Ethical Issues

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Hey everyone. I have a question. There is a nurse that I know of who takes exotic photos, has an OnlyFans account, "models" in music videos & doesn't mind posing near naked in sexually suggestive positions on social media sites. (She doesn't hide ANYTHING!) That's her life BUT my question is: Can a healthcare employer fire someone for what they do outside of their career as a nurse??? I know we are pillars in the community & are held to a high standard but I want to know, technically, is this woman in the wrong & would or could her job or license be on the line........Thanks in advance for the feedback given! ?

6 minutes ago, Wuzzie said:

Your nursing instructor is just trying to scare you. Nurses are just normal people.

No, nurses may not be normal people. What normal person would go an entire workday without peeing?

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Specializes in school nurse.
21 hours ago, toomuchbaloney said:

Why should nurses be held to higher personal and ethical standards than the most powerful people in the country?

Well, to be fair, Trump didn't post nude photos. He just engaged the services of and then paid hush money to Media stars...

The entire planet should be eternally grateful that he didn't post nude photos.

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Specializes in Occupational Health.

I'm not one to jump to unfounded conclusions. I'm going to need to see the evidence before I can make an informed decision ?

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I'm not a nurse, but I think the ethical question is more about whether you guys consider nursing a profession, and kind of profession you believe it to be.

Generally, for non-professionals and paraprofessionals, or basically anyone who has "just a job", I believe that it shouldn't matter what that person does on their time off work.

But when you hire a "professional", you are hiring more than someone who performs work for pay. There are supposed to ethical guidelines that that person has to follow, and there is a commitment to "the profession" over and above whatever rules or dictates of the organization that he it she works for. In return, you have better job security, higher pay, and in many cases some kind of appeal to the profession with regards to expectations, etc.

My opinion, I think nursing should be a profession, but are more often treated as semi-professionals. But even as a profession, I don't think it is that kind of profession where moonlighting as whatever-you-want-to-call-it betrays the standards of the profession.

Contrast nursing with teachers, for example. Teachers educate children, and so there is a professional obligation to at least not contradict the even conservative norms and mores of society, whether you agree with them or not.

But what is the public role of the nurse? Frankly, I would be more concerned about a nurse blatantly violating mask-wearing recommendations in public, than making money on the side in legal ways that violate conservative norms.

IMHO

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
On 5/29/2020 at 11:06 AM, parolang said:

But what is the public role of the nurse? Frankly, I would be more concerned about a nurse blatantly violating mask-wearing recommendations in public, than making money on the side in legal ways that violate conservative norms.

IMHO

Yes. This. I definitely agree with the above statement.

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Specializes in Peds ED.
On 5/27/2020 at 11:27 AM, caliotter3 said:

Didn't you read the story about the woman in the NY park with her dog who became the center of a media doo doo storm and was fired from her vice president job at an investment firm because she lost control and called a black man "African American"?

That’s not why she was fired. She called 911 and accused him of threatening her, and she told him before she called she was going to tell them he was threatening her life.

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Specializes in Community health.

IMO people should be allowed to do what they want to do off hours! And I stay out of their business. But that doesn’t answer the question of whether she could be fired.

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On 5/27/2020 at 11:16 AM, RN2020scm said:

Hey everyone. I have a question. There is a nurse that I know of who takes exotic photos, has an OnlyFans account, "models" in music videos & doesn't mind posing near naked in sexually suggestive positions on social media sites. (She doesn't hide ANYTHING!) That's her life BUT my question is: Can a healthcare employer fire someone for what they do outside of their career as a nurse??? I know we are pillars in the community & are held to a high standard but I want to know, technically, is this woman in the wrong & would or could her job or license be on the line........Thanks in advance for the feedback given! ?

I’m sure if she mentions where she works alongside her “exotic” social media, she could be fired. But, really, it’s none of your business. As long as she does her job and isn’t advertising her onlyfans to her patients, all is fine in the world. She can shake her booty for money all she wants.

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Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.

In NZ, I dont know if she would get fired, however there could be a case taken by nursing council for professional misconduct,.

The code of conduct has something to do with nurses justifying public trust in the profession

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On 5/27/2020 at 11:16 AM, RN2020scm said:

Hey everyone. I have a question. There is a nurse that I know of who takes exotic photos, has an OnlyFans account, "models" in music videos & doesn't mind posing near naked in sexually suggestive positions on social media sites. (She doesn't hide ANYTHING!) That's her life BUT my question is: Can a healthcare employer fire someone for what they do outside of their career as a nurse??? I know we are pillars in the community & are held to a high standard but I want to know, technically, is this woman in the wrong & would or could her job or license be on the line........Thanks in advance for the feedback given! ?

This is absolutely none of your business. And when we speak about whether this is ethical or not, in our day and age this is sort of the norm tbh. She is not hurting anyone and this isn't affecting you. What anyone does outside work is their own business. I am against hunting, but sadly, it is legal. How would you feel if your co-worker killed animals outside work as a hobby? (hunting I mean) What this woman is doing isn't illegal. Don't think you're better than her!

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On 5/27/2020 at 11:27 AM, caliotter3 said:

Didn't you read the story about the woman in the NY park with her dog who became the center of a media doo doo storm and was fired from her vice president job at an investment firm because she lost control and called a black man "African American"? One of those Yahoo stories had about 15,000 plus comments the last time I looked. Any employer is able to can an employee for just about any reason (excluding a very few reasons forbidden under law) and for no reason at all and that is that. The concept is called "employment at will", found in most states. Haven't looked lately but I think the Nurse Practice Act in my state talks about "crimes against the person, crimes against property, moral turpitude", blah, blah, blah. Should this "nurse" be surprised if she ever loses employment over her extracurriculars? Well, what can I say? Do a search on this site for similar threads from the past. Every once in awhile a SDN member gets bored and comes over to stir the pot.

WOW!, racism everywhere...

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On 5/27/2020 at 11:16 AM, RN2020scm said:

Can a healthcare employer fire someone for what they do outside of their career as a nurse???

In most states they can fire her for having blue eyes on a Tuesday.

I wouldn't say it's ethical to fire someone for what they do outside of work as long as they're doing their job good enough when they're at work, but there's nothing that says that they can't do it.

As for her license, she can't lose it for the pictures and videos she puts on the page. BUT, it's an income. If she gets audited, gets a tax bill that she doesn't pay, then spends a month in jail, then she can lose her license

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