Facebook Policy

[nkochrn]

Found out that my facility is working on a facebook policy. No big deal, no reason anyone needs to play on facebook while working and it is blocked on the computer, but many people have blackberries.

The thing that bothers me a little is that they're wanting to make it a policy that no one can mention going to work on facebook. Such as I might change my status to "working all weekend." I really don't see how this is any different than telling anyone on the street that I have to work the weekend and there's nothing they can do about that.

[CuriousMe]

Sometimes facebook can be dangerous. Posting when you leave home, someone may break into your house. Everyone needs to be careful what they post on Facebook or any networking sites. We dont know what may happen to any of us. Nowadays the way some of us unable to find a nursing job you may want to take this in consideration. Somethings need not to be posted. Just a thought.

I guess there could be concerns if your profile isn't closed to everyone except friends. I would have no more concern about putting on my FB page that I'm gone all weekend, than I would if I said it to friends on the phone.

If your profile is set so that only friends see your information, and you only approve friends that you know in real life......then, the amount of possible issues decreases dramatically.

[realnursealso/LPN, LPN]

Sad world we live in now. Everybody is out to one up the next person. I suppose I am aging myself when I say that reading "1984", by George Orwell was required reading when I was a junior in high school. But you know I think George was on to something way back then. I go to work and do my job, when I leave I'm on my own time. "Big brother" can mind his own business. I was reading an article in the local paper yesterday and the article was about the lack of compassion for other people new college grads have compared to past generations. Now I feel like my parents, this world is sure changing, and I don't like it. I doubt my employer even has a clue that I'm on facebook, and I certainly don't have coworkers reading my page to find info on me to tell on me about. Sad, just sad.

[SlightlyMental_RN]

This is why I decided a while back to un-friend all my coworkers and anyone but my closest of friends and family. I'm now down to about 20 people, but that's a much safer situation. To avoid offending anyone, I sent out an email explaining my actions to all my coworkers, explaining my feelings on keeping work and home separate. There weren't any problems with it, and it has given me a greater sense of security. I also deleted almost all my personal info and my pages, my friends and family already know where I work and I don't need to advertise my networks and pages to anyone that pulls up my name in a search.

[laynaER]

work for a right to fire state... at a facility that has a zero tolerance policy... and i'll be reading your posts as your unemployed and your prior facility that has terminated you has prevented any hiring possibility in your future.

your employer can and will fire you if there is a policy in place that clearly defines your external actions. to think differently will result in you posting .... "i was fired from a facebook post... and i can't get hired.. help".

i'm sorry, i still don't get it. maybe i'm just dense, dumb, or slow. if my profile is private, my name is not searchable, and if it is, all anyone can see is a picture, how can the hospital find out what i have on my profile unless they send me a friend request (which i do not accept if i don't know), or unless one of my "friends" printed out something i wrote then showed it to mgmt. i personally, would never gripe about how an md messed up or bad talk my hosp on my facebook anyway, i'm just playing devil's advocate. how is it any different from someone telling their best friend 'today at work i got mad because this md did blah blah and i didn't think it was safe, blah blah"

[laynaER]

In the past when I worked for an industry that was not nursing, I was friends with coworkers on facebook. I didn't bad mouth the company or anything, but they were definitely all up in my business and telling mgmt about my personal life....you know what I did? I deleted every last one of them! Problem solved! I just don't see what the problem is if no one you work with can see it and no one who does a public search can see it :)

[lkwashington]

It's quite simple really.....Don't be friends with anybody you work with and keep your profile private to your friends only.

The people you work with are NOT to be trusted when it comes to your employment status. I don't care if they are your best friend in the entire company. Nobody is gonna cover your back but yourself.

To solve all this dont put anything on your profile that can and will incriminate you. Me personally, I dont put all my business in the streets. Everybody dont need to know everything about me. All the people you are friends on Facebook when is the last time you seen them all. Most of mine since high school. Just be careful because nothing is written in stone. We dont want nothing to bite any of us in the long run. Yeah we all are adults in this matter but there is no need to take any chances. I have seen and heard how people get in arguments and fights behind facebook. For an example, some people find out how successful we have became with our career and maybe you have a friend that was on the outs. You know where I am headed. All this is just a thought. BE SAFE!!!

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

We've had a social networking policy in place. They have fired two people since. The old saying goes, don't poop where you sleep (or work). One of the higher ups cruised thru people's profile, which were not totally private, saw some stuff they wrote, printed it and turned it in. It was saying bad things about one of the docs. Just keep it all private and only have coworkers you can trust. And DO NOT LIKE your work institution if they have a page...they then can access your page.