dear outflowtn34,

Thank you for taking the time to post on Care Opinion.

The challenge of managing the invasion and intrusion of mobile devices in general society is not something Busselton Hospital has been able to avoid. Reasonable use of mobile devices is permitted and we accept that there may be benefits or, depending on roles, an expectation to be contactable and connected during a shift. All staff are guided by policy around Acceptable Use of Information and Communications Technology Policy.

However, patient, visitor and staff safety is a priority and I agree that walking around whilst texting or reading on your phone is not appropriate and potentially hazardous.

As a result of your feedback all staff have been contacted and reminded about the acceptable use of mobile phones whilst at work in clinical and public areas.

I appreciate you taking the time to post and highlighting an example of mobile device usage that we do not consider acceptable at Busselton Hospital.

Kind Regards

Jodie Omodei

A/Operations Manager

WACHS-SW Coastal

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