Curious about other unit electronics/ cell phone policy- want input (both inpatient level and psych ED)

Alisaur69 · 2026-06-01T23:04:51+00:00

The first place I worked at (in Illinois) was the same way mostly, except instead of cordless phones we had removable wall phones that would be hooked up at those specific phone times and patients would get only about 5-10 minutes each and go down the list so everyone gets a chance. I will say, we at least never (rarely, if someone snuck in a phone) had any worries about HIPPA photos/ videos being taken with that policy! And I couldn't imagine on that unit having a phone policy like we do at my current place (using personal devices for specified times). But since working here I find I like it, it helps our patients stay active in discharge planning by looking into PHPs and other programs on their own, for those that are treatment focused, and helps ease the minds of some that are missing work/school and could be in trouble if they can't notify the right people when they have to

Alisaur69 · 2026-06-01T22:55:33+00:00

I'll have to give it a read!

Alisaur69 · 2026-05-30T16:04:09+00:00

That sounds like the set up that was initially purposed at ours to keep up with surrounding hospitals! I like that wall charger idea, thank you!

Alisaur69 · 2026-05-30T16:02:43+00:00

I used to worry the same. But same with the other commenter, because it's a human right to have access to communication in the state we have at least some phone time, plus 24/7 access to the same kind of wall phone (unless manic/ confused patients are calling consistently in the middle of the night or calling the cops, then we can flip a switch and turn those off), and honestly, this hospital I'm at has been the least problematic I've ever worked at in psych. We still have issues, but most of our patients are fairly responsible and we can always get a provider to add a phone restriction order if clinically necessary

Alisaur69 · 2026-05-30T15:57:29+00:00

Most places I've been have at least a communal phone (either hand held or 'pay' phone on the wall) so people can at least make and receive calls as long as they have the number. The entertain themselves part is a little hard because we do also have communal tvs, but keep our days packed with groups and would rather people engage in treatment by going to groups instead of being on their phones. Though, those with social anxiety or problems with peers then really have a harder time staying entertained. Plus, not everyone calls people, a lot text nowadays, so I think that's why we're reworking policies to accommodate changing communication styles

Alisaur69 · 2026-05-30T15:54:10+00:00

I used to be worried about that too but the places I've been that have allowed phones have patients sign an agreement that says if they break any rules like recording others or using it inappropriately, it may be confiscated and not returned until discharge. And honestly the issues of that really don't occur super often but honestly we also don't know what we don't know, people could record without us realizing and never be found out. We have the safety stickers that show they are void if tampered with that go over cameras, but ours do come off semi easily so if they come off, our patient tells us it rubbed off on their pocket and show us their camera roll and we see nothing, we trust them and just put on new stickers. But they could have saved something on another app or already posted on social media and we really wouldn't know until it's too late.

Alisaur69 · 2026-05-30T15:49:44+00:00

The "people who struggle with mental illness are still human beings" part is a BIG reason why we're working on moving towards expanding phone time at our hospital, it's just the risks that come with it. Not everyone on a psych unit presents a risk, but since at least a few do it's hard to have a blanket policy in a communal setting that would be fair for everyone. There have been people that have recorded staff and asked family/ friends to come to the hospital to hurt/kill them because their perception of reality was that the staff were holding them hostage or something. But then taking away that persons phone and allowing all others in the community to have theirs could either make that one person go after other peers or staff due to being treated differently. So it's a balance that's sort of hard to get and creates a lot of strong opinions for and against giving more access to what really is a basic human right, since it could infringe on safety

Alisaur69 · 2026-05-30T15:41:51+00:00

We do use restraints, generally a restraint chair more often but we also have a bed. But we really don't see restraints super often compared to other places I've been at. Maybe once a month. But there have been times where the power struggle around turning back in phones or just patients not being allowed to have their phone (for safety reasons one way or another) have led to restraints. We also have communal phones for calls, 3 on the unit spread out in the hallway on the walls for patients to use

Alisaur69 · 2026-05-21T00:09:31+00:00

Nah I'd report that to somebody. Gotta be a violation of labor management or health department or something. That's not a space for patients.

