mobile phones now allowed on hospital wards

[naswm]

I cant believe this - what is the world coming to?

There is nothing worse than trying to rest on a hospital ward while someone is chatting loudly on their mobile phone!

apparently been allowed in Scotland for a while...

TBH Naswm, the few times I have been in hospital lately, there is constant chat on the personal by the bed phones anyway. Cant see a mobile would be worse.

But agree, the constant chatter was a pita when trying to sleep.

end of rip off patient line

I agree re the patient line thing, but the ringing cannot be a good idea, surely?

more policing for the nurses....

thank f*ck!

i used mine all the time in there, anyhow.

never had the money to afford that rip-off PatientLine.

and since when are hospital wards quiet?

i've not been on a one where you could get a decent kip without ear plugs.

I think Patientline went bust - the company was taken over by BT or something, IIRC. There is some justice in the world!

When I had DS the MW said to save my money and use my mobile.

lol expat!

I never said that I didnt use mine while I was in there hehehehehe In fact I havbe developed quite a knack of texting under the bedclothes and keeping a stright face so the nurses can pretend they didnt know what I was doing lol! (All while in with the DSs though, not as a patient lol!)

I havent believed the whole 'interferring with equipment' thing as most nurses have their mobiles in their pockets

I do think that it will be a problem telling friends and relatives not to use them, most people are pretty good though

I used to be a student nurse. The doctors use them in the theatres so it really is nonsense that they interfer with the quipment. They want to stop them ringing at all hours and disturbing the other patients.

Def can interfere with equipment in ICU and Radiology but on general wards should be fine., But it is the intereference from the ringing etc that concerns me and the necessary policing from the staff too

just minutes after I'd delivered DS3's placenta and had been stiched up I was on my own, I used the opportunity to reach into my bag and get my mobile out to text a friend that I knew exH wouldn't realise I want to be told about him being born.

The MW came back in when I was clutching the phone and just carried on as if she'd seen nothing

There was no patient phone for me to use as I didn't actually get to the ward I was still in the delivery room.

I worked in a radiology/nuclear med unit once and it was in the basement and we couldn't get mobile reception, anyhow.

Used to fuck me right off because none of my boyfriends could ring and I couldn't text them to cement my nefarious plans at work.

rofl expat!!! u a radiographer?!

I'm a student radiologist. We've only been told not to have them in the MRI because of the magnet.

No, I was the transcriber.

I'd just split from my ex h, though, and I made sure to have fun after work was over .

def agree re magnets etc - although woudl prob damage teh phone more than the mri lol

and rofl expact!!!

I was in a gynae ward and nurses told me I could use my mobile, same as when I was in A&E.

I know that it is a bit of an urban myth that mobiles interfere with hospital equipment, but I must have been brainwashed because I still have this feeling that if I even enter a hospital foyer with a mobile phone switched on, then all the life support machines will fail and the scanners will go fuzzy.

DG i would say that 95% of the nursing staff in the ITU where I work have mobile phones in their posckets, so dont lose any sleep Im sure all the patients will be fine

The intense magnetic field generated by the MRI unit would most likely wipe your 'phone's memory, but your 'phone won't damage the MRI!

I had no problems using my 'phone when I had ds, but I was thoughtful enough to keep it on quiet mode most of the time, and switching it off at night.
Unlike the silly cow in the bed opposite

i phoned my parents after giving birth and the midwife said it was fine as long as i didn't make it too obvious. most hospitals (in scotland anyway) are fine about it.

some older mobile phones used to interfere with some hospital equipment and unless you worked there you were unlikely to know what was on the other side of the wall.

Now it's pretty much fine although there is still a theoretical risk in ITU/HDU. Mainly though it is a real pain. I've had patients in a 10min GP appointment answer their phone and make me wait and then go over their time! Unfortunately not everyone has the good manners of the average Mumsnetter and recognises that there is a time and a place for loud chatting and annoyign ringtones.