Facebook almost cost me my job

[ReginaPhalange]

Hi AN family,

This topic has been discussed throughout many threads but I wanted to designate a single thread to this issue. I am a Facebook junkie just like many people from my generation.

I would never post anything patient related or anything that would breach HIPAA. I posted a very tongue-in-cheek status about the daily struggles of nursing (such as drug seeking patients, non-compliant patients, and the patients with a grand sense of entitlement to name a few).

It was meant to be sarcastic and humorous. Well, long story short, HR got a hold of it and almost fired me for it. They said it made me look like a cold, callous nurse and that doesn't sit well with their core values as a facility.

My point of this thread is to be extremely careful about what you post on the internet. My page was as private as it could be but they managed to view it through a "friend's" page.

Luckily, I was able to keep my job and learned a valuable lesson. Don't post work related ANYTHING on your social networking sites.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

yeah, it's not as anonymous here as we like to think. i've been able to figure out people i know in real life based on posts here and people have been able to identify me as well.

my profile is full of misinformation and the stories i tell are at least ten years old. whenever i want to rant about something current, it reminds me of something from the past, so . . . . i'll use an old story rather than a current one. i still might get outed, but i'd like to think i'm reducing the chances!

[rashana]

I've read several posts by docs on FB and yet only once did I read that a doctor was fined 500 dollars for breaching patient confidentiality. The AMA backed her up. Is there an organization that has our back? Does the ANA or any other legal or political organization have a code besides "just say no" to any story of patient distress or nurse distress that a nurse recounts to learn other solutions or ask for advice? Why aren't we allowed to share our dilemmas if we change names and disguise hospital names? If they force us to keep all conflicts and stories quiet, how is that free speech or any kind of support that we can give each other? This whole thing has to be rethought or it becomes another of the "conspiracies of silence" that health care is known for and it keeps us and our patients powerless.

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

my profile is full of misinformation and the stories i tell are at least ten years old. whenever i want to rant about something current, it reminds me of something from the past, so . . . . i'll use an old story rather than a current one. i still might get outed, but i'd like to think i'm reducing the chances!

i found an while getting ready to go to nursing school, so posted a ton in the student section and in my state section for info and advice on schools i was considering as well as the school i ended up going to. that alone narrows it down quite a bit. my specialty narrows it down further. i post as though my full name appears on my profile.

[Who?Me?]

I never post about work. Not only can it get you in trouble with current job, but hurt your prospects with future employers.

[Who?Me?]

Wow!!!! I think that is absolutely overboard that this situation even made its way to HR. If I were you, I'd really like to know who "leaked" that information. I do agree that this is a lesson learned, but I think people take facebook posts WAY too seriously. Good luck in the future!

Doesn't have to be "leaked" by anyone. All HR has to do is search for you and read your posts. Just safer not to post work-related stuff on social networking sites.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

I use Facebook to keep up with my friends from far away. I don't post any pictures that I wouldn't want my dad to see if he were still here. And the only work stuff I post is: Thank God It's Friday and Happy Nurses' Week.

[MntnGirl]

Wow!!!! I think that is absolutely overboard that this situation even made its way to HR. If I were you, I'd really like to know who "leaked" that information. I do agree that this is a lesson learned, but I think people take facebook posts WAY too seriously. Good luck in the future!

It is not uncommon for employers (especially large organizations) to have computer people working for them whose job is to look through the employees web pages such as Facebook, MySpace, etc. No joke, people are paid to 'surf the web' for employee information. Assume nothing is private and assume that your facility is spying on you via the internet.

[DeLana_RN, BSN, RN]

OP... you didn't think what you posted would get you in trouble?

DeLana

[flashpoint]

Facebook did not almost cost you your job. What you posted on Facebook almost cost you your job. I think we often forget that even when we are not at work, we represent the places we work to some extent…especially if we are talking about the place we work. I try to remember to keep my negative comments for more anonymous venues like AN and my praises for public places like Facebook or chatting with friends over dinner.

Freedom of speech does not mean that you can openly complain about your job and have no consequences for it. If management feels that you are so unhappy that you have to vent on Facebook, they might also surmise that you are just not a good fit for their team. Just because you have the right to say something, does not make it the right thing to say.

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

I've read several posts by docs on FB and yet only once did I read that a doctor was fined 500 dollars for breaching patient confidentiality. The AMA backed her up. Is there an organization that has our back? Does the ANA or any other legal or political organization have a code besides "just say no" to any story of patient distress or nurse distress that a nurse recounts to learn other solutions or ask for advice? Why aren't we allowed to share our dilemmas if we change names and disguise hospital names? If they force us to keep all conflicts and stories quiet, how is that free speech or any kind of support that we can give each other? This whole thing has to be rethought or it becomes another of the "conspiracies of silence" that health care is known for and it keeps us and our patients powerless.

I'll be honest, I 100% FULLY SUPPORT an employer firing employees for Facebook posts and this is why.

What you do with your own life is 100% your business, but what you do with relation to your employer, when you discuss it on a public forum, becomes their business.

There has NEVER been free speech in this country, at any point in our history, where you can bash your employer publically and still have a legal right to keep your job unless you work for union, then even that may be a grey area. You freely seek employment at these places, and they can freely fire you without even giving you a reason at all.

People need to READ and understand HIPAA!!!!!!!

I cannot believe that so many educated women on this website, think that if they change a couple of details and the names and don't mention the facility that it protects them. A HIPAA violation is speaking of anything regarding the patient "with enough information to identify them specifically".

Let's say, I worked at a hosptal where we had a set of quads born last night and a day or two after they were born I posted on FB something like, "Parenting is really stressful when they start coming in 4's!".

I have just committed a HIPAA violation if I post that...enough people on my FB account KNOW where I work, KNOW that I work in a NICU and just because you have your entire profile set to private, doesn't mean that non-friends cannot see your posts. I never mentioned a facility or the name of the patient, but I can assure you I could be fired if I posted something that stupid.

If I am friends with Jane Doe but I am friends with Joe Smith, but Joe Smith IS FRIENDS with Jane Doe, if I post to Joe Smith's wall, Jane Doe can see my posts.

That is how it works folks. If you cannot control yourself when it comes to posting about work to the point you are actually worried about your job, then that falls under the category of any other addiction and people need to seek help...everyone can laugh at that if they want, but that is one of the defining characteristics of an addiction: Putting your job at risk.

[Katie5]

Before long, there might be the same stories from using this. This doesn't sit well with me, but I'm probably in the minority on this issue, so I'll just go back to my lurker corner.

First they have to figure out your username.

[leenak]

I don't post anything about my current job online (I'm not a nurse). I do plan to create a professional FB page when I go to nursing school though just to friend fellow students and the college.