Student nurse using phone during procedure

The harm: that the student nurse is there to learn, and if they're looking at their phone not at what the qualified nurse is doing with the patient, they aren't paying attention and learning properly?

It's not that it affects the child having their blood taken right then. It's that this nurse could then be not clear enough on that procedure when they have to perform it in future on another child. That's why they shouldn't be looking at their phone.

It’s still protocol to decontaminate hands before and after patient contact. That’s the most basic principle of infection control.

Not talking about the infection risk.

I don’t think anyone is stupid. They’re just saying this rule is not universal. I’ve worked on children’s wards and in maternity and never come across this rule.

God aren't you clever. Well, look it up later when the child isn't there.

Children have been abused and photographed by workers . That is why mobiles are not permitted in any job I have ever worked in whilst I am directly working with that child. It protects the child AND the worker. Are you that stupid ?

I can’t remember the last time I saw a paper copy of the BNF. The app is on my phone.

That's not what the nurse said on here. She said there's no protocols and the phones 'live in our pockets' and I assume it's just their normal phone too.

thats the phone of the average person, not a phone used as a medical device on a ward where it will be alcohol wiped frequently.

even if there is bacteria on it a nurse should decontaminate her hands before and after patient contact so there would be no risk to the patient because the nurses hands would be clean.

???
So the phone travels between the users hands and their pockets. What's the problem?

@Rainbows41

Not if the nurse disinfects the phone - which she/he would be doing regularly if they are using it as a piece of medical equipment. They also wash and sanitise their hands around 200 times a day, so I highly doubt their phone would have many if any germs at all.

@user793847984375948 there are none. They live in our pockets.

honestly some people are living in the dark ages! phones are widely used in hospitals. They get cleaned. They're no more filthy than the wheels of the beds/trolleys/bleeps (which it will astonish people, but we do take to the bathroom with us) and probably worst of all, the bottoms of the bags people bring in themselves. We don't rub our phones on people and we clean our hands/wear gloves. They're a really important source of information that save enormous amounts of time and prevent stuff-ups on a regular basis. They're also an almost universal means by which we communicate with each other, including important operational updates. Eventually the NHS workforce will catch on that we're being royally screwed by using our personal phones for work and that the Trusts should be providing us with work phones or contributing to our bills! (it's vanishingly unlikely that clinical staff will have either..) Also worth noting that while phones are vital at work, their overuse is one of the most toxic things about working in the NHS - it's almost impossible to have a day off or holiday because of the invasion of work onto our personal devices and the non-stop stream of chatter and the expectation that we'll reply to messages when we're not at work.

Was your child well looked after by the staff on the ward?
Did they do everything they could for him/her, ie round the clock medications, observations, chasing test results?
I'm not sure if you realise, but nurses and patients aren't 1:1. They will usually have a list of other patients to care for - all with very different needs.
If you answered yes, then I'd think about why you would be feeling put out merely by a student nurse looking at her phone for a quick second.
Student nurse's are not allowed to use their phones in the patient's bed space. Thank being said, they are permitted this look up patient guidelines and information to do with medications.

Doesn't sound quite right to me IF it was her own phone. Especially being on a children's ward.

It is worth noting though that some trusts have staff using work phones for obs etc. don't know if that's the case here or not but it's just an iPhone and they all have one. Might not be the case here though if she's hurriedly put it away when she saw you looking

What are the hygiene measures around this?

Phone screens are some of the most contaminated surfaces we have. Aren't they carrying more bacteria than a toilet seat? BNF should be on hand as hard copy, and wards have PCs to look stuff up.

She could have been looking something up. Last time my DH was in hospital the nurses had to Google something about their care re his intervention.

Our ward staff use iPods to note observations in an app (not suggesting this nurse was doing that but don’t freak out if you see nurse on what looks like a phone). Senior nurses will also have mobiles - we have a WhatsApp group where we share urgent operational updates.

Phones are often used to log observations in hospital: this is fairly common

Well perhaps she could write it on a small notepad ? How did nurses manage without phones in the dark days before mobile phones, pray tell?

That’s a ridiculous comment. How did we manage before modern anaesthetics, or 1001 surgical techniques, let’s just go back to ‘times before’🙄. Sure, let’s all pretend there is no electronic medium available.

I’d think it’s likely inappropriate. The bigger question is why you are so invested in this. Did you think she was filming it? If not, inappropriate but meh, no effect on the child from the sound of it.

Since when?

Source? Medical staff use phones for their work, including working with children. What is your source that says a phone should not be out in front of patients? How are they supposed to record things?