Quite a few nurses have been disciplined or fired for inappropriate social media posts, with some cases even making the national news. Samuels Instagram profile, which is marked private, identifies her as a mommy and a dry cereal consumer, a professional book reader and a bipolar lover. She has more than 600 followers. Social Media Misconduct 5. What happens when a nurse breaches confidentiality depends on the nature of the breach and the reason for it. The bombs people drop on social media can detonate right away or lurk like hidden land mines. Cancel Any Time. 10 Reasons Nurses Get Fired From Their Job - Nurse Money Talk Courtesy Marian Weber. We as licensed healthcare professionals are held to a higher standard by licensure and ethical / legal standards such as HIPAA. $("#wpforms-form-28602 .wpforms-submit-container").appendTo(".submit-placement"); Much like their dance routines, empathy is also performative, and theyll even exploit the death of a patient to display their supposed struggle after managing to lose another one or highlight their strength to constantly overcome this commonplace occurrence in their profession. Come chat about it with Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News chief health and medical correspondent as well as the stars and producers of New York Med. There may be a viable claim, in some cases, under state laws. More information about how social media got Katie Duke NY Med fired: Unless youve been living under a rock, or perhaps are active on social media, you likely know that Katie Duke has skyrocketed her social media presence and various nursing business ventures. You have every right to express your opinion, as do the others who have blogged or posted about this situation. She did something insensitive and potentially damaging to a patient and her hospital. 2 Kelly Morris Credit: Instagram Why was a nurse suspended over her TikTok videos? ", Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. All rights reserved. Rather than continually refuting any wrong-doing in the situation, I would have liked to see her say You know what, this is what nurses should do in this situation. Bidens return to normalcy brought us crazy instea Hunter Biden may be held accountable for first time in his life in baby mama Lunden Roberts' case, Broadway's 'New York, New York' sticks the landing with a thrilling finale, Dems do Dianne Feinstein dirty, but have not done the same to Biden yet, Woman has 'loud, full body orgasm' in the middle of LA concert, Meghan Markle's ailing dad says he refuses 'to be buried by her' in 'final ever' interview, $76K NJ boarding school admits falling 'tragically short' in protecting teen who killed self after bullying, 'rapist' taunts, Kim Kardashian seemingly shades Kourtney's wedding in now-deleted caption. Katie Duke is a passionate nurse who has strong opinions and will no doubt find another job and have continued success. Ooooh I saw this episode! This article contains personal opinions and assumptions based on the facts available to me as of the original publication date. Social Media and Nursing: Where to Draw the Line with Professionalism She is known to be difficult. If a nurse discloses a patients health information for a purpose not allowed by the Privacy Rule, or discloses more than the minimum necessary for the purpose of the disclosure, this is a violation of the Privacy Rule. The photo itself tells a story. Pedestrian v. Car, motorcycle v. Truck. 6 Reasons Nurses Get Fired: Social Media Mistakes, and More You can lose your nursing license for a HIPAA violation if the nature of the violation is criminal (under 1177 of the Social Security Act) or if the violation represents gross misconduct. Just wanted you to know, I saw an episode of NY Med that showed this story at the time she was fired. Making Too Many Mistakes 8. Because none of us are perfect. If you practice medicine you know this. If so, it certainly upped her ratings, Im sure Im dont believe I like that sort of stereotyping about nurse role models though. Required fields are marked *. However, in 2017, ProPublica produced areporthighlighting more than fifty patient privacy violations in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. What happens if a nurse violates HIPAA compliance rules? My ick is when you come in for your induction, talking about, Can I take a shower and eat? one nurse says. HIPAA Journal provides the most comprehensive coverage of HIPAA news anywhere online, in addition to independent advice about HIPAA compliance and the best practices to adopt to avoid data breaches, HIPAA violations and regulatory fines. Duke posted the photo with the caption #Man vs 6 train., Join Today's Emergency Medicine Tweet Chat Today at 1 PM, ET, Chicago Doctor Accused of Posting Photos of Intoxicated Patient on Social Media, Push to Get Experimental Drugs With Social Media Pressure on the Rise. Its the unlimited trips to the nursing station for me, said another bemoaning nurse. (CNN) -- An oncology nurse in Oregon who bragged about flouting COVID-19 restrictions in a TikTok video "is no longer employed with Salem Health," the hospital system confirmed to CNN. It highlights just how easy for nurses to make an error that could cause them to lose their job. The nurse was an anti-vaxxer and posted about the experience of seeing a boy at the hospital suffering from the disease a disease that could have been prevented through vaccination. Participating in the TikTok #IckChallenge, four Emory University Hospital Midtown employees recorded a one-minute TikTok video discussing their icks about being nurses who deal primarily with labor and delivery. Delivered via email so please ensure you enter your email address correctly. Later that day, she was fired from her job at New York Presbyterian Hospital, she said. In response to the rightful outrage from social-media users, the Atlanta hospital fired the four nurses over the weekend for, it said, filming "a TikTok video that included disrespectful. 