O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 7
How do you keep staff from texting, tweeting, gaming or facebooking
in the OR?
• Drop-off basket. Place a basket by the time clock for staff to store
their phones when they check in. "When they clock out for lunch, they
can pick up their phones and return them to the basket after lunch,"
says Ms. Walker, who's considering the idea.
• Create a charging station. Place a few charging cables for Apple
and Android devices in the locker room so staff can power up their
devices while they're in the OR. "This could be the visual reminder staff
need to keep phones out of patient-care areas," says Kathy Spencer,
BSN, RN, clinical director of the Horizon Eye Care Laser & Eye Surgery
Center in Margate, N.J.
• Enforce your policy. Give your cell-phone policy some teeth. Have
every staff member read and initial your policy that bans cell phones
from patient-care areas. "If they are found carrying a cell phone, they
will be disciplined," says Robin Erwin, RN, administrator of the Faith
Regional Surgery Center in Norfolk, Neb. If you'd like help drafting a cell
phone policy, download the Princeton (N.J.) Endoscopy Center's at out-
patientsurgery.net/forms. "We even had staff texting each other while
they're in the same room," says Carroll Harrell, RN, CAPA, director of the
endo center. "It's a huge problem."
— Dan O'Connor
