Published
Hello all-
A co-worker of mine cared for a minor celebrity and was herself a fan. She wanted a picture with the patient and asked if I wanted to get one too. I declined. She took the picture after the patient was discharged. The patient was dressed and standing outside the room.
After having a very busy day I didnt think much about it. I told another co-worker about myself not "getting a picture" with this patient and then I thought I was glad I didnt choose to, because I didnt think it was right (although it would have been neat to have a picture). The co-worker I told, reported this Nurse to management.
This Nurse had a meeting with management and her job is in jeopardy.
Is this wrong? I personally think it is, but I would never want to get my co-worker into trouble. I feel so bad by saying anything as it is affecting her.
Also this staff member was contacted that evening by this former patient for a bleeding IV site issue at discharge and was instructed to go to the ED (I thought calling 911 would have been better as he was at home). My co-worker met the patient in the ED after she was clocked out and off duty to see how the patient was. Do you think this is inappropriate?
I feel badly for her.
What do you all think?
I actually had a family who asked to take pictures of their family member while they were on the vent and sedated. I spoke with our hospital's HIPAA officer and she said that if the POA gave written permission then it was okay. As far as hospital policy went, I had to make sure that there wasn't any company logo in the picture. Other than that, she said it was okay. I do not think this was a violation of HIPAA since the patient gave permission to have his picture taken. I do agree that it wasn't the best decision BUT we all make mistakes and I do not think this nurse should lose her job over this. As far as the bleeding IV. I would tell the patient to hold pressure at home. Of course, we don't know the whole story. Maybe the nurse met the patient in the ED because she felt responsible since she DC'd the IV?
As a profession, it bothers me that nurses feel the need to "tattle" on each other. A simple conversation with the nurse at the time it was happening could have stopped this all in it's track. I have seen this in my hospital too.
I'm not quoting any posts here, but I do want to make a distinction.....I do agree that the photo was unprofessional....I just don't agree that it was a HIPAA violation.
No, the OP doesn't say outright that the patient gave consent, but if the photo was WITH the patient....they'd have had to. To me, it is implied.
Plenty of other details are being "filled in" by responders ("what if there was someone in the background," etc etc etc) that we simply don't know if that's the case or not. We DON'T have all the details, right on that, but we can't then make some up to back up the HIPAA violation theory. JMHO.
Yes, it was inappropriate. A big, "A list"film star cut his hand with a wine bottle opener and came to our ED for a few stitches. There is a photo of the entire staff with him and his equally famous A list wife, right out there in the main hallway. Patients and visitors comment on it everyday, "oh wow, so and so were here?!" As if that is impressive somehow. There isn't another hospital for 60 miles, where else was he supposed to go? This is a hospital, not Sardis. It makes us look completely unprofessional and it has always bugged me.
i don't think it's that big of a deal. i personally have never cared for getting my pic taken with celebrities, but many people do - obviously.
i asked my doctor and the nurses that cared for me in the hospital if i could take THEIR pictures. of course they let me. i think most people appreciate their nurses and like to show their gratitude. when i had my wisdom teeth removed, the nurses went so far beyond what i think is expected that i sent them flowers. if i were a celebrity, and they asked to take a pic, i would have gladly done so - assuming i wasn't sedated or in pain. i dunno, it just seems harmless and i would bet the celebrity was happy to do it for his nurse.
as far as the nurse being off duty and meeting up with him - maybe she had just gotten off and stopped by on her way out. it's not like she got dressed and left home to meet him at the hospital.
it just all seems petty IMO.
Hello all-A co-worker of mine cared for a minor celebrity and was herself a fan. She wanted a picture with the patient and asked if I wanted to get one too. I declined. She took the picture after the patient was discharged. The patient was dressed and standing outside the room.
After having a very busy day I didnt think much about it. I told another co-worker about myself not "getting a picture" with this patient and then I thought I was glad I didnt choose to, because I didnt think it was right (although it would have been neat to have a picture). The co-worker I told, reported this Nurse to management.
This Nurse had a meeting with management and her job is in jeopardy.
Is this wrong? I personally think it is, but I would never want to get my co-worker into trouble. I feel so bad by saying anything as it is affecting her.
Also this staff member was contacted that evening by this former patient for a bleeding IV site issue at discharge and was instructed to go to the ED (I thought calling 911 would have been better as he was at home). My co-worker met the patient in the ED after she was clocked out and off duty to see how the patient was. Do you think this is inappropriate?
I feel badly for her.
What do you all think?
Yes, it was inappropriate because the patient being discharged is not just paperwork being completed into the computer, it is also the patient LEAVING the hospital.
Did the patient ASK the nurse if she would like a picture, or did SHE ASK HIM?
That is very important and if he asked me and I wanted one, no way would I do it unless I ran it by management.
It would have been 100% inappropriate for her to ask him.
Another time when pictures of patients are taken frequently by staff is in OB when a stillborn or otherwise non-viable baby is delivered. To the best of my knowledge, the nurse is the one who begins that conversation if the mother doesn't explicitly ask for pictures. There's an example of when it's not only not unprofessional behavior to take pictures of a patient in a hospital setting (and definitely at a compromised time in their lives), but the ethical thing to do. I consider the baby to be a patient alongside the mom until the family leaves the hospital.
I agree that patient consent is necessary. It just sucks that in our world we can't leave it at verbal consent, and the CYA thing to do is definitely get written consent.
I hope I never get a certain celebrity as a patient! I can think of a few that I would love to meet and have a picture with, and I'm not at all Hollywood-obsessed.
Hello all-A co-worker of mine cared for a minor celebrity and was herself a fan. She wanted a picture with the patient and asked if I wanted to get one too....
This Nurse had a meeting with management and her job is in jeopardy.
Good for you to decline.
Even if the celebrity agreed (and had been "legally" discharged and out of your care), this is VERY unprofessional, goodness sake, the celebrity just got over illness/surgery/whatever and is being asked to have a picture taken...no less by a caregiver? I think it is one thing to tell a person/celebrity you admire them, another to request ANYTHING from them other then medical history.
Yes, it was inappropriate. A big, "A list"film star cut his hand with a wine bottle opener and came to our ED for a few stitches. There is a photo of the entire staff with him and his equally famous A list wife, right out there in the main hallway. Patients and visitors comment on it everyday, "oh wow, so and so were here?!" As if that is impressive somehow. There isn't another hospital for 60 miles, where else was he supposed to go? This is a hospital, not Sardis. It makes us look completely unprofessional and it has always bugged me.
I agree completely, I think professionalism is the most valuable asset anyone can project at work.
I've been to taverns that have pictures of celebrities who drink/eat there...never a hospital. It is just in poor taste to do so.
Another time when pictures of patients are taken frequently by staff is in OB when a stillborn or otherwise non-viable baby is delivered. To the best of my knowledge, the nurse is the one who begins that conversation if the mother doesn't explicitly ask for pictures. There's an example of when it's not only not unprofessional behavior to take pictures of a patient in a hospital setting (and definitely at a compromised time in their lives), but the ethical thing to do. I consider the baby to be a patient alongside the mom until the family leaves the hospital.I agree that patient consent is necessary. It just sucks that in our world we can't leave it at verbal consent, and the CYA thing to do is definitely get written consent.
I hope I never get a certain celebrity as a patient! I can think of a few that I would love to meet and have a picture with, and I'm not at all Hollywood-obsessed.
I think this is comparing apples and oranges.
When Mom just lost an infant, Mom is so wrapped up in her grief that she isn't thinking of having pictures taken, so therefore, it is up to the nurse to make the suggestion. The camera is usually owned by the hospital, not a personal camera of the employee and the entire purpose of the pictures is to give them to the family member, not the employee. On top of that, the hospital approves the practice because it is FOR the family.
Seriously....this is not even remotely the same thing as the situation the OP described.
I think this is comparing apples and oranges.When Mom just lost an infant, Mom is so wrapped up in her grief that she isn't thinking of having pictures taken, so therefore, it is up to the nurse to make the suggestion. The camera is usually owned by the hospital, not a personal camera of the employee and the entire purpose of the pictures is to give them to the family member, not the employee. On top of that, the hospital approves the practice because it is FOR the family.
Seriously....this is not even remotely the same thing as the situation the OP described.
I agree. An acquaintence of mine is a professional photographer who volunteers her time and production skills as a postmortem (or terminal) infant photographer. She provides her services and is "on call" with a local maternity ward. She has taken pictures of terminal (too premature/ill/etc) newborns, as well as stillborn baby photos for the families to keep a picture. She does this from a place of good, as she lost a baby at birth and wished desperately to have more than a lock of hair and a memory of the baby, so now she provides this service completely free.
There are plenty of resources on this - it is absolutely NOT the same thing as posing with a celebrity so you can brag to your friends. It can serve as a tool to benefit the patient/grieving family to have a special picture to remember their loved one, this is/can be, a coping and healing tool. There is nothing unprofessional about gently offering this service to a grieving mother who may want to remember her lost baby.
Marvie
143 Posts
I did not recall anywhere in the original post where it stated this 'celebrity' gave consent, there is no guarentee that this said photo does not have someone in the background whose privacy it may violate, would you as an RN take a photo of every patient (celebrity or not?) If not- then you are definitly being preferential and that is not a good thing...final decision is it is unprofessional at best and does take advantage of a person during a vulnerable time celebrity or not.