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?

[LibraSunCNM, BSN, MSN, CNM]

7 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 think you're muddying multiple issues here. The first amendment means you can't get arrested or imprisoned for, say, posting a video saying Donald Trump is an idiot. It DOESN'T mean that a private healthcare institution can't penalize you for doing something they see as bad publicity. Whether or not this is a HIPAA issue (and the details of exactly what was originally posted seem fuzzy), this nurse's employer had the right to fire him because they felt his post reflected poorly on them. Is it overkill? I think so. Should people just have some common sense and not post selfies at or about work? I think so too.

It sounds like your actual concern is that employers have too much power over what employees do in their private lives---which is a valid and interesting argument. Mandatory BMI and nicotine screenings before hire are another example of this slippery slope. However, the idea that when you're off the clock they're not in charge doesn't hold water when what you're doing off the clock involves your employer. The nurse in this case was not entirely blameless. I don't think they should have been fired though.

[AlabamaBelle]

I'm more appalled at the pettiness of the nurse who reported Jonathan. This is a petty, vindictive individual. Everyone who works around this person should be wary.

I don't do selfies and I don't list who I work for.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

11 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?

In this case, he WAS at work, in his work uniform, with his work badge, and in a hallway that happened to have a sign in the background that said the name of the employer.

ETA I want to clarify that nobody went out of their way to "unblur" the original photo he posted in the facebook group - he accidentally posted a photo in which he didn't realize, somehow, that his name badge was visible AND you could identify the name of the employer in the background. If I remember correctly he took down the original photo as soon as he realized what he did, and then reposted one where you couldn't see the information, but it was too late by then.

I think reporting him was unnecessary as he did not violate any HIPAA information. It wasn't smart of him to post at all though - his post was something along the lines of what an elder patient told him that day, "82y.o. pt told writer to go f*ck themselves. Will continue to monitor" and was supposed to be a joke on the whole "will continue to monitor" phrase that nurses love so much. I understand to an extent why the employer chose to fire him as well - this picture and caption was posted to a public facebook group with 270,000+ members; while it may not have violated HIPAA, I'm sure it violated the company's social media policy.

Be smart people, common sense and all of that. Your company is not your friend, they will always look out for themselves. Social media is not your friend.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

1 hour ago, AlabamaBelle said:

I'm more appalled at the pettiness of the nurse who reported Jonathan. This is a petty, vindictive individual. Everyone who works around this person should be wary.

I don't do selfies and I don't list who I work for.

Given that he posted it to a huge group, it is likely there was nobody "vindictive". It may have just landed right in front of the people who monitor that.

Seriously folks. NOTHING is private on the Internet. This isn't rocket science.

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

7 minutes ago, Nurse SMS said:

Given that he posted it to a huge group, it is likely there was nobody "vindictive". It may have just landed right in front of the people who monitor that.

Seriously folks. NOTHING is private on the Internet. This isn't rocket science.

I think you're right. While I'm more familiar with doxxing stories where someone was trying to seek revenge for someone they didn't like and went through lengths to expose the victim of doxxing, this appears to stem simply from the fact that a hospital logo...the company's trademark, the very symbol that represents the hospital's public image was there for all to see while the nurse was spouting privileged communication with a patient. I compare it to talking about a patient in an elevator within earshot of others or being seen in a political rally wearing your scrubs and hospital badge both of which will irk your employer.

[CRNA Esquire, DNP, CRNA]

I think with so much of our world being online and on social media our policies need to be updated to be more acceptable and realistic. Of course photos of patients and violating HIPPA is always unacceptable but what you described is ridiculous.

It was a photo of him and only him, at the end of his work day and he even blurred out his workplace identifying information. Someone had to do work to undue his censoring to figure out any identifying information to report him.

With all of these social media personalities who work in the medical field I can guarantee you could see content like that daily all over the place. Completely unfair and unacceptable his facility fired him. At most they should have given him a warning that they didn't like him posting to social media while still at/near work. He could have complied and everything would have been fine.

[Susie2310]

I think it's wise to keep in mind that: 1) Many people will take action when they perceive a licensed person in any field that has professional and ethical responsibilities to the public is behaving in a way that is not in accord with the values of their profession; 2) Nurses can be (and sometimes are) disciplined by the state Boards of Nursing for unprofessional conduct that takes place when they are off the job.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

1 hour ago, CRNA Esquire said:

I think with so much of our world being online and on social media our policies need to be updated to be more acceptable and realistic. Of course photos of patients and violating HIPPA is always unacceptable but what you described is ridiculous.

It was a photo of him and only him, at the end of his work day and he even blurred out his workplace identifying information. Someone had to do work to undue his censoring to figure out any identifying information to report him.

With all of these social media personalities who work in the medical field I can guarantee you could see content like that daily all over the place. Completely unfair and unacceptable his facility fired him. At most they should have given him a warning that they didn't like him posting to social media while still at/near work. He could have complied and everything would have been fine.

Great points. When I look at who our medical/nursing social influencers are and how much they post. I personally have been surprized at how much info they put out.... As an APRN myself, my practice wouldn't be happy with me posting about my workplace

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

4 minutes ago, traumaRUs said:

Great points. When I look at who our medical/nursing social influencers are and how much they post. I personally have been surprized at how much info they put out.... As an APRN myself, my practice wouldn't be happy with me posting about my workplace

Yes, and I've met some of them too. I know one who expresses political beliefs openly on a blog and on twitter while practicing in a state known for leaning the opposite direction. I guess if done respectfully, professionally and is still aligned with the values of the institution you represent, you can be fine. I prefer not to indulge in it because it's hard to determine where you can cross the line.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Quote

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?

The First Amendment does not protect individuals from consequences meted out by private corporations. It's amazing how few people understand the 1st amendment.

Secondly, no one can prevent you from saying anything you want outside of work. Say whatever you want in or out of work if you like. Just don't count on still having your job afterwards, however.

And it's HIPAA, not HIPPA.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

2 hours ago, CRNA Esquire said:

It was a photo of him and only him, at the end of his work day and he even blurred out his workplace identifying information. Someone had to do work to undue his censoring to figure out any identifying information to report him.

This is not accurate. He posted a picture with his badge showing as well as the name of the facility showing on a wall plaque in a hallway in the background. There was no work that had to be done to "undue his censoring" because he never censored it in the first place.

[LovingLife123]

The person that reported him was wrong. They were being malicious.

I don’t see what the big deal is posting a picture of yourself at work. As long as you aren’t posting patient info, what is the big deal?

If this nurse had 5 patients that night, 5 patients could have made that statement. It’s in no way identifying information.

And since when is it a violation for people to know where you work? Who cares if the symbol of the company he worked for was in his pic. You can say on your profile where you work. And unless the hospital is firing everyone who identifies that they are an employee at this facility, it’s a moot point.

People are taking HIPAA too far. It amazes me how many people on here don’t understand it. This nurse also wasn’t blasting his employer. So again, not sure what the big deal was.

The firing was wrong. And the nurse that reported him needs a lesson on having a good work environment. I’m guessing this firing has made everyone suspicious of each other and morale is in the toilet.

People are so vicious to each other these days. I don’t get it.