Social media
The use of social media and other electronic communication is expanding exponentially; today's generation of nurses grew up in a social media milieu.
Social media provides wonderful online communities for nurses to post and interact. I myself have met amazing colleagues on Twitter I would not have otherwise met. I've been on Twitter as @bhawkesrn since 2009 and thankfully never violated HIPAA or posted an over-the-top rant.
Thankfully because social media is far-reaching and nothing can be easily and permanently deleted once posted.
Poor Judgement
Lindsay posted a picture of herself on Facebook at a party showing a lot of side boobage.
It was shocking and hard to reconcile the image of her as a responsible nurse in scrubs with a blatantly sexy picture. Of all the hundreds of images she posted, this may have been most memorable. She took it down, it stayed up only 24 hours, but the damage was done. It's not that it wasn't attractive, it's poor judgment.
Sheila posted in a large Facebook group that she was looking for a job... because her nurse manager played favorites...unfortunately her nurse manager was tipped off by someone in the same group. It can blur the lines and pose a risk when you friend your boss on Facebook.
I'll never forget an ED nurse I knew personally who took a picture of a tattoo located on a patient's genitalia- what was she thinking? "I'll never see something like this again, I have to get a picture and show my friends"? To make it even worse, there were four other employees in the group and no one said anything. Until later, when one nurse was bothered by the incident and spoke up. She reported it to the manager, and of course, the nurse was fired.
My heart goes out to this patient who trusted himself in our care and was taken advantage of.
Katie Duke, a popular nurselebrity, starred in a medical reality TV show a few years back, ABC's New York Med. As a nurse in the ED, she dealt with trauma and death every day.
One day she posted an image on Instagram of a room after a code in a trauma room. A man had been hit by a train and had been treated in this room. If you've ever been in a code, you can picture the scene.
The gurney is gone, leaving a clean floor space in the center of the chaos. The room looks as if a bomb went off, with paper wrappings thrown on the floor, discarded supplies, maybe a bloody sheet...you get the idea.
It was an evocative picture but did not reveal any patient information of any sort. Even though she did not violate any HIPAA laws, she was fired that same day from New York Presbyterian Hospital, where she had worked for seven years, being insensitive. Katie claims that the image was taken by a doctor, although shared by her, but that the doctor was not reprimanded.
I'm sure she suffered a lot afterward and regretted her choice.
Other examples include nurses posting X-rays on Facebook, employees taking shots of residents in nursing homes, and posting without consent. Sometimes an employee will only receive a warning at work but typically these violations are not taken lightly, and the current trend is to be terminated.
Impulse and Anonymous Posts
Impulsive posts, venting, inappropriate humor...we see it all the time on social media. Remember humor doesn't always translate well in text and can backfire.
I have been on social media for many years, but never as anonymous. It was a boundary that kept me in check especially when I wanted to vent, and it prevented me from using bad language or making other poor choices.
My rule is to only post whatever I'd be OK with my mother reading and seeing. If I hadn't done that, I could easily have sabotaged my own career down the road. I would not have been able to become a nurse author and write a book, I'm sure.
HIPAA
As professionals, we must never breach hospital policy or violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a law known as HIPAA, that protects patient privacy.
Most facilities have social media and patient privacy policies in place- be sure and read yours.
ANA
The American Nurses Association (ANA) and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN®) posted a joint statement on professional responsibility in social media. have mutually endorsed each organization's guidelines for upholding professional boundaries in a social networking environment.
According to NCSBN Board of Directors President Myra A. Broadway, JD, MS, RN:
"Nurses must recognize that it is paramount that they maintain patient privacy and confidentiality at all times, regardless of the mechanism that is being used to transmit the message, be it social networking or a simple conversation. As licensed professionals, they are legally bound to maintain the appropriate boundaries and treat patients with dignity and respect,"
Consequences
Inappropriate posts on social media can get you kicked out of nursing school, fired, or not hired at all.
If you think only your "friends" see your postings, remember that curious hiring managers can simply google your name and check your online presence and postings with little effort.
Protect your online presence and if you question whether you should post something- you probably shouldn't.