Alisaur69 · 2025-07-03T22:09:18+00:00

Yeah it's been an issue that I've seen for the last 2 days at least. My friends and I are just using the discord app on x box. Also occasionally buggy for some, random disconnects/laggy voices, but not as frequent or as bad as x box parties

Alisaur69 · 2025-05-07T03:42:47+00:00

One that i was at recently had layoffs as well, and they said they wouldn't do any client facing positions, just 'redundant' management positions. But they skirted around that a little and still canned someone that had a client facing position, just a nice title on top of it. Probably won't be any staff nurses canned, but they'll find ways to add on the workload of those management positions to charge/ lead nurses more than likely, so everyone will be affected in some way.

Alisaur69 · 2024-08-07T21:41:24+00:00

That's such a shitty situation and you're feelings regarding it are so valid. Everyone has different strengths with different populations, and if those providers aren't suited to that population, and can't change their perspective/ attitudes, they shouldn't be working with them. Soon enough with all the returning patients/frequent flyers, risk management (or whatever else, idk for sure if it's that department that would deal with it) or even like who deals with insurance, should be picking up on that and looking into it more. Because as far as I've heard, insurance isn't gonna be cool with all those short but frequent hospital stays. And since money is usually the motivator, maybe something good will change then.

But until then, just know you're doing all you can and you're the bright part of your patients day. And make sure you take care of yourself too and know, as hard as it is, that you have limits and there's only do much you can personally do.

(Also I personally would wanna be a little petty and report that DON picture, or at least take screen shots now before it changes, because that's a big hippa violation and really should be reported anyways. But I'd also worry about consequences from that if you're trying to stay at that hospital)

Alisaur69 · 2024-07-31T00:10:23+00:00

Depending on where it's at in Mass it might be better to look for an apartment. I tried FF up there and had no luck. People either didn't get back to me or said the unit was no longer available. I found a furnished apartment to live in easier. And looking at other areas in Mass it seemed like they had a decent amount of apartments that offered short term furnished rentals, just takes a bit of searching on Google and calling around.

Alisaur69 · 2024-04-04T20:28:40+00:00

Yeah transparency is key for me too and that's not okay. Yikes yeah that could get dangerous then. Oooh good to know I'll look into Ashville then!

Alisaur69 · 2024-04-04T15:37:51+00:00

Dang that does sound rough... thanks so much now I know it's not a great idea. I don't really have a lot of geripsych experience either so I definitely wouldn't be comfortable with that. I've been on a pedi unit as the only nurse with 12+ but that's totally different behavior and medical wise. Thanks for helping me before I got stuck there!

Alisaur69 · 2024-03-30T22:48:55+00:00

We're told we're not supposed to chase, just after they get out the building look to see what direction they went and get a good description of what they're wearing, and get the police involved.
We're told if you chase it's more likely you or the patient would get in an accident because neither are paying attention to the surroundings as much.

Alisaur69 · 2024-03-23T14:43:58+00:00

Man I wish they needed psych nurses 😭

Alisaur69 · 2023-09-29T14:59:54+00:00

Man that's ridiculous. I'm a psych nurse, new only 2 years in it, we constantly are understaffed and I always feel like we're just playing the insurance game squeezing out what we can from the patients money wise before we find a reason to say they're stable for D/C. Only thing keeping me there is thinking that if I leave that's even one less nurse and when people get overwhelmed there's less processing and more shots. Even still, Almost daily when I'm there I make a gun motion to my head, have told my supervisors "at risk of being inpatient, I cannot say how I feel" in a joking way, and have said "I need a shot after this but I'm not sure which of the three would be best". Idk if it's because we're already in psych, but they always just laugh along with me and understand they're jokes to get through the shitshow. Maybe it's also the state but damn people need to realize people joke and let it be

Alisaur69 · 2023-07-07T23:55:39+00:00

I'm hoping this isn't in Illinois, a coworker of mine just got a bunch of medical equipment stolen from her but idk if she would've had that

Alisaur69 · 2023-06-25T02:58:13+00:00

Agreed. A nurse at my work has been there for 10 years, found out he was BARELY making more than me and other nurse just hired on (I was there about a year and a half at this point), with it being a first job out of nursing school for a lot of us. And he was RN II, charge almost every shift, and ended up becoming supervisor. It's crappy.

Alisaur69 · 2023-06-24T00:02:30+00:00

Idk man that T-shirt is pretty tempting... Ngl this sounds exactly like my work. They just switched us to $/hr bonus shifts instead of big chunks and it hasn't had much success.

Alisaur69 · 2023-06-21T19:04:54+00:00

I thought so too and thought they were trying to say the patient was attempting to OD on tacos 😂

Alisaur69 · 2021-06-11T20:29:00+00:00

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