Has anyone had a pt's family member take pictures of you during care?

Published

Okay, the weirdest thing happend yesterday at work. (Why do I always get the nuts???) The doctor was examining the pt and the pt's wife was holding up her phone. I thought she was looking at something on the phone, but thought that it was odd the way she was holding it up. After the doctor leaves, I am in the process of settling the pt back down and I hear a click. I looked at the pt's wife and asked if she took a picture? She said yes. I asked if I was in it and she said yes, but that was okay, right? I told her that I didn't like people taking pictures of me at work. She brushed it off and said that I was not doing anything wrong, so it shouldn't be a problem. OOOKKKAAAYYY! I really felt like this was a problem. I don't want my picture plastered on the net or something. Don't we have at least a molecule of a right to privacy regarding our picture being taken or since we work with the public, is that right out the window? Any thoughts?

Specializes in eeeEErrrr.

We had a really drunken teen in the ED. He was rude to the staff, really abnoxious. His mother filmed him via iphone and the nurses who were involved in his care was in it. She was told she was not allowed to do so.I don't think the lead nurse was aware of the actual 'rules' against camera use in the ER and reasoned that "cellphone activity could interact with the hospital machines" instead.The mom stopped and said she wasn't going to do anything with the clip. It was a busy night so we more or less forgot about it. The patient was discharge with the mom. Before the staff left for the day, the mom & son came back and she made him (now sober) apologize to everyone involved in his care. She showed him the video of him drunk in front of everyone and he was really embarrassed as he apologized to the nurses who were in the clip.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.
We had a really drunken teen in the ED. He was rude to the staff, really abnoxious. His mother filmed him via iphone and the nurses who were involved in his care was in it. She was told she was not allowed to do so.I don't think the lead nurse was aware of the actual 'rules' against camera use in the ER and reasoned that "cellphone activity could interact with the hospital machines" instead.The mom stopped and said she wasn't going to do anything with the clip. It was a busy night so we more or less forgot about it. The patient was discharge with the mom. Before the staff left for the day, the mom & son came back and she made him (now sober) apologize to everyone involved in his care. She showed him the video of him drunk in front of everyone and he was really embarrassed as he apologized to the nurses who were in the clip.

I have had one situation similar to this -- an out of control ETOH withdrawal patient who was intubated after intervention by multiple, multiple staff and Security, restraints, and several doses of Ativan and Versed still weren't enough to chill him out. After all the aftermath, getting him appropriately sedated, settled on the vent and cleaned up, his wife asked me if she could take his picture. "I want him to see all the mess that he caused." I considered it, scanned the patient & the room with a critical eye, and allowed her to take the picture of him while I stepped out into the hall. In the best case scenario, I think it could be an eye-opening come-to-Jesus tool for someone who needs to change their habits. But on the other hand ... I was thinking to myself, "honey, you've been enabling him for years ..."

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Yep, pictures, video, the whole gamut. Comes with the territory of working OB.

I have some lovely photos that pts have sent me of me holding their freshly born baby.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
It is HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountablity Act) NOT hippa.

I personally would discipline any employee of mine who would risk assault a family member and grab their personal items. Grabbing and confiscating personal property can also be considered illegal search and seizure (as protected by the Consittution). This can be prosecuted by the family as assault and battery as well as theft and crminal charges can be filed. .

Umm that's a bit much! Really battery.... come on now.... also when someone takes MY picture without MY consent then the line is crossed. Nice to see that you would stick up for your "employees".....

And as the person who had their picture taken WITHOUT consent I would file criminal charges.. im sick of people in this situation nurses feeling like they have NO rights whats so ever what is this world coming too!?

:twocents:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care.
Umm that's a bit much! Really battery.... come on now.... also when someone takes MY picture without MY consent then the line is crossed. Nice to see that you would stick up for your "employees".....

And as the person who had their picture taken WITHOUT consent I would file criminal charges.. im sick of people in this situation nurses feeling like they have NO rights whats so ever what is this world coming too!?

:twocents:

On what basis would you file criminal charges? I agree it's annoying, but it's not illegal to take photos without consent in this situation.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Umm that's a bit much! Really battery.... come on now.... also when someone takes MY picture without MY consent then the line is crossed. Nice to see that you would stick up for your "employees".....

And as the person who had their picture taken WITHOUT consent I would file criminal charges.. im sick of people in this situation nurses feeling like they have NO rights whats so ever what is this world coming too!?

:twocents:

Yeah, I'm sure the police would get right on that...:rolleyes:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
Yeah, I'm sure the police would get right on that...:rolleyes:

Oh your right let people/patients walk all over you :) that's a much better plan

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
Yeah, I'm sure the police would get right on that...:rolleyes:

sarcastic comments are just really annoying:)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
On what basis would you file criminal charges? I agree it's annoying, but it's not illegal to take photos without consent in this situation.

