To tell my boss she can't look through my pockets?

[ScaryBoss]

I'm a nurse in the nhs.

New boss is randomly stopping people and demanding to see their nails to make sure they're clean and not too long. Checking earrings, socks, etc conform to uniform policy. I can kind of cope with this though do slightly resent it.

But also asking you to empty your pockets to make sure you don't have a mobile phone in your pocket? Can she do this? A police officer couldn't without a warrent?

There's nothing in the uniform policy saying you can't have your phone in your pocket. Obv taking it out and answering calls or texting would be very unprofessional. However a lot of staff have their phone in their pocket on silent incase a school or childminder need to contact us. So we'd feel it vibrate and go and check it when possible after doing what we're doing.

We can't give a ward/land line number to schools, etc as we are often moved to different wards without notice so don't know where we are from one day to another.

I think your boss is being unreasonable and I'm mildly bemused by all the pearl clutching going on around here about the very thought of a medical professional having a gasp phone. I'm sure a trained professional is capable of doing their job even with a phone in their pocket. They don't send out invisible rays to kill the brain.

I've been around medical professionals with phones - a doctor in A&E who managed to check his phone, put it down and then sew my finger back on and a bunch of psych nurses when I was in hospital recently. I somehow survived.

Unfortunately owlborn the culture in the NHS is that doctors do what they like and nurses do what they're told.

Also infection control is getting stricter because the penalties for not reducing the incidence of hospital related infections are high.

I don't think many people on this thread have much insight into the difficulties of contacting a specific member of staff in a busy hospital can be like. Hospital switchboards are inundated with calls and don't have time to ring from ward to ward to find a member of staff, nor are managers or senior staff likely to be easily available.
OP, I would suggest speaking to HR. Ask them to help find a mutually acceptable solution to this.

What did ppl do before mobiles? Women stayed at home and didn't work.

Of course women went to work before mobile phones were in mass use. Mobiles only became affordable enough for most people to have one (and want one) in the 1990's and lots of women were out working long long before then.
Children even went to school and women went out to work before most people hand landlines at home. Schools used to keep children in the nurses room / sick room until home time if they couldn't contact anybody when a child seemed unwell.

who are all these people who are being contacted in an emergency all the time?

my girls are 12 and 13 and the school has never had to contact me, or my DH, or the 2 other emergency contacts on the list.

maybe we are just lucky, but I have never had to contact anyone in an emergency either. (well, I called an ambulance once for my neighbour, but I was not at work and used the house phone.)

Yes, you're lucky. Glad you acknowledge that.

*What did people do before mobiles?"

Who cares? They're here, lets have a sensible approach to their use and how we can get the best of them for everyone. Not trot out "well we never used to have mobile phones, empty your pockets"

Of course schools used to have their own school nurse (in the 80's) with a sick bay! Now, if you want to contact the school nurse at my childrens school you have a 1 hour window on a Monday morning or get this - you can contact her on a mobile!

Oh and lucky you shopgirl - long may your luck continue.

have you asked the union about it yet?

As suggested earlier, I would just keep the phone in my bra. I did this when I was working in a job which meant moving locations during the day and not being allowed a phone. Underwired and padded bras work the best in this situation and it's easier to smuggle a phone if you are a D+ cup size

Check your contract. None of my jobs allowed phones on your person. My one job you were checked for jewelery and both jobs you could be asked to turn out your pockets, bags or lockers at any time. My first job was retail and it was frequently. I don't remember it ever being in my contract either.