Can you take a subordinate’s personal property?

No, the nurse, whether she's an officer or not, does not have the authority to confiscate personal property. There are strict rules regarding who can confiscate property and under what conditions.

Unless that person is violating policy or HIPPA, using it in a manner that is a security risk, then I can see no reason/justification why the Charge Nurge could/should/would take that phone. If they are still adamant about taking it, then they can sign a Hand Receipt.

No-one should take any item that is otherwise covered by a policy. However, should the service member violate the policy, the item can be retained. The wiser thing would be to have the individual Stowe it away if a policy is violated to avoids the risk of damage or other allegation. Thank you for your service.

Decorum prevents my opinion being stated.

Negative, you cannot confiscate property from a patient. Contact his chain of command.

It’s personal property if the guys following the rules the Nurse is then breaking the rules and should be reported for taking property that doesn’t belong to him. That’s ridiculously petty people need to get a life.

Please you are in the Army of course she could take it from the SOLDIER. I sometimes think that we forget where we are and what we are.

When I was in, cell-phones did not exist. That being said, there were a very specific items, not part of the uniform, that we were allowed to carry. None of which might allow for a distraction, while on duty.

I'll bet there is more to the story and the charge nurse said something like, "I don't want to see any cell phones," then somebody decided to put her to the test. Yes, the phone was on silent and he was not talking into it, but the nurse said something because she saw it, and she saw it because the corpsman was checking a text. Let me guess, this happened during the shift change meeting?

Personal property should never be confiscated by a superior, but if told by the charge nurse to leave the cell phone alone while providing patient care, it better damn well be left alone. Yes, the charge nurse is exactly that, in charge, even if a civilian. Yes, I could see a charge nurse ordering a medic to put the cell phone away in a locker when working on the floor.

I'm a former enlisted Navy Corpsman and flirted with trouble too, but if I were an investigating officer of such an incident today, I would empathize with the charge nurse. The first thing I would ask her is why she took the cell phone in the first place and did she later return it later? If she told me that the corpsman/medic was bringing personal business to work and being distracted from duties because of the cell phone, she isn't the one who is going to be getting in trouble. Oh, she might get a very minor slap on the wrist, but I would be coming after the corpsman/medic next. The commanding officer is going to decide who gets the door-prize in the end.

A