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I just wondered... Has anyone out there been in trouble due to anything on facebook? On my old unit we took care of VAD (ventricular assist device) pts, and they are in and out all the time so you really get to know them in and out of the hospital in some cases. I was taking care of a pt who I was also friends with out side of work. My mom worked with me on the same unit as a secretary and he wanted to get a picture with us after I had discharged him. So we all took the picture and he said to make sure we tagged him on facebook, which we did. Someone that we were friends with on fb and worked with took it to management. We both got suspended with pay for a week pending the investigation and eventually fired. During the investigation they never contacted the patient, and when he found out he was very upset. I just wondered if anyone else had been through this. It has opened a new door for me though b/c I am going to do some travel nursing.

Facebook is for SOCIAL networking not PROFESSIONAL networking. If you are using it for the wrong reasons then I have no sympathy for whatever trouble you get yourself into. NOTHING that you put on the internet is private, no matter what your settings tell you. Heed this advice each and every time you post anything on the internet and you will not get into trouble. Ignore it and you deserve whatever you have coming.

Facebook is for SOCIAL networking not PROFESSIONAL networking. If you are using it for the wrong reasons then I have no sympathy for whatever trouble you get yourself into. NOTHING that you put on the internet is private, no matter what your settings tell you. Heed this advice each and every time you post anything on the internet and you will not get into trouble. Ignore it and you deserve whatever you have coming.

But in this case, a PATIENT posted a picture of himself with the OP. How can that be the OP's fault? Certain things posted on Facebook are worthy of disciplinary action...certain things are not.

Specializes in Home Care.
But in this case, a PATIENT posted a picture of himself with the OP. How can that be the OP's fault? Certain things posted on Facebook are worthy of disciplinary action...certain things are not.

I'm not going to blame the OP on this one. She/he really didn't do anything wrong, she/he was fired as a point to prove to the rest of the employees.

Yes there is a fine line between what is acceptable and what is not on FB. Unfortunately, people will push the limits in their online postings just like they push the limits on what is considered acceptable for work or school attire.

I follow my own rule of keeping my FB private and I post nothing about work or school.

Specializes in Oncology; med/surg; geriatric; OB; CM.

I am very careful about what I post on FB. If I post anything about work it's that I had a good shift or thanked someone for helping me out in a rough patch.

Others I work with aren't so careful and even though I (along with others) have warned them about what they post, they will make some remarks about something that happened at work. Not only does everyone from our floors see what we post, people from other units also see it. Also, our hospital has a FB site! Who knows who from what department at work is checking out what the employees say!

Jokes, thank-yous and invites to functions with work friends are all right.....mentions about patients or what a bad day it was or how much things aren't going well......not a good thing--even if there was permission granted.

You can't be too careful today....there is always Big Brother (or Sister) watching.

People who get in trouble at work for what they've posted on Facebook are people who didn't think things through.

You can put all your co-workers on "list" and exclude them from seeing certain things. No one sees anything you put on facebook that you don't allow them to see.

Use your head and you won't have any trouble. Better yet, set your privacy controls and don't "friend" anyone you work with.

Specializes in pediatrics, public health.
Personally, I think the OP got cheated. A patient took a photograph of her, her mother, (and himself?) and posted it on Facebook. OBVIOUSLY the patient was OK with this. Did the post say anything about why he was in the hospital? Did the OP or her mother comment on the post? If not, I think the hospital was way out of line. People can't help what other people post and it sounds as if the OP and her mother were doing nothing wrong in the photo, so it seems very unfair to me.

Unless I'm misreading the OP, it was not the patient who posted the photo, it was either the OP or her mother who posted the photo and tagged the patient. If this had been done without the patient's permission, it would be a HIPAA violation, because revealing that someone was a pt at a particular hospital without their permission violates HIPAA. Since the patient had asked them to do this, they did have the patient's permission, but would their employer have known this?

OP, did you or your mother tell your employer that the pt had asked you to post and tag the photo? If so, then I agree that you shouldn't have been fired. Otherwise, it makes sense to me, since it would appear to the employer that the employees had violated HIPAA.

I treat work with the phrase "what happens here stays here". Work is never mentioned on FB.

I'm sorry about the OP getting fired. A simple reprimand and warning should have been enough.

But in this case, a PATIENT posted a picture of himself with the OP. How can that be the OP's fault? Certain things posted on Facebook are worthy of disciplinary action...certain things are not.

The OP wrote: "My mom worked with me on the same unit as a secretary and he wanted to get a picture with us after I had discharged him. So we all took the picture and he said to make sure we tagged him on facebook, which we did"

If the patient posted the picture, why ask the OP to tag him? If the patient posted the picture, why wouldn't he have tagged himself?

Obviously the OP posted the picture. He/she deserves what they got.

I'm really careful about facebook and other social network sites in general. My page is 100% private, only my friends can see any of my pictures or postings. *clip*

I totally agree. I went one step further . . . I deactivated my Facebook account, that way I don't worry about it at all. I'm in touch with people I want to be friends with already . . . I don't need Facebook.

I know someone who got fired for talking negatively about a situation that happened between them and another co-worker. This was brought to management's attention by a friend of the co-worker this person was speaking about and they got fired.

This didnt even include HIPAA or a pt. This was simply expressing this person's personal feelings regarding a co-worker.

Specializes in PeriOperative.

I had a coworker fired over their FB profile.

"Job description: Surgical technologist at *******. I sabotage surgery."

My FB page is 100% private and only my friends can view what I have on there.

At my previous job I made a mistake and all I posted on FB was "Not a good night for me. Apparently I can't see the color white." That was it and it's EXTREMELY vague! Well the next day as I was being questioned about the mistake HR said that someone came to her and said that I posted all the details about the company and the mistake I made on FB. Well being that I had an iPhone I pulled up the exact post and told her to show me were I mentioned those things. She realized she had been lied to and apologized to me. I don't know who went to her about it but that night I deleted everyone of my co-workers off my list and made it private.

It's just sad how many people have no life and are extremely nosy. I could see if the OP posted something threatening like "I should just go shoot up the place" or took pictures of putting a funny hat on a coma patient. Then yes by all means report it. Otherwise some people need to put on their big boy pants and stop being such crybabies.

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