Facebook nurses and patients

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Should a nurse befriend a former patient when that patient sends a friend request. I have seen both positive and negative outcomes when this happens, what is your opinion?

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Public Health.

My patients are inmates... the answer is NO! I don't even appear on facebook with the same name as I use at work just for that reason. And even if I worked in a hospital my answer would be no.

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NO!! My first Facebook friend request in person was just last week when I had a patient's husband mention it. She has cancer and he has been doing tons of medical marijuana research and posts it about. I got interested in it after watching the Sanjay Gupta special and and another one with Israeli Researcher Raphael Mechoulam. I said that I wasn't allowed and we just continued to talk.

I don't even accept friend requests from co-workers as I've read about people getting fired for things posted even though they weren't even there or involved.

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No. But, then, I can't for the life of me imagine why anyone is on Facebook or the other social networking sites to begin with.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
No. But, then, I can't for the life of me imagine why anyone is on Facebook or the other social networking sites to begin with.

I'm only on LinkedIn, that's it. But that's just for job networking. Other than that I don't have any other social networking. No Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or anything else.

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I'm only on LinkedIn, that's it. But that's just for job networking. Other than that I don't have any other social networking. No Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or anything else.

Are you aware that LinkedIn apparently infiltrates your email address list and sends out emails under your name? I get emails all the time, supposedly from friends of mine, inviting me to join LinkedIn so we can be LinkedIn buddies, but, when I contact my friends directly (not by replying to the LinkedIn email), they are surprised and say they haven't sent out any emails like that (for one thing, they all know that I'm not interested in joining any networking websites :)).

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Are you aware that LinkedIn apparently infiltrates your email address list and sends out emails under your name? I get emails all the time, supposedly from friends of mine, inviting me to join LinkedIn so we can be LinkedIn buddies, but, when I contact my friends directly (not by replying to the LinkedIn email), they are surprised and say they haven't sent out any emails like that (for one thing, they all know that I'm not interested in joining any networking websites :)).

I use an e-mail for only work that I use for LinkedIn.

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Specializes in Cardiology, Oncology, Hospice,IV Therapy.

I will never have a facebook account or any of the other social media sites, ever. It's too awkward having pts and families trying to look you up

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Specializes in Pedi.
Are you aware that LinkedIn apparently infiltrates your email address list and sends out emails under your name? I get emails all the time, supposedly from friends of mine, inviting me to join LinkedIn so we can be LinkedIn buddies, but, when I contact my friends directly (not by replying to the LinkedIn email), they are surprised and say they haven't sent out any emails like that (for one thing, they all know that I'm not interested in joining any networking websites :)).

They actually just settled a lawsuit about that. I got an email about it the other day.

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I don't and I appreciate it when workplaces have policies against it so I can just say that I'm sorry but it's against the policy. I resent it when other nurses I work with accept requests because they'll say "but so and so did!". I saw this more in my Midwestern small city hospital where a lot of the nurses had mutual acquaintances with the patients, had gone to the same schools, etc. Also, our patients often stayed a long time and we felt close to them. I'm the kind of person who backs off if I feel like I'm getting to be friends with a patient because that relationship can be manipulated or can result in the nurse overstepping, etc. I find most of the patients who want nurses for friends to be needy people in general and I don't need that.

I was surprised to see someone say " of course not, we would never give out phone numbers or email addresses "-- because I've certainly seen that too.

In the country where I work now, it's considered rude not to give your number to anyone who asks. I still avoid it when possible. The local nurses get calls/texts from former patients and their families all the time, and I ended up with a phone-stalker that way.

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Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..

I don't see anything wrong with it as long as the patient is a FORMER patient. What's wrong with keeping in touch?

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I don't see anything wrong with it as long as the patient is a FORMER patient. What's wrong with keeping in touch?

What if they become a patient again?

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Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..

If they become a patient in your unit, can't you just go to the nurse manager and tell her that patient is your Facebook friend and that you would rather not care for that patient, and ask if someone else can?

I have a personal caregiver who is a NA at our local hospital, and she told me that as long as I am her client I'm not allowed to befriend her on Facebook, but should she leave the organization, she would let me know.

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