Problem: Social Media
This story raises questions about social media use, HIPAA, the bias shown to doctors versus nurses and firing practices at hospitals.
An emergency room (ER) nurse in New York was fired after posting a photo of an empty trauma room after clinicians saved the life of a man hit by a subway train.
The nurse admits she reposted the picture from one of the doctor's Instagram pages. The doctor wasn't reprimanded or disciplined.
And while the incident underscores the importance of using discretion when posting comments and pictures on social media, it also raised concerns as to why, in an age of transparency, an empty trauma room following a major incident is terrible to publicize.
The nurse stated that the hospital officials admitted the photograph didn't violate HIPAA privacy rules or the organization's social media policies, but instead fired her because the posting was insensitive. She posted the image with the caption, "#Man vs 6 train."
The nurse worked at the hospital for six years prior to the incident. She decided to post the photo because it was a "moving and impactful picture." It was, she said, "just a very genuine intention of ... want(ing) people to see what goes on in an emergency room, from the perspective of being an ER nurse."
(This is a real life incident retrieved from Fierce Healthcare and ABC News)
Review the information posted in the Week 9 folder on Social Media. Based upon the NCSBN White Paper on the Use of Social Media:
• Was this a violation of the patient's privacy and confidentiality?
• Did it function as possible education to health consumers?
• Was this a case of moral turpitude?