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Analysis of Use of Personal Communication Devices Among Nurses
Nurses are increasingly using personal communication devices while on job in hospitals.
These devices include basic mobile phones, computer tablets, and smartphones. The use of such
devices has raised concerns about their usefulness and the ethical and legal implications of their
use.
How use of personal communication devices by nurses impacts patient care
Use of personal communication devices by nurses has both positive and negative effects
on patient care. On the positive side the use has improved coordination of healthcare teams when
providing care to patients (McBride & LeVasseur, 2017). This is largely because of the ease of
communication that such personal communication devices allows nurses to have. For instance,
through the use of app-based messaging and text messages, nurses can easily and quickly
communicate with their colleagues. The devices also enable nurses to have quick access to
medical information that is work-related. Such information helps them to provide better services
to patients (McBride & LeVasseur, 2017).
On the negative side, the use of personal communication devices by nurses while in
hospitals has been found to be distracting. Such distractions have resulted in nurses committing
avoidable medical errors. They have also caused nurses to miss crucial clinical information about
patients (McBride, 2015).
Ethical and legal implications of nurses using their personal communications devices in hospitals
While the use of personal communication devices in hospitals undoubtedly has some
benefits, it nonetheless raises very serious ethical and legal concerns. First, the use puts patient

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data at risk. With increasing frequency and sophistication of cyber attacks, the practice puts
private patient data at risk of medical identity theft through security breaches (McBride, 2015).
In addition, depending on the type of information that is shared by the nurses, the practice could
also constitute a legal violation. The federal HIPAA privacy rule protects personal health
information and medical records. Sending such information without consent of the patient may
constitute a violation of the rule. Moreover, state-based nursing practice rule prohibit nurses
from sharing information on their smartphones that falls under protected health information
(PHI) (McBride, 2015).
What professional literature says about how communication devices can support safe nursing
practice
Personal communication devices can safely be used by nurses as long as they use very
secure devices approved by the hospital’s cybersecurity professionals (McBride & LeVasseur,
2017). For instance, the devices should have multiple layers of authentication and strong
passwords. Their use should also be limited to encrypted networks that have firewalls and
passwords (McBride & LeVasseur, 2017). Hospitals should also have policies that allow them to
confiscate and, if need be, erase all data in a communication devices any time a security breach
occurs.

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References

McBride, D. L. (2015). Distraction of clinicians by smartphones in hospitals: a concept
analysis. Journal of advanced nursing, 71(9), 2020-2030.
McBride, D. L., & LeVasseur, S. A. (2017). Personal communication device use by nurses
providing in-patient care: survey of prevalence, patterns, and distraction potential. JMIR
human factors, 4(2), e10.