Another nurse bites the dust due to facebook

[siringe]

I don't know the woman in question, yet news reports acknowledge that facebook has caused another job termination casualty in the nursing community. I know there are numerous posts regarding this topic, yet I figure sharing this may help someone think twice when placing job/career related postings on facebook no matter how private you think your posts are!Follow the link to see why. What would you do?

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[sophie_bob_kids]

I am going to play devil's advocate here; I think that if she can find a lawyer, she can probably get her job back.

Here's why:

It is said that she wrote that she came face to face with a cop killer and hoped he rotted in hell.

If that is what she REALLY wrote, then who's to say she didn't run into him at the gas station, the grocery store, visiting a friend in jail, etc.

There was nothing in that statement to say that she did this at work, at a specific hospital nor who the person was.

We have the right to freedom of speech still in this country. I don't see where HIPPA was violated except by CIRCUMSTANTIAL evidence, which is usually not even admissable in court.

We have the right to exercise our liberties in the privacy of our own home. She did that, and I personally don't think she did anything wrong.

Just MHO.

Circumstatial evidence usually not even admissable in court?? That's not necessarily correct. My friend is a Superior Court Judge, and he tells me about cases that are purely based on circumstantial evidence that usually go in the prosecutions favor. Just a FYI.

[sophie_bob_kids]

How do you know that she is a nurse?? It does not say that anywhere in the article, she could have been a receptionist or anything else at that hospital.... :uhoh3::uhoh3::uhoh3::uhoh3:

Someone posting on this site went to nursing school with her, and knows her well.

[sophie_bob_kids]

nope, just browsing, and i could tell it wasn't for me. it seemed like it was more a place for hook ups like a dating service when i was on there. i said, nope, lemme move on.

A dating website?? Hmmm... maybe in Canada...

[RevolutioN2013]

I am not a nurse yet, but even in my current non-nursing profession I have made it a personal policy not to friend co-workers and not to post anything about work, ever. When co-workers send me friend requests I thank them very much for their friend request, but that I use Facebook for personal purposes only, no networking, and that I signed up mainly to re-connect with former high school and college classmates (I'm 40).

[linearthinker, DNP, RN]

I think it is a huge mistake to be FB friends with coworkers. If you err there, you are going to have consequences. Perhaps minor enough to make it worth it to you, just some hurt feelings or minor conflict, but may include abject humiliation for you or tohers, losing friends, losing a job. Know the risks, take your chances, accept the consequences, blame no one else.

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

I do not participate on FB, Twitter, etc. Too much risk involved, IMO.

There is no risk involved when you don't post anything about work on your account. The owner of the account has control over that completely and I never post anything on facebook that I wouldn't want posted on a billboard downtown.

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

I am going to play devil's advocate here; I think that if she can find a lawyer, she can probably get her job back.

Here's why:

It is said that she wrote that she came face to face with a cop killer and hoped he rotted in hell.

If that is what she REALLY wrote, then who's to say she didn't run into him at the gas station, the grocery store, visiting a friend in jail, etc.

There was nothing in that statement to say that she did this at work, at a specific hospital nor who the person was.

We have the right to freedom of speech still in this country. I don't see where HIPPA was violated except by CIRCUMSTANTIAL evidence, which is usually not even admissable in court.

We have the right to exercise our liberties in the privacy of our own home. She did that, and I personally don't think she did anything wrong.

Just MHO.

I would agree with you...other than the small detail that probably everyone on her Facebook account knows she is a nurse and knows which hospital she works at.

When she said that she came face-to-face with a cop-killer this is what she did:

1. Her friends knew she was a nurse

2. Her friends knew which hospital

3. The cop-killer was in the local news as killing a cop (or would be soon)....thus, his name was in the news, Tyrece (sp?) Matthews.

So everyone on her friends list knew that Tyrece Matthews was her patient at Oakwood Hospital...and I would wager that Mr Matthews didn't consent to her friends knowing about that.

Yes, THAT IS a HIPAA violation and there is no question that she should be fired.

She was also stupid enough to go on the news and say she wouldn't take back what she said...she can save her money on an attorney because that didn't help her case either.

The fact that it was her computer, on her own time, is 100% irrelevant.

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

Also, remember, most hospitals now have networking policies in place. I know we do and it clearly states what they deem is fireable. For example, you better not say bad things about the place and they get wind of it, in other words, don't poop where you sleep. Also, it clearly states about privacy laws etc. So if you break this policy and the people in the ivory tower find out, you might as well pack up and move on.

People just have to watch what they put. Use common sense.

[backatit2]

i have seen stories of people being fired/punished over facebook that i thought were ridiculous. this is not one of them. she is STUPID!

when i was working on my teaching degree, i read about a teaching STUDENT who got kicked out of her program bc she had a picture with a st. patty's day hat where she was holding a beer on myspace. you couldn't even tell it was a beer - it was in a cup - the cup wasn't see through, etc. i think THAT was stupid.

but for a nurse who is working on a patient to say she came face to face with a "cop killer" etc., the first thing that comes to mind is "she probably didn't try too hard to save/help him."

i would think a presumably intelligent person such as a nurse would know better. no pity here.

[NurseAdida]

You should NEVER post anything about work on facebook whether it's positive or not, period. Big brother is always watching:D If you check out my facebook you would never know am employed...am paranoid like that:D

[TerpGal02, ASN]

Why why WHY do people post questionable stuff on FB, MySpace, Twitter, etc and are SURPRISED when there are ramafications to what they say? The internet is NOT private, in fact I think you lose a certain amount of privacy posting on social networking sites. That is why my FB privacy settings are VERY tightly controlled and I have NEVER friended anyone that I have worked with in the past. Too many things can go wrong.

[CuriousMe]

Why why WHY do people post questionable stuff on FB, MySpace, Twitter, etc and are SURPRISED when there are ramafications to what they say? The internet is NOT private, in fact I think you lose a certain amount of privacy posting on social networking sites. That is why my FB privacy settings are VERY tightly controlled and I have NEVER friended anyone that I have worked with in the past. Too many things can go wrong.

Why do folks keep saying that the "internet is not private?" Of course the internet isn't private, but we're not talking about posting this on an open website somewhere...we're talking about posting on a site that allows us to control who sees the content we provide. For example, Facebook provides far more privacy than AN does. What I post on FB doesn't show up in Google searches (because they are private), whereas all AN posts do.

Now, if we do not choose wisely about who can see the content we post, or if we are unwise in what content we post....is the problem that the "internet" has no privacy? Or that users didn't use the privacy settings available wisely?