Comments on: Smartphones make Top 10 Health Tech Hazards List

By: My Lymphoma Journey

My Lymphoma Journey — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 07:21:13 +0000

[…] Smartphones make Top 10 Health Tech Hazards List | The Ethical Nag. […]

By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:27:10 +0000

In reply to Andrew.

Interesting you should ask: a number of them (nurses, mind you, not docs) came up to me after the talk and specifically thanked me for the reminder. We live in hope!

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By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:02:23 +0000

In reply to Carolyn Thomas.

I wonder how they reacted? Reminds me of one of the early scenes in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, when the surgeon, as he is closing the eyelid of the ‘locked in’ patient, talks about his ski weekend in St. Moritz!

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By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 18:55:37 +0000

In reply to Andrew.

“Problem is, in operating rooms, we are not awake to complain!”

Andrew, you are painfully correct! But even if we were awake, how many of us would have the temerity to raise a hand and request the doc/nurse to put away their phones?

I once spoke to a large audience of cardiology staff about women and heart attacks, and reminded them NOT to chat happily about their weekend plans, kids, politics, etc. over the bodies of the patients lying on the gurney beneath them as if we are merely pieces of meat on a slab – worse, INVISIBLE deaf pieces of meat on a slab! It’s about common courtesy.

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By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 18:51:29 +0000

In reply to Pager.

Sadly, I suspect you are 100% correct. Right now we have a number of older users who are not “digital natives” like younger health care workers are. They are our only hope in bringing common sense to the O.R.

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By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:01:29 +0000

Good piece. Dr. Ruth has the policy solution: just ban them in operating rooms and for other critical areas. May be harder to implement policy in other areas.

Problem is, in operating rooms, we are not awake to complain!

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By: Pager

Pager — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 05:24:37 +0000

Unless hospitals (and common sense) take over, prepare for healthcare providers to become even more distracted. We have an entire generation of kids who seem surgically attached to their mobile devices. Do we honestly expect that the same people who can’t take a short car ride or attend grandma’s funeral without being “connected” at all times, will be able to perform surgery that may take hours without their smartphones?

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By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 13:59:43 +0000

In reply to Dr. Ruth Simkin.

Hello Dr. Ruth – why indeed? Kelly’s comment above illustrates the sheer stupidity of surgeons taking personal calls in mid-procedure. Unbelievable!

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By: Dr. Ruth Simkin

Dr. Ruth Simkin — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 03:55:28 +0000

Why are phones even allowed in the ER? They should be banned. Always. It’s easy enough to set up a system where the surgeon can be reached in the OR without carrying a personal phone.

I think bringing a phone into the OR is disgusting, not to mention incredibly unhealthy.

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By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 14:32:25 +0000

In reply to Kelly.

He was “surprised”?!?! Are you KIDDING me? Isn’t there somebody you can report this guy to?

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By: Kelly

Kelly — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 14:15:40 +0000

A few weeks ago, I called a surgeon for an interview and he answered his cell phone – while he was mid-procedure. I was all kinds of horrified and suggested I call back when he wasn’t, you know, in the middle of SURGERY.

He was surprised but agreed. (Thankfully, when I called again, his nurse answered the phone and said he was busy. Ironically, I think he was busy in the lab, not with a patient.)

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