PHOTOGRAPHS with cellphones

[embarrasingfield]

Anyone else sick of being blind-sided with having your photo taken by a family members cell-phone?

I mean its all so nice and good that they like me and think I am cute. But how does that give them the right to snap my photo on the job?

And what is wrong with people who think this is a normal thing to do in a hospital setting?

:argue:

[Katnip, RN]

Cell phones have been forbidden in our units because the vast majority of them have cameras. We've caught patients taking pics of other patients. So all cell phones go into the safe until discharge. Family members are also forbidden to use cell phones.

We're a psych facility and that may make a difference, but as far as privacy goes, it s shouldn't.

[MassED, BSN, RN]

There are no cell phones allowed in our unit, but cameras are everywhere. Families use them, staff uses them...every day. We also have parents that stay at the bedside, making notes about everything that's done, all day long. I've also seen my name pop up in more than one Internet blog (a common thing for our families).

Yes...it's nerve-wracking, and I find it irritating some times. Like, get OUT of my face, okay! I just accept it as part of the job, and take the quiet, respectful families along with the paparazzi ones.

I don't think it's illegal to snap someone's photo in a public place. I think it's just annoying.

I wouldn't describe our places of work "public" places, like being at the mall and having your picture taken...

[MassED, BSN, RN]

Some of my co-workers have Internet pages like Facebook and myspace. A few of them have pictures of themselves at work....sometimes acting like complete morons. No, there are no patients in the pics, but it still bugs me. I don't even know WHY you'd bring a camera to work.

that's a bit different for staff to take pics of each other or in the work environment. I just had my old nursing faculty ask me to send them a pic of me, preferably in my work environment. Wouldn't that be great to send a pic of doing compressions???? :yeah:

[MIcrunchyRN]

I haven't read all of the replies. But if it were me. I'd ask them why they wanted my picture. And If I didn't feel comfortable with having my picture taken I'd ask them to delete it off the phone as its not appropriate for me to take their picture without their permission the same rules apply to myself.

I have a picture of our nurse and OB from when I had my son... but I asked and I think as an L&D nurse its expected to have your picture taken at some point...

[ilstu99]

I wouldn't describe our places of work "public" places, like being at the mall and having your picture taken...

I thought about that for a while before I wrote it, because I wasn't sure that's how I wanted to put it.....if that makes any sense. I don't see it as "public" as a park or the mall, but people pretty much come and go as they please (with few exceptions) and it does usually bring us in direct contact with lots of people.

At any rate, I can't really think of many professions in which I would be comfortable with someone taking my picture uninvited....whether I'm an RN, or the French fry girl at McD's. But if someone DOES take my picture in most work settings, and it makes me uncomfortable...what's my recourse? Pretty much to ask them not to do it again.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

Wound pictures are going to become a requirement as the Medicare regulations about hospital acquired wounds come in to place. Photo documentation of a wound on admission should be a standard in all hospitals..and will be. Without being able to document an exisiting wound and it's presence on admission, the hospital stands the chance of "owning" that wound later on in the admission.

We have several surgeons that bring cameras into the OR-usually the plastic and hand surgeons...The possibility of this is stated on the consent, and the patients face is not shown(unless the surgery involves the face, obviously).

I've also seen this done with pressure ulcers.

[Ima Nurse]

When I worked nursery, people used to take my pic constantly! With every kind of camera imaginable!

It was one aspect of working nursery that I hadn't considered until after I started. The family would take my pic while I was caring for the baby on the warmer immediately following delivery, they'd ask me to pose with the mom, etc. While it was unexpected, it didn't bother me. I can see how some people would be bothered by it though.

[SillyStudent, ASN, RN]

I posted a while back about a nurse I worked with who would take pictures of pt's wounds when they were out of it, she was a charge nurse too.

We do this as a matter of routine. When a patient comes in with wounds, the only way to protect the facility (and the medicare reimbursement!) is to have proof that the wound was pre- hospital admission.

[VivaRN]

Cell phone camera pics - I think this is an emerging issue that administration hasn't quite caught up with yet.

In a unit I was working on we had an incident where an unconscious pt's (estranged, disgruntled) family took cell phone pics of the pt and gave them to the press and other people not affiliated with the pt. Talk about breaching pt. confidentiality. Then there was the resident that took a cell phone pic of an unconscious patient he had just performed a procedure on. Maybe because it seems so informal healthcare providers don't realize the same standards apply for informed consent.

Any photography of a patient in a medical setting (even by patient's friends) has ethical implications because the patient is by definition vulnerable. There should be some consent process for this... but again, I think administration isn't there yet.

I like the idea about all cell phones going into the safe, but I wonder if it would be difficult to enforce on a non-psych unit where visitors are not routinely searched.

[CHATSDALE]

On the flip side, we had a patient who had an incredible looking fracture. Our physician asked permission to take a photograph with his cell phone. (Patient was 20 years old, mother present in room also agreed, picture JUST of fracture, no identifiable marks) Both patient and mother agreed.

When they found out that the patient would be transferred to other facility for surgery, they wrote a complaint letter to admin, including that pictures were taken. The doc was disciplined, heavily.

i don't see why the doctor in this case would be disciplined if he had consent of a 20 y/o patient and his mother [can't see why mother was included in this if patient was an adult]

if i had been the doc in this case i would have told he administor to take a hike

[littleRNthatcould]

i don't see why the doctor in this case would be disciplined if he had consent of a 20 y/o patient and his mother [can't see why mother was included in this if patient was an adult]

if i had been the doc in this case i would have told he administor to take a hike

The doctor requested the photo just to have and to study for further cases. However, the photograph was for his own personal use and not being used in the care of the patient (like surgical photography.) This is a no-no so sayeth the almighty administration.

Also, the mother was included even though the patient was an adult because multiple narcs were on board to ease the pain of this injury. I guess just like getting a surgical consent signed (can't after pre-meds are given) Doc just wanted to have all the bases covered.

And he DID essentially tell them to take a long walk off a short pier, but only after he sat through 3 meetings of this nonsense.

[VivaRN]

The doctor requested the photo just to have and to study for further cases. However, the photograph was for his own personal use and not being used in the care of the patient (like surgical photography.) This is a no-no so sayeth the almighty administration.

Also, the mother was included even though the patient was an adult because multiple narcs were on board to ease the pain of this injury. I guess just like getting a surgical consent signed (can't after pre-meds are given) Doc just wanted to have all the bases covered.

And he DID essentially tell them to take a long walk off a short pier, but only after he sat through 3 meetings of this nonsense.

Though, I know at my facility there is a written consent for situations like this. Makes sense to me because the patient might lie later on, say they never gave consent for the photo and sue. Could that be why he was disciplined?