Nurse Fired After Posting ER Photos

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

A New York City nurse was fired after using Instagram to share a photo of an empty trauma room that had been used to treat a man who was hit by a city subway train.

Katie Duke says she did not violate HIPAA privacy regulations when she posted a photo of an empty trauma room, littered with the aftermath of the treatment of a man hit by a New York City subway train.

Duke posted the photo, captioned “#Man vs 6 train,” on Instagram and was later notified by her employer, New York Presbyterian Hospital, that after seven years she was being fired from her job in the emergency room. She told ABC News the photo was a repost of a doctor’s photo and he was not reprimanded. The reason the hospital gave for her termination was the insensitivity of her photograph.

Medical Daily reports some would argue insensitivity is a part of working in such a high stress workplace as the ER. Duke insists she did nothing wrong, simply showed life and death situations in the hospital.

Nancy Spector, director of regulatory innovations for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing said, “Most of the nurses that get into trouble have good intentions but they just don’t know how far reaching social media can be. Remember, nothing can really be deleted.”

Social media can harm your practice if it’s used in the wrong way. For example, ABC News cites two recent cases where posting online got out of hand. “Last year, a St. Louis doctor’s Facebook complaints about a chronically late patient drew hundreds of outraged comments from Internet posters. And a student who was admitted to an Illinois hospital for extreme intoxication claimed a doctor posted photos of her to various social media sites - with commentary.”

More ways to prevent social media mishaps HERE