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Shes in a great position to become a public speaker and teacher of what not to do with SM Im curious to see where she takes it. If health information is not acquired or disclosed under false pretenses and/or for personal gain, the offense is punished as a misdemeanor. I also saw Katie on an interview on Inside Edition late in the week she didnt seem to admit any wrongdoing just said I cant believe they fired such a caring person. Were all human and in her case she was in a stressful environment, plus had TV cameras. Id never heard of Katie Duke, until this string of blogs. When shortcuts develop into a cultural norm, HIPAA violations can occur frequently without them being recognized as HIPAA violations. Social media is a double-edged sword. TikTok got me fired: Why was a nurse suspended over her TikToks? It actually filmed her there. This would explain why the MD did not get fired for posting the same photo (without patient identifiers) but Katie did. Was the HIPAA violation attributable to a lack of knowledge, or was it a malicious act? All rights reserved. You know all nursing jobs arent created (or paid!) Thanks for contacting us. An official from Texas Childrens Hospital confirmed the nurse lost her job as a result of violating hospital policies and federal laws by posting protected health information on social media, and not for her anti-vaxxing views. Not Renewing Your License or Certifications 3. Steve is responsible for editorial policy regarding the topics covered on HIPAA Journal. HITECH News The employees were immediately fired for inappropriately viewing or accessing the records of actor Jussie Smollett. ", 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP. It comes as nurses get ready to stage a 28-hour walkout over pay today. In today's society, social media is at everyone's fingertips via a smartphone or iPad. They can include patient errors, HIPAA violations, causing undue risk for an employer, and social media mistakes. While the RN never mentioned the patient's name or other information, it isnt every day that a person is hit by a subway and thus a connection could have been made between the Instagram picture and news report involving a specific patient. The photo captured a messy but empty trauma room that had been used to treat a man hit by a New York City subway train. Katie Duke is a no-nonsense kind of nurse who has a personal motto of deal with it. It may even be her nursing motto. He is a specialist on healthcare industry legal and regulatory affairs, and has several years of experience writing about HIPAA and other related legal topics. Texas Childrens Hospital suspended the nurse when officials found out about her social media posts and an investigation was launched. Steve has developed a deep understanding of regulatory issues surrounding the use of information technology in the healthcare industry and has written hundreds of articles on HIPAA-related topics. Its not clear if the company fired the nurses as a direct result of the video. At this point, however, I should probably say was a star, since a recent episode revealed that Katie was fired after posting this photo of a trauma room to her popular Instagram account (thekatieduke). If you make a mistake own it, learn from it and teach others not to make the same mistake. Not even nurses who are constantly held on a higher pedestal than others. After receiving the suspension, the nurse appeared to realize that she had shared too much information and deleted several of her posts. The report concerns more than fifty events in which patient privacy was violated in nursing homes and assisted living facilities; and although not every event qualified as a HIPAA violation, the report shows the scale of violations and the penalties for those who committed them. Mary Krusi Dyke DRozario I think that many nurses (and other employees) are getting by with a lot more on social media than they would be able to if their employers monitored their activity more often. If theyre saying those things on camera who knows what they said amongst themselves or how they treated their patients. Copyright 2014-2023 HIPAA Journal. But it can also have big, sometimes unforeseen consequences, even for bold nurses who are on reality shows. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. A single Google search for Nurse fired for social media will yield plenty of results. When Emory found out about the viral videos mocking patients, they quickly fired the nurses who were involved. She has rules for how nurses can keep out of trouble while using social media but also using social media effectively and positively. Emory Healthcare did not immediately return a request for comment on Saturday. }); Show Your Employer You Have Completed The Best HIPAA Compliance Training Available With ComplianceJunctions Certificate Of Completion, ArcTitan is a comprehensive email archiving solution designed to comply with HIPAA regulations, Arrange a demo to see ArcTitans user-friendly interface and how easy it is to implement, Find Out With Our Free HIPAA Compliance Checklist, Quickly Identify Potential Risks & Vulnerabilities In Your HIPAA Compliance, Avoid HIPAA Compliance Violations Due To Social Media Misuse, penalties for HIPAA violations are detailed here, violating the HIPAA minimum necessary standard, Reader Offer: Free Annual HIPAA Risk Assessment, Video: Why HIPAA Compliance is Important for Healthcare Professionals, Accessing the PHI of patients you are not required to treat, Gossiping Talking about specific patients and disclosing their health information to family, friends & colleagues, Disclosing PHI to anyone not authorized to receive the information, Improper disposal of PHI Discarding protected health information with regular trash, Leaving PHI in a location where it can be accessed by unauthorized individuals, Using the credentials of another employee to access EMRs/Sharing login credentials, Sharing PHI on social media networks (See below). Never Disclose Your Personal Information. IE 11 is not supported. It is near impossible to fire a nurse from a unionized hospital in New York. Had the nursing student been given a copy of the Covered Entitys sanctions policy? Was this patient in an episode? There has been considerable publicity surrounding the practice, following the publication of a report on the extent to which this is occurring by ProPublica (Summarized here). Furthermore, HIPAA violations by nurses are more likely to be reported to the healthcare facility at which they occurred and resolved internally. I do find the comment very insensitive. Who really gets fired over social media posts? We studied hundreds of I am not sure what hospital administrator would say this wasnt a HIPAA violation. What happens if a nurse violates HIPAA depends on the nature of the violation, the consequences of the violation, the nurses previous compliance history, and the content of the Covered Entitys sanctions policy. They say that nursing is a calling, and my mother was called to the field. Emory Healthcare said the video of the now former nurses was disrespectful and unprofessional, and does not represent our commitment to patient-family-centered care.. Sinai Grace nurse fired for Facebook post; attorney says it was for