Nurses Fired For Viral TikTok Video

[Nurse Beth]

It's hard to believe nurses would record themselves mocking their own patients and then post it on Tik Tok. It's not hard to believe the video went viral, receiving 100,000 views before it was taken down.

Four L&D nurses at Emory Hospital thought it would be a good idea to create an "Ick" video where they go in front of the camera in scrubs, at work, taking turns mocking patients and complaining about what annoys each of them.
One nurse made fun of a patient refusing pain medication or an epidural but then claiming she had an 8 or 9 pain level. Another nurse mocked patients who come in for an induction and then ask if they can shower and have something to eat.

Some mothers who gave birth at the hospital in Atlanta viewed the video and are shocked. Hopefully the mother who asked "How much does my baby weigh?" before the nurse had a chance to weigh the infant did not see the video of the nurse mocking the new Mom.

All four nurses were swiftly fired by Emory. Some are saying it's heartless to fire them before Christmas.....but I think Emory did the right thing.

How do you feel about this?

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

3 hours ago, N7NP said:

 

Take the phones away. Period. The phones must be left at the NMs desk when on shift. Emergency calls can be made to OTHER phones than the staffers' own cell....(a very common lie nurses use to keep their phones with them). If you need your phone, you go and see the NM.

Think this is draconian and treating nurses like children? 

 

 

Yes, this is draconian and treats nurses as children. Also unprofessional.

[N7NP]

2 minutes ago, Nurse Beth said:

Yes, this is draconian and treats nurses as children. Also unprofessional.

Well my best advice would be, then, to behave as professionals and we as employers and providers and customers of the service of nursing will treat as such. 

 

Just a thought?

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Just now, N7NP said:

Well my best advice would be, then, to behave as professionals and we as employers and providers and customers of the service of nursing will treat as such. 

 

Just a thought?

I believe when employees are treated with respect and professionalism they rise to the occasion.

Draconian management techniques are a problem in our industry.

[N7NP]

I suppose my point here is.....we are discussing yet ANOTHER lack of judgement and professionalism using....social media.

Draconian management techniques in our industry are directed at patient to staff ratios being insane, mandatory overtime, etc.

I do not believe that nurses acting in suuuch an unprofessional manner is a "reaction" to mandatory overtime.   I see this with senior nurses as well as new grads. It has to do with ETHICS, personal and professional ethics .....OF THE NURSE, not the facility.

7 minutes ago, Nurse Beth said:

Yes, this is draconian and treats nurses as children. Also unprofessional.

 

[N7NP]

4 minutes ago, Nurse Beth said:

I believe when employees are treated with respect and professionalism they rise to the occasion.

Draconian management techniques are a problem in our industry.

What your implication is....is that these Nurses were behaving in such an unethical manner as a reaction to how poorly Emory treats them.

Personal accountability. Professional ethics. Nobody forced these nurses to get on their phones, nor does short staffing force a Nurse to sit on their phone for hours on end during a shift. 

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

10 minutes ago, N7NP said:

I suppose my point here is.....we are discussing yet ANOTHER lack of judgement and professionalism using....social media.

Draconian management techniques in our industry are directed at patient to staff ratios being insane, mandatory overtime, etc.

I do not believe that nurses acting in suuuch an unprofessional manner is a "reaction" to mandatory overtime.   I see this with senior nurses as well as new grads. It has to do with ETHICS, personal and professional ethics .....OF THE NURSE, not the facility.

 

We agree that it was unprofessional and a lack of judgement.

I don't agree nurses should surrender their phones to the nurse manager. 

I actually saw a manager once demand that one of her L&D nurses turn her lab coat pockets inside out to prove she wasn't carrying. This in the hallway. At least she didn't strip search her ? This manager came from a third world country where she was used to this type of behavior.

But seriously, in what other profession would this be considered, much less tolerated? Lawyers? Teachers? 

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

2 hours ago, N7NP said:

I suppose my point here is.....we are discussing yet ANOTHER lack of judgement and professionalism using....social media.

Draconian management techniques in our industry are directed at patient to staff ratios being insane, mandatory overtime, etc.

