Student nurse gets the boot...veteran nurse fired

[C287]

The worst thing happened to our nursing class today and I just really need to talk to someone other than my fellow students and my family. A couple of students were in the OR observing during clinicals this week and asked a nurse to snap a photo of them holding some recently removed body tissues--in the background of the photo you could see the patient's stomach a little. She posted the photo to her facebook page under all the rest of her nursing school pictures. Someone emailed the photo to our program director. The student who posted it to her facebook has been kicked out, the other one in the photo reprimanded, and the nurse who took the photo has been fired from the hospital. I'm not sure what to be most upset about...the thought that perhaps another student who was a FB friend of this student's emailed this photo with the intent of getting that student kicked out of the program (we are not allowed to have our cell phones) or the fact that the nurse who took the photo was fired (when I worked with her I believe she has been a nurse for 20 some odd years) or the fact that the rest of us have to go back there on monday morning and deal with the consequences and worry about having to lose the nursing school's contract with the hospital--if not for us, for future students! man this all a mess:crying2: sorry about the sloppy writing--I'm distressed.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

The student who reported it absolutely did the right thing. Put your mind at ease there. That individual is the only one to have behaved ethically. Unbelievable.

[CanadianGirl79]

It's sad that the nurse was fired, and that the student was kicked out, but honestly, the veteran nurse should have told the students that their request was inappropriate, and the student who posted the photo to FB should have used better judgement as well.

When you go back on Monday, be very professional. Show the hospital that while your fellow students may have used poor judgement, and acted in an unprofessional manner, you are not the same way.

Best of luck!

[Ddestiny, BSN, RN]

I think it was just last year that a nursing student in her L/D rotation was kicked out of a program for having her picture taken with a placenta then uploading said picture to Facebook. No part of the patient's face or body was in the picture but it's still extremely inappropriate.

If I remember correctly it was a local issue (not my school but I believe in my state) and now our school doesn't allow any form of cell phone to be brought with us to clinicals no matter what your situation, and the iPods we take with our drug information have to have a cover that goes over the camera part. Just a reminder that something that we might not find to be unusual in this day of constant access to the internet and FB can still have major consequences.

[pyroandbozzt]

Can't believe how anyone thought this would end well. Stupidity is as stupid does.

[andreasmom02]

It's a sad situation all around... We become nurses to help people. Patients are supposed to trust us. We are supposed to help them, & protect them from harm the best we can while they're in our care. Taking a picture with a patient's organs is highly inappropriate. The student nurse & the veteran nurse were in no way being a "protector" of their patient during that situation obviously. I'm sure they feel bad about their poor judgement now, but they really should have thought about the consequences before taking the picture. I think the student nurse who reported it did the right thing as well.

[NellieOlsen]

Yeah, that was completely inappropriate and those punished deserved what happened.

[WorriedAbout2Morrow]

When the students show up @ the hospital on Monday, they should be prepared for a least than warm reception, especially from the friends/co-worker of the fired nurse. I would hate to be there to witness the the encounter. Hope everything works out for you and your classmates.

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

I can't believe that nurses/students/whoever would think its OK to take a picture during a medical procedure. What the heck where they thinking? This poor person just had major surgery - they had something removed from their body - and these people want to a) take pictures and then b) post them on Facebook??

Really??

They all deserved what they got. I've had several surgeries and am currently gearing up for # 9 - if I knew that one of the nurses in my OR had taken pictures of someone in the past, there is no way I would want them in my OR.

[samirish]

Horrible, inappropriate and distasteful. Period.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

What the heck were they thinking?

The hospital and school did the right thing. Hopefully they saved themselves buckets of money in the long run for not being sued for HIPAA violations from the family.

I hope this student nurse isn't defending her behavior.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

The veteran nurse definitely should have known better! People being fired over stuff on their facebook account has been in the news a lot lately. I know the younger generation has grown up with laptops, cell phones and now facebook where they like to store all their photos and talk about their parties, but you guys need to wake up!

Employers are searching facebook accounts all the time now before giving you a job! Even universities are doing the same thing. On top of that when you have 500+ "friends" all it takes in one of them to say or report something to your boss and you can be fired! I know having hundreds of "friends" is the latest popularity contest, but it is very dangerous.

Don't put compromising pictures out there! Don't write or say anything you wouldn't want your boss, family, school or new employer to know! Certainly, keep the security level up so only your friends can access your info. Of course with 500 friends and there friends you really have lost your privacy anyway and have no real security! It only takes one person who may be motivated by who knows what ... jealousy, envy, revenge, a fight you guys had last week, to destroy your life.