Connie is an Emergency Nurse with 7 years of experience. On her days off, she logs onto her Facebook page as she finds this is the easiest way to keep in touch with her colleagues in her graduating class.
One day Connie logged on and noted that one of her colleagues who works in a hospital in the same province, was seeking the group's advice. He had posted concerns about his frustrations with staff shortages at his work and how a patient had developed severe pressure ulcers as a result. Her colleague did not mention the patient's name but posted pictures of the pressure ulcers which he had taken with his phone camera.
4 comments:
Egad! What a complete breach of that patient's privacy!
I am a firm believer that work belongs at work, not on a social networking site such as Facebook.
Heather
I agree h-woman! I had an interesting lengthy discussion with a group of first year nursing students last week regarding discussing work issues on face book. After the conversation, I now believe that all employers should discuss this very issue with all new hires. New employees should sign a waiver that they understand the risks and will not discuss work related issues of ANY kind on face book (or any online forum). In addition, an education/training session for all staff would be a good idea too.
Jayne
Based upon this case study, it is obvious that the employee who posted on facebook needs additional information regarding what constitutes patient privacy and confidentiality. Is it possible that as a society we have become so comfortable with certain technologies that we forget the potential threats they pose?
I would also suggest that this particular nurse review the CNA Code of Ethics for his/her professional responsibilites.
Renee
I think you're right Renee, posting our thoughts and opinions seems to be a focus and common practice in our society. So much so that we seem to forget the responsibility of ensuring that doing so, does not infringe on the rights and privacy of others.
Heather and Jayne, you both bring up great points about social networking sites not being the venue for work related issues. But, I still think we will continue to see more of it, that is, until organizations broaden and clarify existing policies on giving out confidential information to include this, as well as expectations of employee conduct off duty. Augmenting this with an education session with staff on this specific issue, I believe, is an excellent idea Jayne.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Jennifer
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