I do not believe that nurses acting in suuuch an unprofessional manner is a "reaction" to mandatory overtime.   I see this with senior nurses as well as new grads. It has to do with ETHICS, personal and professional ethics .....OF THE NURSE, not the facility.

 

Speaking of phones, I'll often use my phone if making calls to variuous agencies, simply because our phone system is a complete orifice and impossible to use at the best of times. 

I have unlimited calling and that balanced against my stress levels......

[klone, MSN, RN]

3 hours ago, Nurse Beth said:

Yes, this is draconian and treats nurses as children. Also unprofessional.

As a nurse manager, I have no interest in babysitting employees' phones.

[summertx]

6 hours ago, N7NP said:

Um....they had a pulse?  I worked at the #1 "clinic" in the world---and this was rampant.  New grad nurses everywhere, all on their phones, nowhere to be found---yet the patients put up with it (sometimes) because of "where" they were a patient.

The problem isn't why didn't the hospitals "notice" how immature the nurses were----it's that there is no floor anymore for the "quality" other than being licensed.  I know, right now, someone who is a convicted FELON, who diverted patients' meds (and that's worse, in my opinion, than stealing from a pyxis or not wasting after administering the pt meds. Just outright didn't give the patient their meds and then used them herself)---who simply moved away from that state (AZ) and to another---and the new state just bent over backwards to find a way to make it so she could work as a nurse. Yeah....there's a problem here.

Tik Tok and other social media sites---gotta say---it does separate the wheat from the chaff. The scum rises to the top so that people can skim that crap off and dispose of it appropriately---and yeah, that's what I think of these 4 "nurses". They need to go back to working at Hooters where maybe they'll feel a bit more at home in that classy environment.

Take the phones away. Period. The phones must be left at the NMs desk when on shift. Emergency calls can be made to OTHER phones than the staffers' own cell....(a very common lie nurses use to keep their phones with them). If you need your phone, you go and see the NM.

Think this is draconian and treating nurses like children? 

How many times do we have to see this sort of nonsense before we realize that yeah....some people just cannot and will not act like an adult and be responsible/professional in their behavior.

A friend just told me a story about an ICU Nurse at this same "major clinic" that wanted out of the constant hard work of being under the watchful eye of very discriminating patients (some from very wealthy Gulf States)...so she decided to transfer to IV Infusion....first thing she was reprimanded for.....standing in a corner while patients were assigned to her for  IV access....checking her phone for hours on end.

Yes. A rule has to be made that cell phones are to be left with managers. Because we're raising a whole batch of perpetual children who have zero self control.

To know those nurses got hired at hospital I would want to work at and they wouldn't hire me strikes a nerve with me. They hired the nurse with a rotten attitude but I treat my patients likes queens and do everything I can for them, it just puts me off. I don't talk behind their back, heck I have better things to do.

[klone, MSN, RN]

3 hours ago, Nurse Beth said:

 

But seriously, in what other profession would this be considered, much less tolerated? Lawyers? Teachers? 

On the other hand, could you imagine a group of lawyers doing such a thing? Part of the issue is a 22yo kid can be an RN. Undeveloped prefrontal cortex, and all that.

[dianah, ASN]

6 hours ago, klone said:

On the other hand, could you imagine a group of lawyers doing such a thing? Part of the issue is a 22yo kid can be an RN. Undeveloped prefrontal cortex, and all that.

I graduated from my ADN program at age 20.  Granted, we didn't have cell phones "back then," to tempt us.  But I took on full RN responsibilities (floated four different ICUs, step-down unit, and NBN/NICU) at age 20.  At age 24, was doing charge nurse on Med/Surg, floating to ICU too.  Can't lump all 20-year-olds together, is my point.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

16 hours ago, Tenebrae said:

Dear god people, grow a brain. Stop doing dumb *** and then wondering why you have to face consequences for it. 

This is the problem AND answer all in one statement. So many, of all ages, are not used to consequences. Everyone was given a trophy, and mom/dad and/or teacher/respected authority figure fixed the problem and made it go away, so that "Susie" never learned that there are consequences, sometimes negative, for our actions. It's aggravating to say the least, because these nurses probably have no clue as to why they were fired, or think they are wrongly being bullied or persecuted