Denver Weatherman Loses Job over Twitter Remarks about Nurses:

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · May 2, 2019

I think his comments were inappropriate, but I don't think he should be fired for them. He has a right to his opinion, stupid though it may be.

If he was in a position of trust and expressed a bias against a particular group- THEN his work may be affected, and he needs to rethink what he states in public. IMO saying something stupid just warrants a sincere talk with your boss, and supervision, most of the time. Besides, he's a weatherman!! Who could he possibly hurt? (Hurt feelings aside.)

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · May 2, 2019

On ‎5‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 2:07 PM, KonichiwaRN said:
I don't have any experience with Nursing home nurses..
but the stories about their patient-to nurse ratio is straight from a horror movie.
Yet, I am speculating that the public demands care that only a 1:1 constant ICU type could achieve..in a nursing home.

The last time that I worked long term care, I was the only RN on duty on a 120-bed unit. I had five LPNs who performed the med pass (that was after they hired the fifth one; before that, I passed one hallway myself). I was responsible for all doctor contacts and all family contacts. I also had to go with any employee who went to the supply room, to make sure that they were only taking what they needed (this place was obsessive about supply theft).

Social media has essentially made everyone a published author and a de facto television station. We carry devices in our pockets that will take photographs and record videos. IMO the weatherman in question might have gotten off with little more than a rebuke from his employer had he not used a company account to publicly vent.

Wuzzie · May 3, 2019

11 hours ago, canoehead said:
I think his comments were inappropriate, but I don't think he should be fired for them. He has a right to his opinion, stupid though it may be.

I believe he got fired for making those statements on his professional Twitter page. Had he done it on a personal page without linking himself with the news station then he probably would have just gotten a talking to. I would have fired him too.

KonichiwaRN · May 3, 2019

13 hours ago, Orca said:
The last time that I worked long term care, I was the only RN on duty on a 120-bed unit. I had five LPNs who performed the med pass (that was after they hired the fifth one; before that, I passed one hallway myself). I was responsible for all doctor contacts and all family contacts. I also had to go with any employee who went to the supply room, to make sure that they were only taking what they needed (this place was obsessive about supply theft).
Social media has essentially made everyone a published author and a de facto television station. We carry devices in our pockets that will take photographs and record videos. IMO the weatherman in question might have gotten off with little more than a rebuke from his employer had he not used a company account to publicly vent.

So, my assumption was correct.

"Straight out from a horror movie."

Glad that you have survived that place of hell (for the employees). I can't imagine how the residents are doing there.

Forest2 · May 3, 2019

On 5/1/2019 at 9:54 AM, Daisy4RN said:
You would think that someone who works at a news station would do a little research on the matter before posting. That said, he was obviously going through a hard time with his mother and I don't think he should be fired (or made to resign) because if one bad post. Education and on air rebuttal would have been much better, IMO.

People should and do have the right to say what they want to say in a free country. I may not agree with it, I may hate it, I may think it is wrong and misleading. The current trend is that you can't put a voice to your beliefs (even if true or not) without repercussions because of popular opinion. That being said, I do not believe that people should make intentional false statements. I don't believe people should incite violence with their words either.

Forest2 · May 3, 2019

On 5/1/2019 at 12:14 AM, SmilingBluEyes said:
Just goes to show: Mind what you say on social media. This guy chose to take his anger at/disdain of nurses very public and it cost him his job. I feel that he went through a lot dealing with a sick family member---- but when you are a high-profile person, posting with your JOB location on Twitter thoughtlessly, this CAN indeed, cost you a job. Anyone a meteorologist who needs a job in the Mile High City?
https://gazette.com/arts-entertainment/koaa-tv-meteorologist-departs-station-after-twitter-controversy/article_3531e5ea-6aaa-11e9-b3a4-7b818da0ea81.html

Bet his Mom had more good experiences than bad, but we all know it is only the bad ones that remain in our memory and tend to stick out. He gave incomplete and misleading information.

turtlesRcool · May 3, 2019

22 hours ago, ORoxyO said:
I don't see why he lost his job as a weatherman over this.
People say bad things about other professions all the time. Heck, don't get me started on inaccurate forecasts! Agree or not, what does it have to do with his position? It's not like he is president of a healthcare organization.
People say good, bad and stupid things all the time. I think our country is going overboard with the knee jerk firings for having an opinion. Idk, I guess I'm just not that sensitive.