This may vary by state....I was taught many years ago in a Photography course that you could not take a picture of a specific person w/o their consent, if you were doing a general "people watching shot", were they would not generally not be identifiable, that is different. The exception, in law, is for the "public" person, ie Miley Cyrus, as mentioned in a previous post.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Mother-Baby, Rehab, Hospice, Memory Care.

Working in OB being in pictures and video did not bother me so much, because I knew it was about the baby and NOT me.

The strangest situation I had was working in hospice home care with a dying Vietnamese pt. and her family. They had a tripod with a video camera on it filming her on and off so that relatives back home could see her. In her last few moments they turned on the camera to capture the actual death. Then when the funeral home came to take her body they started rolling again. I KNOW I was obviously on their videos, but how was I to object since it was in THEIR home and with what they were going through. They were the sweetest most hospitable people to me. So as odd as it felt to me, I think in this case it was possibly a culture thing.

Then the other day I had a family member bring in a voice recorder to tape my discharge instructions.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospice.
Umm that's a bit much! Really battery.... come on now.... also when someone takes MY picture without MY consent then the line is crossed. Nice to see that you would stick up for your "employees".....

And as the person who had their picture taken WITHOUT consent I would file criminal charges.. im sick of people in this situation nurses feeling like they have NO rights whats so ever what is this world coming too!?

:twocents:

Yes, really battery and really robbery ... and the manager has no control over what criminal charges the visitor might file.

No one has defended taking pictures of staff without permission - but hands off! Let security or law enforcement handle the grabbing.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.
You have the right to ask not to have your picture taken, though if your in a public place they don't have to respect your decision. But hospital liability is completely different, they should intervene to prevent this from happening. Potential future litigation could result. Photography in any form is forbidden where i work, any place where patient care is given. There are other patients close by no matter where you are in a hospital, they can not guarantee they wont get someone elses pictures. If they are taking pictures of you, they will be taking other pictures you wont be able to review to make sure other patients aren't in them. And if you were doing a procedure they shouldnt be doing it either, you should have politely told her it is rude to photograph people without their consent.

Do you actually mean that you would pry the phone out of that lady's gnarled grip to show your boss? That would be insane, try theft and battery. I'm not saying she wasn't a creep but don't put yourself in that position.

I totally agree but in terms of privacy laws you might as well be in public. There are legal restrictions on the use of audio since that falls under wiretapping laws. In general you, privacy laws only prevent your picture from being taken when you have "a reasonable expectation of privacy". The established definition for this includes places such as bathrooms, dressing rooms, hotel rooms, tanning salons; in other words any place where the subject of the photo should feel comfortable getting naked. This does include a patient in the hospital or a resident of an LTC in their room, but a nurse wiping somebody's butt wouldn't be protected, only the person to whom the butt in question belongs.

You know how when we went to school we learned "book nursing", and then there was "real nursing". The textbook definition of how things should be done and what happens in real life ARE GROSSLY DIFFERENT in nursing.

Same thing happens with the law. There is the text book interpretation, and then there is real life. Its kinda like what we learn in grade school. The schools rules say no fighting (the text book law). On the other hand, the playground rules are quite different (real life). Upset the class bully and, well, you got it coming when no one is looking. Ask any kid who had to spend recess hiding or had to run home fast as lightning to keep the "playground rules" from being enforced on them.

Same thing applies here. The textbook law states you may photograph people in public and it is without consequence. :rolleyes:

I challenge anyone who really believes this to go out, right now, with a camera, stand on a street downtown and do so. Then, come back and give us report on how long it was before "the class bully" took your camera (over under odds are it happening at 20 minutes) and what injuries you sustained while it happened. And to tie a nice bow on it, also tell us how many times the police laughed when you told them you wanted them to spend the day looking for said bully..........if they bother showing up at all.

People like the one who annoyed the OP will be bold and hide behind the "textbook law" for as long as they can. But, eh, well, wait till she meets the person who doesn't like it who doesn't feel they have to worry about losing anything for retaliation (and it won't be long). It could be the local meth. addict who goes ballistic on her, might be the town drunk, may be a respectable gentleman who just got told he is not getting a raise this year and wasn't in the mood. Mark my words though, one day she'll take a pic and all of a sudden someone will be on her like a wolf.................and the law won't do her a bit of good.

See, no matter how bad you think you are, there is always someone worse out there. Whether you are "bad" in the sense that you are willing to break someone's arm to get a pic of yourself off their phone or "bad" in the sense that you hide behind/abuse the law and harass people.......................there is always someone worse.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion