I ran onto this article where a Canadian nursing board is punishing an RN for posting on her private Facebook page about care her Grandfather received at a hospital, where she DID NOT work at, charging her with Professional Misconduct.
I personally think nursing boards have to much control over what happens in our personal lives.
In February 2015, Prince Albert nurse Carolyn Strom posted a news article about end-of-life care on her personal Facebook page and then commented about the subpar care†her grandfather had received at a Macklin health facility. The post was brought to the attention of staff there, who filed a complaint with the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association (SRNA).
Strom defended herself at a two-day hearing in Regina this past February — the SRNA's first disciplinary hearing about nurses' behaviour on social media. She argued the SRNA's code of ethics did not apply to her when she posted on Facebook because she was not part of her grandfather's health care team and wrote the post on a personal page. She said it's important for people to discuss health care issues and argued her right to free speech would be violated if she was found guilty of professional misconduct.
The SRNA disagreed.
In a written decision published this fall, the SRNA pointed out that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is not absolute. It also stated that courts across Canada have found regulated professionals guilty of professional misconduct because of things they have done in their private lives.
Pending the outcome of a penalty hearing that has not yet been scheduled, Strom could be expelled or suspended from the SRNA or face some other form of sanction, such as a fine.
Strom's lawyer, Marcus Davies, said he will appeal the decision after the penalty hearing.
(The SRNA) have over-punished, over-sanctioned and responded inappropriately to a discussion on health care and they have held (Strom) to a standard that I think few of us would expect ever to be held to. You can't comment on your own grandparent?†he said.
If you remove nurses from a discussion of health care — which this decision effectively does — nurses will be reluctant or frightened to engage in a frank discussion of health care in public. Then you've made the discussion less valuable.â€
If the decision stands, it could have repercussions for other self-regulating professions such as doctors, accountants and lawyers, Davies said.
The SRNA said Strom, who identified herself as a nurse in her Facebook post, harmed the reputation of nursing staff at the Macklin facility, which runs contrary to the SRNA's broad code of ethics.
Canadian nurses are governed according to the standards and guidelines set forth by the College of Nurses (in this case SRNA) and the Code of Ethics.
Because she openly criticized other RNs and informed the public on social media that she was an RN, the SRNA has grounds to charge her with professional misconduct.
That is the issue. This has nothing to do with the government, or the fact that we don't have freedom of speech.
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
Tough and rough crowd LOL.
I just completely disagree. It was her FB page and she should be able to say what she wants without repercussions. What she said was not anything that did not ring true and why shouldn't she be able to give her opinion as formed by her education and professional experiences. The facility can rebut however they wish on their own FB page.
It all rings true to me and fair and balanced.
I think employers and professional organizations need to step back and get out of peoples personal business. It had nothing to do with anything but her own families experience of care and for all we know she did take it to the facility administration and got no satisfaction.
She is not their employee so she should be able to say what she wishes.
More and more often the line is becoming blurred between a persons personal and professional life and how much their professional organization and/or employer can involve themselves. I don't see it ending well. I did not give up all my rights when I became a nurse.
I think it is safe to say....just leave comments to FB about how much you like your dog.
Or cute pictures / videos of your kids...that's what I use Facebook for. It's just not worth getting into hot water for the sake of ranting or venting.
I just completely disagree. It was her FB page and she should be able to say what she wants without repercussions. What she said was not anything that did not ring true and why shouldn't she be able to give her opinion as formed by her education and professional experiences. The facility can rebut however they wish on their own FB page.
It all rings true to me and fair and balanced.
I think employers and professional organizations need to step back and get out of peoples personal business. It had nothing to do with anything but her own families experience of care and for all we know she did take it to the facility administration and got no satisfaction.
She is not their employee so she should be able to say what she wishes.
More and more often the line is becoming blurred between a persons personal and professional life and how much their professional organization and/or employer can involve themselves. I don't see it ending well. I did not give up all my rights when I became a nurse.
And 99.5% of my FB posts are about my dogs lol.
You do not stop being a nurse when you clock out at the end of the day.
If someone does not want to abide by the rules and regulations set for a regulated profession then they need to surrender the license that they petitioned the public to hold.
If that nurse did not want to be publicly be scrutinized then she should not have publicly announced herself.
I'm sorry but stupid still hurts. Everyone has a right to be stupid but everyone else has a right to call them out on it.
Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
Depending on exactly what/how she wrote her post, I think it is absolutely wrong that she was punished for free speech regardless of whether she identified as a nurse or not - she was speaking as a patient's family member who happens to be a nurse.
NOW, that being said, this is exactly why I think social media is a horrible idea especially for those in sensitive positions such as nurses. When I did have social media, I used an alias and did not post anything at all about my profession or work. I have seen many nurses, techs, HUCs, and other health care workers fired over the years for issues related to social media - some were completely justifiable, others were gray areas...either way my rule of thumb is stay away!
I can see both sides. HOWEVER, the policies and procedures governing nursing in Canada are very clear about social media use, particularly over the last 5 years.
Every month there are disciplinary notices posted in the nursing magazine that I receive, and at least one relates to social media use. I know not to post anything related directly to work or patients.
I can see both sides. HOWEVER, the policies and procedures governing nursing in Canada are very clear about social media use, particularly over the last 5 years.