He lost his job as a weatherman over this because he posted it on his professional account as a weatherman. He brought a crap ton of negative attention to the station, and stations are ratings-based. Being an on-air personality is a very competitive business, and I guarantee there are dozens of people sending in their resumes to take his place - fresh faces who don't have this kind of baggage with the public.

When your job is to be a pubic "personality" how you are perceived by the public matters. If you gratuitously insult a large swath of the viewers (who all have family and friends who know how hard they work and are also viewers), you risk your job.

This absolutely was not because he had an opinion. It was because he chose to air his opinion in a derogatory way that dragged his employer into it. If he'd griped to his friends IRL or even posted on his personal, restricted FB page, he would still have a job.

Freedom of speech just means we are protected from government censorship. It does not mean freedom from consequences with private employers.

SmilingBluEyes · May 3, 2019

38 minutes ago, turtlesRcool said:
He lost his job as a weatherman over this because he posted it on his professional account as a weatherman. He brought a crap ton of negative attention to the station, and stations are ratings-based. Being an on-air personality is a very competitive business, and I guarantee there are dozens of people sending in their resumes to take his place - fresh faces who don't have this kind of baggage with the public.
When your job is to be a pubic "personality" how you are perceived by the public matters. If you gratuitously insult a large swath of the viewers (who all have family and friends who know how hard they work and are also viewers), you risk your job.
This absolutely was not because he had an opinion. It was because he chose to air his opinion in a derogatory way that dragged his employer into it. If he'd griped to his friends IRL or even posted on his personal, restricted FB page, he would still have a job.
Freedom of speech just means we are protected from government censorship. It does not mean freedom from consequences with private employers.

Right. And there were comments from viewers that stated, and I paraphrase " I won't be watching KOAA now because of what this man said". The station did what it had to do, given their competitive nature of working. They cut loose a bad apple who would cost them ratings.

We are free to speak. But I learned the hard way, we not free of the consequences of what we say and on social media, our thoughts are etched forever. Hopefully this gentleman learned from this. However he may be done as a major city weatherman.

ORoxyO · May 3, 2019

3 hours ago, turtlesRcool said:
He lost his job as a weatherman over this because he posted it on his professional account as a weatherman. He brought a crap ton of negative attention to the station, and stations are ratings-based. Being an on-air personality is a very competitive business, and I guarantee there are dozens of people sending in their resumes to take his place - fresh faces who don't have this kind of baggage with the public.
When your job is to be a pubic "personality" how you are perceived by the public matters. If you gratuitously insult a large swath of the viewers (who all have family and friends who know how hard they work and are also viewers), you risk your job.
This absolutely was not because he had an opinion. It was because he chose to air his opinion in a derogatory way that dragged his employer into it. If he'd griped to his friends IRL or even posted on his personal, restricted FB page, he would still have a job.
Freedom of speech just means we are protected from government censorship. It does not mean freedom from consequences with private employers.

Ah, I did not realize it was his professional account. I can agree it was inappropriate.

turtlesRcool · May 3, 2019

2 hours ago, Forest2 said:
People should and do have the right to say what they want to say in a free country. I may not agree with it, I may hate it, I may think it is wrong and misleading. The current trend is that you can't put a voice to your beliefs (even if true or not) without repercussions because of popular opinion. That being said, I do not believe that people should make intentional false statements. I don't believe people should incite violence with their words either.

Matthews should and does have the right to say what he wants to say in a free country. No one stopped him from posting it, nor arrested him afterwards.

But if it's free country, then a company is also free to say, "we don't want this jerk representing us."

