Social Media and Doxxing - Your Thoughts???

[traumaRUs]

So, I first had to look up "doxxing" which is to publicly identify or publish private information about (someone) especially as a form of punishment or revenge.

This recently came up when I read about Joshua Strickland, an RN in Louisianna who posted a selfie at the end of his first day on a new job in which he BLURRED out parts of his name tag. He vaguely mentioned a comment from a patient he had cared for that day without revealing any identifying information. He posted it to a FB group and it went viral as so many nurses could identify with his sentiment.

However, out of the thousands of supportive comments he received there was someone who felt a need to report it. So, they utilized technology to "unblur" his name tag and then reported it to his hospital.

He was fired and is currently unemployed.

So....what are your thoughts on this?

Is it okay to post selfies regarding work situations?

How about the person who reported it?

Do you know your facility policy?

[Asystole RN]

I live by a simple rule, never post something online that you are not willing to say in-person and in-public. Keep in mind that there are not just consequences to our license and employment but there are also other consequences.

I remember a little while ago where people on this very forum were sued, along with AllNurses, over poor reviews of a company that provided study materials.

[Guest757854]

18 hours ago, Kyrshamarks said:

This is actually a social media site..lol

(No reply)

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

So based on this summary, it sounds like the patient wasn't identifiable, right? So I guess I don't understand the big deal about the photo at all?

I have no social media now and can't foresee a day when I'd be adorable enough at work to take a selfie anyway, BUT. On your first day of work, in your fresh new never-been-puked-on scrubs, as you're walking in feeling absolutely radiant...come on. That's a beautiful moment - as is surviving your first day. I can understand wanting to take a picture of that.

This seems like more of an argument against having last names on work badges than anything else. I feel like the person who made the effort to *UNBLUR* and report a first-day selfie was way out of line, and I would like to know what hospital policy was violated in particular to warrant firing a man over a picture he took of himself.

ETA: I can't see the version of the photo someone posted. What was the tone or nature of the comment he made?

[subee, MSN, CRNA]

Did he violate any hospital policy? I think the person who reported him is a dorkmeister and, instead, advised him of the danger posting one's picture in a post on ANY nursing forum.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

He actually only posted a selfie with his name tag blurred out. He did make a comment that a pt made. However he did not in any way ID the pt. Seems like hospital took offense at selfie when name tag made readable

[klone, MSN, RN]

On 9/15/2019 at 12:26 PM, chare said:

ZDogg discussed this. The issue didn’t arise from an “unblurred” ID badge. A copy of what appears to be the photo in question is available. And while his ID badge is not visible, the facility's logo was. And although blurry, someone was able to identify the facility. There is also an interview with Jessica Sites on her YouTube channel
and what appears to be the same picture linked above can be seen at about 35 minutes.

Having said this, it was still a d****e bag move to report him.

Sounds like the issue was that the hospital's logo was identifiable. They have a right to mitigate any appearances of HIPAA violations, social media policy violations, and privacy violations.

[pebblebeach, BSN, RN]

I have posted a couple photos from work (on a private social media account) with zero mention of patients - just positive reflections ... i.e. on my one year anniversary as a nurse, a selfie of my good friend and I in the break room. I go by the rule also that I wouldn't post anything my boss or coworkers would be surprised by, and I don't vent on social media, certainly not about work anyway. So if our nametags are visible... and someone zooms in on them, that's a punishable offense? (Perhaps if someone doesn't like me enough to report it... yikes)

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Not much more to add about the advisability of posting selfies on social media with a facility logo in the background, even if blurred, etc.

I will also go on to agree with ZDogg that whoever outed him to this employer in order to get him in trouble is a miserable, mean, horrible human being. What kind of person gets personal satisfaction out of getting someone fired for something like this?????

[chernandez3841]

I would never take or post any pictures from work. I wouldn’t even mention any situations I encountered period. It’s just not worth risking.

[futurepsychrn, ADN]

I'm going to take a slightly different position here. Are we not still in America where freedom of speech is guaranteed by the 1st amendment? As long as HIPPA is not violated, why would you let someone tell you what you can or cannot say when you are not at work? It baffles me that we have come to the point in this country where we allow ourselves to be made sheep for corporations. If your company tells you you may not EVER have a glass of wine while employed by them, will you do that also? If they tell you you can't shop at a certain store because they don't agree with their policies, do you stop shopping there? If you work for, say a Catholic hospital, and they say you must stop attending your church and only attend Catholic services and you MUST attend church regularly do you leave your chosen religion and do as they say? When you are not on the clock, they are not in charge! When do we say enough is enough? A job is just that, a job, at least mine is. It's not my life it's my job.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

This problem is twofold. One, he made a statement that a patient made. If the patient or anyone else who was around saw that and knew the patient said it- now that patient is identifiable and, at least in theory, could potentially be a HIPAA violation. This is how the facility sees it.

The second issue comes from this person posting personal opinions about patients and the employer able to be identified. That reflects poorly on the employer.

They made an example of him. I am not convinced it was the wrong action to take given the slippery slope we live in. All it would take was his post to go viral and that patient or their family able to recognize the facility and the patient statement to know they were spoken about on a public platform by someone charged with taking care of them and protecting their privacy. Then there is the public nature of this and how it might make potential patients feel in reporting to that institution for care. If it was that easy to "unblur" the name tag, anyone could do that.

It was a harsh lesson to learn, to be sure. Heavy handed? Probably. But also understandable.

The right or wrongness of him being "outted" is a side issue. Once it is placed in public, it is out there, written in INK for the whole wide world to see, mess with, copy, save etc.

The individual above posting that they have posted positive things in a "private" social media account - just know there is no such thing. Its good you only post positive, but don't delude yourself that it is private.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

5 hours ago, futurepsychrn said:

I'm going to take a slightly different position here. Are we not still in America where freedom of speech is guaranteed by the 1st amendment? As long as HIPPA is not violated, why would you let someone tell you what you can or cannot say when you are not at work? It baffles me that we have come to the point in this country where we allow ourselves to be made sheep for corporations. If your company tells you you may not EVER have a glass of wine while employed by them, will you do that also? If they tell you you can't shop at a certain store because they don't agree with their policies, do you stop shopping there? If you work for, say a Catholic hospital, and they say you must stop attending your church and only attend Catholic services and you MUST attend church regularly do you leave your chosen religion and do as they say? When you are not on the clock, they are not in charge! When do we say enough is enough? A job is just that, a job, at least mine is. It's not my life it's my job.

I will speak to the Catholic hospital issue - the local very large Catholic system does indeed only have Catholics at the top of the tier. It is well known which church to attend and even in some cases which service to attend.