Another nurse bites the dust due to facebook

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wannabalvnurse

12 Posts

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?

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/oakwood-hospital-employee-fired-for-facebook-posting-20100730-wpms

i'm just wondering if she started that topic or just replying to someone else's, that would make a huge difference. If its the latter, and she only said what a great person that cop was, then no she should not have lost her job, on the other hand if she DID start it, then yes by all means. Just my opinion.

CNL2B

516 Posts

Specializes in multispecialty ICU, SICU including CV.
I worry about some people here too. I have read many posts that describe a situation at work, or med errors in details which makes it easy for managers, supervisors, co-workers to guess who they are.There are so many nurses on this site and you do not know who is and who isn't reading this posts.

There are members on this site that have been disciplined at work for posting stuff on FB that violates HIPAA violations -- and then posted about it on here. Not smart. Posts were up for a short time and then removed by the moderators. I just don't know what these people are thinking -- let's violate people's privacy, get disciplined, and then violate it again (potentially) by posting about it on a message board?

My work-related convo on my FB page says stuff like "ahhhh....3 days off." NOTHING about patients, the facility, the routine, the staff, the families, NOTHING. And my FB is completely locked up, friends only (although I do have work friends on there.)

This is the second time in the last week or so I have seen something like this mentioned. It's got to be running rampant out there as not everything makes it into the news or elsewhere public.

sandyfeet

413 Posts

Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

It seems like very poor judgement on her part. I can't feel sorry for her either. She definitely could have expressed her feelings in a way that did not reveal any patient information.

UnbreakableOne

37 Posts

I don't feel sorry for her at all. She should have thought twice about her actions because now she's unemployed (good luck with that in this economy), has 2 kids and a husband who can't provide for his family. And then she has the audacity to try and fight for her job back...truth is people although it seems silly that she got fired, employers are quick to cut a person loose over some of the littlest things. Thats why its important to think before you act.

I was suspended for a day for a "potential" violation. And I asked the mods to remove my thread here, which contained absolutely no identifiers or PHI. Nor did my FB status but hey, scared is the word of the day.

ittibittinurse

37 Posts

Specializes in med/surg and adult critical care.

Read most of the posts. I agree that this nurse should not have posted that message. I think firing is appropriate. That being written, what is too stop an employer from firing someone who posts certain beliefs, political opinions, etc...these things that have nothing to do with working as a nurse. Any thoughts or comments?

DoGoodThenGo

4,129 Posts

Miss. Betty White's recent stint on "Saturday Night Live" provided the best take yet on Facebook.

"My friends kept bugging me to join FaceBook, and I had to confess I didn't even know what it was. Now that I know what it is, it seems like a colossal waste of time"

"In my day we didn't have Facebook, we had the phone book; but you wouldn't spend an entire afternoon with it, or call people up to show your vacation pictures".

"But Betty my friends say, you can connect with old friends..., at my age if I want to reconnect with old friends I need a Ouija board"

"We didn't use the Interent to meet new people when I was young, we went on hayrides.. long hay rides on a moonlight night......"

TDCHIM

686 Posts

Specializes in Health Information Management.

I agree that this woman crossed the line, quite foolishly. Facebook is so accessible and widely used that she might as well have gone down to a street corner wearing a sandwich board displaying those comments!

However, is anyone else disturbed by the slowly growing notion that our employers have the right to tell us what we may and may not do every hour of every day?

Specializes in Med/Surg, LTC/Geriatric.

I wouldn't say "another nurse bites the dust due to Facebook" rather "another nurse bites the dust due to a policy violation". It wasn't Facebook's fault. It was hers.

belgarion

697 Posts

Specializes in Med Surg.
Read most of the posts. I agree that this nurse should not have posted that message. I think firing is appropriate. That being written, what is too stop an employer from firing someone who posts certain beliefs, political opinions, etc...these things that have nothing to do with working as a nurse. Any thoughts or comments?

The nurse in question was foolish to think she wouldn't be held accountable for her remarks. That said I agree with the part about getting in trouble over political ideas or social commentary. One nurse I know was rather harshly reprimanded by her manager at the LTC where she works for posting a comment complaining about road repair work being done in front of her facility. She never mentioned where she worked or even the exact location of the work. The project is about a mile and a half long and there are several businesses in that stretch. She specifically complained about the dust, the noise, how hard it was to get in and out of the area, and the fact the project was already six weeks behind with no end in sight. In the paperwork she showed several of us, the manager stated that since the work was being performed by the state there was a chance the state might retaliate against the facility during the next inspection for her comments.

The only thing I do on FB is one on one messages with a few "real" friends. You never know what seemingly innocent posting will get you in a real bind.

Specializes in OB/GYN, Peds, School Nurse, DD.

Wow! Stupid move on her part. I would never post an opinion on a client, not even if I masked his identity. It's just too risky. I use Facebook mostly to keep up with old HS friends and family. But I never discuss work or even mention work. Just not a topic for conversation. IMO, she deserved to be fired.

CNL2B

516 Posts

Specializes in multispecialty ICU, SICU including CV.
Read most of the posts. I agree that this nurse should not have posted that message. I think firing is appropriate. That being written, what is too stop an employer from firing someone who posts certain beliefs, political opinions, etc...these things that have nothing to do with working as a nurse. Any thoughts or comments?

This is an interesting question to me specifically as a federal employee. I am mandated by our facility guidelines (and I think, law) not to express political viewpoints in the workplace (especially to patients) as it might be construed as the opinion of the federal government as a whole. This comes up regularly around election times especially and we are reminded of these standards via hospital-wide emails, etc. Does that mean that I shouldn't express my political viewpoints on FB, either?

This IS a tough call. Are employers turning into our big brother? Do they have any right to be looking at our social networking pages at all?

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