While the constitution protects the right to free speech, there is no constitutionally protected right to be a weatherman on TV.

It seems the current trend is for people to say more and more offensive things, and then be surprised when they are held accountable. I have no idea why people think they should be able to say whatever the hell stupid and offensive thing they want without repercussions, but they always seem to forget that the other side also has the freedom to respond.

Being a free society does not mean we are, or should be, a society without consequences.

TriciaJ, RN · May 4, 2019

14 hours ago, Forest2 said:
People should and do have the right to say what they want to say in a free country. I may not agree with it, I may hate it, I may think it is wrong and misleading. The current trend is that you can't put a voice to your beliefs (even if true or not) without repercussions because of popular opinion. That being said, I do not believe that people should make intentional false statements. I don't believe people should incite violence with their words either.

People do have the right to say what they want. He wasn't jailed for what he said. But that doesn't mean he gets to be consequence-free. His employer had the right to fire anyone who posed a threat to their bottom line.

Ruby Vee, BSN · May 4, 2019

I understand that it's very difficult looking after a sick parent for years -- I've been there, and I've done that. I've even seen a few obvious mistakes. The difference is that instead of posting about it on Twitter (or Facebook or any other social media), I recognized that nurses and doctors are human and humans make mistakes. And I quietly set about getting my parent what they actually needed without being nasty or derogatory about the hospital staff that missed it.

An idiot that uses his professional Twitter account to lambast millions of people he has never met because a few members of that same profession were "mean to him" or didn't jump fast enough when he buzzed them has every right to exercise his free speech. He also has ever right to the consequences, whatever they may be. In the US, we don't throw him in a cell, torture him or shoot him at dawn. But there are still consequences. People may disagree with him; people may disagree in a strident and unfriendly way. And his employer may take exception to having their business suffer consequences for HIS free speech. They might take exception to the point of suspending or even firing him. Their business; they get that right.

Anyone with any sense doesn't expect to get away with using a public platform to cast aspersions on millions of people without any consequences. Sometimes you don't forsee those consequences before you open your mouth; sometimes you do and decide it's worth it to proceed anyway. The natural consequences of idiocy are not an infringement of your right to free speech.

When I was a brand new nurse mumble-mumble years ago, I had fifteen patients on a Med/Surg floor with a nursing assistant. Most places, staffing ratios have gotten better than that, but the patients are sicker now. Much sicker. In those days, people were admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of "Work up Failure to Thrive". (W/U FTT) Those were patients capable of walking, talking, feeding and toileting themselves. Walking, talking, feeding and independently toileting patients are rare these days. Instead, you get the patient who transferred out of the ICU a day or so earlier than would have been ideal to make room for another post-op added to the surgery schedule without considering the bed situation. Or the 87 year old who suffered a stroke, has hemiplegia, dysphasia and dysphagia and who is now being monitored because she may be having an MI -- but there's a surgery for that because our society cannot accept the fact that octagenarians die and their is no cure for that. Or a patient who is about to be discharged but still needs education about his medications, when and how to check his blood sugar and by the way, the homeless shelter won't take him in unless he's there before 5 pm. Four or five of those patients, while numerically better than my 15 will tax your time management and prioritization skills to the utmost.

When the idiot local celebrity put on his mother's call light, he expected instant attention, quite possibly because he's on TV. He didn't expect to have to share the same limited resource, the nurse, with five or fifteen or twenty-five other people, each of whom also considers themself or their loved one to be a priority. He didn't expect that Mr. Sanitation Worker's chest pain or Ms. Receptionist's post-op hypotension might trump the Meteorologist's Mother's pillow fluffing, blanket or ice water request. Or that quite possibly someone's shortness of breath might be a bigger priority than the local celebrity's mother's chronic pain management issues. We all expect ourselves and our loved ones to be a first priority for our nurses. We cannot all get that at the same time. Being upset about that is normal. Taking it to Twitter on your employer's account is not.

Might I just add that our collective idea of what constitutes an actual apology has suffered since 2016, and I think that's a big loss to our society.