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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[msbfree]

HIPPA is so major, that if I have relatives, friends or any associates that come to my facility, I will not go and visit until they return home. I will usually send a card, or leave a message on their phone, but thats it. I know I would never disclose their information, or access it unlawfully, but its just that there exist such a large grey area for what you know, and what you can discuss, that I have decided I dont want to know any, unless it pertains to my work.

[msbfree]

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?

If your jobs provides you access that is not priviledged to the public, then I think that your views can be cultivated by your environment and will depict information that can distort and mislead even if unintentionally. I would reframe from remarks unless in an environment of people with equal knowledge and access.

[rn/writer, RN]

First, thank you to all who spelled HIPAA with two As instead of two Ps.

Second, let me say that publicly declaring that you hope someone rots in hell is not a wise thing for a nurse to do, especially when it involves a patient in your hospital. Apparently, Ms. James said other things that her employers deemed disparaging and disrespectful, including some that the paper did want to include. Again, not a professional representation.

The most indicting part of her message is her own words saying that she "came face-to-face with a cop-killer," implying that she was involved in (or was aware of) his care to some extent. That changes her statements from off-the-cuff, general remarks about a figure in the news to a HIPAA violation and a negative reaction to a particular patient.

I don't wish her ill, but I can see why the hospital let her go. If they hadn't taken this seriously, they would have opened themselves up for a lawsuit from the suspect, one in which he might have prevailed. And that would be incredibly galling.

I'm guessing she'll never make this kind of mistake again.

[Jack245]

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?

In her situation it seems justified that she was fired but you bring up a point. In this day and age, you can be fired for little reason. In my state we have an "at will" policy. Therefore I can be fired for pretty much any reason with no need for it to even be disclosed.(as it was described to me at one point). However I do not think this law was written to take into account things like Facebook and Twitter. The situation is definitely moving heavily in the favor of employers as opposed to employees.

Until the laws are amended to either provide privacy clauses for these websites, it does not seem wise to use them. The example I give is twitter. I have a Twitter page. I use it to keep in touch with old high school friends and my friends in other countries. But anything I say in it is observed by others. Like the time I mentioned attempting to get into a nursing program I was suddenly followed by a Twitter page of a medical field headhunter. Or the time i was looking at a specific college earlier in life i was followed by a local pizza parlor down the street from the schools main campus. Anything and everything we do on the internet is logged and watched. Big brother is looking, be careful.

[ChaseThisLight]

We don't have the whole story, and who knows that the second part of her post was. Perhaps it said his full name and what-not, so then it would be a HIPAA violation.

A side note. I think it is ridiculous that employers can follow employees on facebook and write them up or fire them for it. Just saying. ;]

[rn/writer, RN]

I think it is ridiculous that employers can follow employees on facebook and write them up or fire them for it. Just saying. ;]

Remember that it isn't only how we look to the employers but how they think our comments/behaviors will make them look to others.

Like it or not, the influence of social media is here to stay. We can either recognize it or ignore it at our own risk.

[Lucky0220]

Jobs take it too far sometimes imo...

My friend was working in Pier One Imports and she was written up because she wrote, "I don't want to go to work today!" on her twitter. That's retarded. Everyone is entitled to their privacy and personal lives.

How can you say she was entitled to her privacy!! She was tweeting. Nothing about that is private.

[rockenmomRN]

this just reminded me to remove where i work from my fb page

[TDCHIM]

Remember that it isn't only how we look to the employers but how they think our comments/behaviors will make them look to others.

Like it or not, the influence of social media is here to stay. We can either recognize it or ignore it at our own risk.

But isn't there some corner of our lives we should still be able to call our own? I'm not defending anyone breaking confidentiality on FB or Twitter - that's flat-out wrong. But when it comes to me posting my own views on local or national incidents and events though social media? Why should my employer be able to write me up for something like that if I do it on my own time, with my own resources and equipment, just because the manager thinks my views might make the employer somehow look bad? That's very dangerous territory, sort of an online version of owing my soul to the company store (well, payroll, at any rate). My life outside of work should be mine, in my opinion.

[rockenmomRN]

why on earth would you have anyone from work on your fb? leave work at work.

[steelydanfan]

But isn't there some corner of our lives we should still be able to call our own? I'm not defending anyone breaking confidentiality on FB or Twitter - that's flat-out wrong. But when it comes to me posting my own views on local or national incidents and events though social media? Why should my employer be able to write me up for something like that if I do it on my own time, with my own resources and equipment, just because the manager thinks my views might make the employer somehow look bad? That's very dangerous territory, sort of an online version of owing my soul to the company store (well, payroll, at any rate). My life outside of work should be mine, in my opinion.

Once you post your views on Face book or Twitter, they are no longer not your own, they are seen, and open to judgement by all. Your employers CANNOT judge you for political opinions; but this person posted about WORK related issues.

Safest bet: get the heck off of these social networks, they let entirely too much data out into the ozone.

[rn/writer, RN]

But isn't there some corner of our lives we should still be able to call our own? I'm not defending anyone breaking confidentiality on FB or Twitter - that's flat-out wrong. But when it comes to me posting my own views on local or national incidents and events though social media? Why should my employer be able to write me up for something like that if I do it on my own time, with my own resources and equipment, just because the manager thinks my views might make the employer somehow look bad? That's very dangerous territory, sort of an online version of owing my soul to the company store (well, payroll, at any rate). My life outside of work should be mine, in my opinion.

Wrong as it may be for an employer to fire someone for posting their political opinions on FB or another social network, it's naive to think that it doesn't happen.

If you are at all concerned that your views could cost you your job, don't put them out there for all to see.