Every month there are disciplinary notices posted in the nursing magazine that I receive, and at least one relates to social media use. I know not to post anything related directly to work or patients.
Unfortunately, this can happen to any of us.
I see both sides too. Social media does cause firestorms, I think the internet has actually contributed to school shootings in the US, Islamic extremism, suicides, and any and all type of disinformation, false news, sexual perversions, you name it.
On the other hand, it is such a fount of information and a great way to connect with people, like this site, for example.
On Facebook I am 95% pet and family pictures, outdoor photos and the like. But, I also think it's a good media for an average citizen to get on ones soapbox now and then. I occasionally will comment on politics, the medical system, or other topics of the day, and start interesting discussions. Unfortunately, some people are unable to engage in civil discourse, and become easily inflamed.
Of course, if I mention work at all, it will be only thankfulness and praise.
Many people on Facebook under-utilize the simple tools to control what one sees on ones newsfeed. The same on allnurses. Don't like a topic? Don't click on it.
This case is one that I am sure many nursing schools will use as an example of what NOT to do with your social media account. While the nurse in question may have originally been venting to her Facebook friends, once she tweeted her page out to political figures she opened her page up to anyone that cared to look. I believe in freedom of speech, but I also believe in exercising common sense. Once she identified herself as a nurse things took a dramatic turn, and not in her favor. Most posters here have indicated that they keep their social media pages free from anything work related - smart. I NEVER talk about my job online (except here of course!), Never mention that I am a nurse, and I don't engage in political discourse - It's. just. not. worth. it,
I just completely disagree. It was her FB page and she should be able to say what she wants without repercussions. What she said was not anything that did not ring true and why shouldn't she be able to give her opinion as formed by her education and professional experiences. The facility can rebut however they wish on their own FB page.
Depending on exactly what/how she wrote her post, I think it is absolutely wrong that she was punished for free speech regardless of whether she identified as a nurse or not - she was speaking as a patient's family member who happens to be a nurse.
Arghh, this is in all honesty a bit frustrating :) I still feel that some posters aren't seeing what the SRNA discipline decision signifies. My interpretation is that the nurse isn't primarily criticized for what she did do (post on Facebook), but for what she didn't do (speak up when she had concerns regarding the quality of care at the facility). I don't interpret the SRNA's decision as free speech being censored. I think it's about failure to meet the standards outlined in the Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses.
Of course a person can have the opinion that we should just scrap the Code of Ethics altogether. We could decide that a reasonable expectation is that a registered nurse doesn't voice his or her concerns when he or she sees sub-standard care being delivered. We can decide that it's okay to witness healthcare staff not protecting the dignity of patients and say nothing when it happens. We can agree that you don't have an obligation to protect the patient and that you don't owe your colleagues the professional courtesy of pointing out to them when they don't perform up to par. We can decide that the only thing a nurse should do, is to post about it on social media afterthefact.
If you read the Code of Ethics, and specifically the points that the SRNA refer to in the "verdict", you'll see that they expect a registered nurse to; collaborate with other healthcare providers to maximize health benefits to persons receiving care. They expect that nurses treat each other, colleagues, and other health-care workers in a respectful manner and that nurses work with others to resolve differences in a constructive way. They also expect that nurses use appropriate channels of communication. Should these expectations only apply when we're on duty? I guess we can all have different opinions regarding that.
One paragraph in the Code of Ethics that I don't see mentioned in the discipline decision is; "Nurses intervene, and report when necessary, when others fail to respect the dignity of a person receiving care, recognizing that to be silent and passive is to condone the behaviour".
My opinion is that evenif the Code of Ethics didn't exist, I would still expect a nurse to act immediately if they witness healthcare staff/other nurses failing to preserve the dignity of a patient under their care. I would expect this both if it happened when a nurse is on duty or off. But as I said, that's my personal opinion. (I don't know what this nurse personally witnessed and what she was just informed about by other relatives, so I'm just speaking in general terms here).
If the information in the discipline decision is accurate the only thing the nurse brought to the staff's attention was the concern she had regarding the expired hand sanitizer in the recreation room. She didn't voice any objections when witnessing alternatively hearing about her relative's dignity not being protected. She only posted about that on Facebook. If she had mentioned these concerns to staff or management and then also posted about it on Facebook, I suspect that the discipline decision would have looked quite different.
Another thing. Some posters seem to assume that it's the facility in question that is most upset about these unflattering Facebook posts. While I wouldn't be surprised if the people in charge of the facility are less than thrilled, I believe that it's individual nurses who feel most hurt/wronged by the criticism. I don't know how any of you would react, but I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be happy if one of my patient's relatives and fellow nurse, who never said a word about the care I or my coworkers provided while the care was ongoing, decided to voice very serious but at the same time very vague complaints, on Facebook. I certainly wouldn't appreciate being accused of "only being in nursing for the pay cheque" Would (the generic) you?
Would (the generic) you?
joanna73, BSN, RN
4,767 Posts
Canadian nurses are governed according to the standards and guidelines set forth by the College of Nurses (in this case SRNA) and the Code of Ethics.
Because she openly criticized other RNs and informed the public on social media that she was an RN, the SRNA has grounds to charge her with professional misconduct.
That is the issue. This has nothing to do with the government, or the fact that we don't have freedom of speech.