'It is impossible to ban nurses from using mobile phones' - GRNMA

The Greater Accra Regional Chairman, Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Mr. Prince Opuni Frimpong, has explained why it is impossible to ban nurses from using mobile phones while on duty.

According to him, the nurses have been trained and made to understand that they cannot use mobile phones for their personal stuff while on duty, so it will be difficult to see a nurse or midwife do so.

Some residents in the Ejisu Municipality have appealed to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to consider banning the use of mobile phones by nurses during working hours.

According to them, this will cause nurses to pay close attention while on duty and will also help save the lives of patients who require critical care and attention, particularly in emergencies.

The residents appealed during the annual health performance review meeting organised by the municipal directorate of the GHS at Ejisu.

They cited several instances of nurses on duty playing games on their phones while patients who needed critical attention were left unattended.

The residents claim that the attitude has resulted in the loss of many lives in the area and has prevented many people from accessing healthcare in the municipality’s government hospitals.

Speaking on Atinka TV's morning show, Mr. Prince Opuni Frimpong noted that the hospital is using a paperless system and the nurses have to enter details of patients on provided devices, usually tablets, so that the doctors can also have information about the patients.

However, he said the devices may not be enough for every nurse and doctor at the hospital, and so some of them use their own mobile phones to enter data into their system.

Mr. Prince Opuni Frimpong also said that at times, the nurses enter their work done on their phones so that the doctor or the next person who takes over can also have access to information.

For those who use their mobile phones for personal use, he described an instance where he got a call about an accident his child had at school and was called to come over but had to be on the phone to alert his family about it for someone to go to his child’s school because he was also taking care of patients, stating that in such instances, the nurse cannot be faulted for being on his or her phone.

“Health workers are aware that they are not supposed to be WhatsApping, TikToking, or Facebooking when they have to attend to patients, so it will be difficult for a nurse to be on their phone playing when they have to attend to a pregnant woman who is in labour or a sick person.

“It will be very difficult for a nurse to be cleaning a patient while she is Facebooking or TikToking, or for a nurse who is in the operating room taking instruments for the doctor to be Whatsapping because that is not the training given to them,” he explained.

Mr. Prince Opuni Frimpong, on the other hand, said it was inappropriate for nurses or midwives to be tapping, Facebooking, or watching Tiktok while patients were waiting to be attended to, and he warned those who did so to stop.

To those who are demanding that nurses be banned from using their mobile phones while working, he urged them to exercise restraint and understand that the nurses may not be WhatsApping, Facebooking, or TikToking while on duty; therefore, it will be difficult for their request to be granted.