Do you feel more compelled to answer your phone or pager than to finish the next sentence with the person facing you? What messages do we send when we disengage from a conversation to answer a call?

I'm sorry to see health care providers diverting their attention during conversations at the bedside, at the nursing station, and in the midst of meetings to attend to their electronic device, perhaps unaware of the impact it has on their relationship with patients and peers.

When we step into a patient's room, we enter a sacred space. We shouldn't let ourselves be interrupted unless absolutely necessary. Our patients expect and deserve our undivided attention.

GLENN MARKS, RN, BSN

Cottonwood, Ariz.