Or let me put it this way. CELL PHONES AT WORK! They can create a huge distraction in a dental office. I have actually seen a hygiene patient answer his cell phone as the hapless hygienist was about to proceed with his prophy, talk for 20 minutes while shooing the hygienist away as she beseeched him to hang up, and then fully expect to have his appointment continue. When he was done, of course. When I explained that we would have to reschedule he was incensed. He couldn't believe it. It didn't matter that he inconvenienced the hygienist and that we would have inconvenienced our next, and hopefully more considerate, patient. Oh, well.
It's not just patients though. Sometimes staff can get out of line with the darn things. Our staff is so dedicated to patient care that I don't even have to say anything about this, they use their common sense and make calls on their own time. Thanks, ladies. But, I hear about it all the time. Staff members going up the hall with buzzing, humming pockets. Assistants peeking at text messages with one hand and suctioning with the other. The heck with infection control, huh?
I, personally, would resent the intrusion into my concentration. I think the interruption into the workday takes us away from a different aspect of our lives and holds us hostage to those who think nothing of butting in to our professional life. I have to wonder how much respect they have for what we do for a living. How much respect do you have for your work if you will let yourself be so distracted from what you are doing? Maybe you need to find new ways to stimulate your interest in your career. It may just be about prioritizing. It's easy to get caught up in the soap opera of the minute to minute details of friend's lives. Maybe you think you'll miss something or don't want to be left out. Take control of your time and have respect for your employer and patients. As I related a few weeks ago from personal experience; you are telling your patient they are not important when you talk on your cell phone when you should be caring for them. Period. No doubt about it. Is that the message you want to give them?
Employers, how do you handle cell phone usage at work? Employees, what do you think is reasonable? I started thinking about this after reading Ellen Weber's article here. If you leave an answer for me, copy it and pop on over to her site and paste it there. We're both curious about this.
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