FAMILY PLAN The OR team at Spivey Station Surgery Center shows off their properly protected phones in disposable single-use bags.

PHONE ETIQUETTE 10 Tips for Cell Phone Use in the OR

Everyone has a cell phone. They keep staff and surgeons connected to the outside world, which is fine — except when their focus should be on patient care. Here’s how to ensure phones are used properly in and around the ORs.

1. Surgeons can’t ask staff to help them make or receive calls.
2. To avoid signal interference, cell phones should not be within 3 feet of surgical, anesthesia and monitoring equipment.
3. Engage only in urgent or emergent outside communication, minimize personal and routine calls, and keep calls as brief as possible.
4. To minimize use of cell phones, forward incoming calls to desks in the pre-op or PACU areas or to hardwired phones in the OR.
5. Silence ring tones and employ an inaudible signal. Enable a distinct signal for urgent calls via a “page” option available on most phones (callers should use this function only if the phone is unanswered).
6. No unauthorized texting, surfing or game-playing.
7. Avoid sensitive communication near awake or sedated patients.
8. The use of cellular devices to take and transmit photographs should be governed by your HIPAA policy on photography of patients and by government regulations pertaining to patient privacy and confidentiality.
9. Place all personal phones in single-use bags (see photo). Staff dispose of the bags after each case.
10. Communication using hardwired phones is subject to the same discipline as cellular technology.

— Vangie Dennis, RN, BSN, CNOR, CMLSO