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.
The nurses learned the hard way about doing social media at work in uniform while representing their hospital. They seemed to forget that hospitalized people are people in vulnerable positions, and the hospital did not want to be associated with this.
If you look around, there are lots of nursing TikTok videos out there and these nurses were thinking they were making just another video. Maybe they lacked foresight into what they were doing, especially for younger people who grew up surrounded by internet.
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
While I agree that this is the 'everyone gets a trophy' issue I think it now goes farther than that because kids are now also being taught that they are a victim for whatever reason and so not only do they have not suffer consequences but also blame everyone else for their own lack of initiative and/or failures. That being said these nurses must have had orientation/in-services re: posting on social media etc. Even before social media existed we were told to not talk to reporters etc. I guess they just felt the rules didn't apply to them (ie they thought they were special).
Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Physician's Office, Clinic & LTC.
I absolutely stand behind the dismissal of the nurses. How incredibly unethical and uncompassionate! What I really find incredible is that FOUR nurses at this facility on the same shift were doing this. It grieves me to know that anyone would do this, let alone four people, in the same location, on the same shift. Shame on them! If I were a patient at the facility and had seen the videos that were taken, I would be very upset, perhaps even traumatized.
This makes me wonder why they became nurses in the first place. At the very least, they are immature. I hope that getting fired makes them take a serious look at their actions and behavior.
As far as the timing of their firing, I stand with the hospital on this as well. If the hospital had delayed the termination because it was just near Christmas it would have appeared that they didn't take the insult of what they did seriously nor care about their patients.
Sorry to go all 'Dad' here, but the Judeo-Christian values and (positive) cultural influences that brought about what is good about Western Civilization (hospitals, human rights, public education) have been reduced and dismissed as oppressive by a specific gender/race ideology. Didn't need Tik Tok to know this type of attitude exists in nurses, cops, firefighters and it's making it's way into the 'higher' professions as well. Expect to see more of this. Luckily we're still coasting on the cultural historical capital of basic Western values, so there is still outrage when stuff like this happens, but that capital is going to run out pretty quickly in about one generation or so.
I hate Tik Tok with my whole being. With the birth of “influencers”, we have a whole generation trying to make it big on Tik Tok and IG and make money. There are 8 year old kids on You Tube making more money in a year than I will in a lifetime for simply playing with toys. It’s insane!
I 100% agree with the firing of the see e nurses. I hope they learned a valuable lesson. Sadly, they threw away their careers for some pipe dream.
Plastic people make plastic nurses. Is it the degradation of society or a lack of consequences? Perhaps a shift in social values is to blame or a lack of morality. Either way, the patients suffer and so do the honest hard working nurses who have to answer for their colleagues outrageous behaviors.
Specializes in Dialysis, Neuro Step Down ICU, Ortho, PCU, Tele.
Nursing is such a trusted profession, if I’m not mistaken it’s the most trusted of them all. Putting something like this on TikTok completely undermines that. People who see this video and others like it are going to see that and potentially not trust whether their nurses are genuine. In a time like these where no one wants to trust anything or anyone, there’s no need to add fuel to the fire, so to speak. If you want to complain that’s fine, do it privately among your peers. This doesn’t give nursing a good rep. I’m not sure what I would have done if I were in the position, but I’m not upset they were let go.
I don't understand why some health care providers would willingly expose themselves to trouble like that. Don't do it folks! That video must have been disheartening for the parents who gave birth there.
Specializes in cardiology, psychiatry, corrections.
Very inappropriate and uncalled for, and I think they all deserved to lose their jobs. We all have our pet peeves, and it’s OK to vent with other coworkers and colleagues, but there is a time and a place for everything, and you want to be somewhere at a time when patients can’t see or hear you. I read that a patient who was very happy with the care she received went out of her way to give good reviews; if I were that patient and later recognized one of those nurses talking like that who had cared for me and my baby, but later saw that video, I would have wondered “is she referring to me? Does she really care about the patients, or was it all just an act?”
RNperdiem, RN
4,592 Posts
The nurses learned the hard way about doing social media at work in uniform while representing their hospital. They seemed to forget that hospitalized people are people in vulnerable positions, and the hospital did not want to be associated with this.
If you look around, there are lots of nursing TikTok videos out there and these nurses were thinking they were making just another video. Maybe they lacked foresight into what they were doing, especially for younger people who grew up surrounded by internet.