Debate about cell phones in hospitals.

[shais_mom]

What about patients gabbing on landline phones? Should those be taken out as well? Might disturb the patient in the next bed?

Last year I was in the emergency room...as a patient. There are many, many area codes in SoCal. They had a phone I could use to call my husband and tell him I was there...but the phone would not call his area code. Had I not had my cell phone to use there would not have been a way for me to talk to him. Same once I was admitted. Only way I could call him was on my cell.

You are assuming cell phone usage is only by visitors. What about patients?

I haven't read any of the rest of the replies but this is an EXCELLANT point. I WORK in a hospital and a couple weeks ago we had a patient on the (room)phone with a drunk friend of his yelling so loudly the lady down the hall asked if they could shut him up. Oh did I mention that this was in the middle of a blizzard so no one was going anywhere AND after 11pm??? Mind you patients are filling out PRESS GAINEY http://www.pressganey.com/ customer satisfaction surveys after every hospital visit and I'm sure that the employees will be the ones that get blistered over this when it was a patient b/c you can't tell them what to do. (we just had an old man (his name was listed in his survey) that said there were too many fat people employed at our facility) gggrr
A couple years ago when we didn't allow cell phones in our facility, I saw a lady walking down the hall talking about her new grandbaby just as loud as can be. I politely said "ma'am you can't use a cell phone in here" and she looked at me STRAIGHT in the eye and said "yea I know and I don't care" her daughters (adults) were MORTIFIED they said MOM GET OFF THE PHONE! she said "pfft what's she going to do shoot me?" I then found out that she was a previous employee of the hospital and KNEW better. I then decided I wasn't saying anything to anyone in hospitals about cell phones. Then we approved that it was ok to use them...
Along the same lines of disrupting sick people how about people that bring SCREAMING CHILDREN TO VISIT THEIR SICK RELATIVES? Last week there was a child that was squealing and screaming so loud in a patients room I heard her thru closed doors and down the hallway. The parents kept the child there for at least an hour or longer.... I would rather hear a little cell phone ring and someone talking on the phone than a child screaming bloody murder that resembles nails on a chalkboard.

But my feeling is that hospital staff aren't paid to follow cell phone users around to make sure they aren't being obnoxious with them (as we can all agree that many cell users are)

out of this ENTIRE thread this is the only thing you have said that I have even REMOTELY agreed with.
Debating is one thing. But the most important thing to remember (MYSELF INCLUDED very much so) is that not everyone THINKS the same way you do and this does not make them right or wrong. More times than not in the times I have seen you 'debate' with others you make it seem like yours is the only RIGHT opinion. Keep in mind that I was NOT on the debate team, nor am I blaming your pregnancy one iota!!! I HATE politics for this reason and I stay out of the doghouse most of the time B/C of the 'debatable' topics..........