But instead she decided to act as if she was not at fault. 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.. "Every patient at Emory Healthcare deserves to be cared for by a compassionate, experienced team in a comfortable and safe environment," the company said. 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. Is it a possibility it was staged? Yet, the consequences of a violation of patient privacy or insensitivity to an employer or co-workers are very real and even detrimental to offending nurses both financially and for their licensure. We worked with CreditCards.com to help nurses find the right card to fit their lifestyle. Employers may decide to provide additional training in some cases to ensure the requirements of HIPAA are fully understood. Duke maintains that she did nothing wrong by posting the picture. 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 and unprofessional comments about maternity patients at Emory University Hospital Midtown.. In the video, another nurse says her "ick" is when the mother says she doesnt want pain medication but you are at an eight out of 10 pain. Another nurse says: "The dad comes outside and asks for a paternity test right outside the room door., One of the nurses talks about family members coming up to the nurse's station every five minutes and the father going room to room between one baby mama and your other baby mama., Emory Healthcare said the video was "disrespectful and unprofessional," and does not "represent our commitment to patient-family-centered care.". Sounds like a huge setup to me. $("#wpforms-form-28602 .wpforms-submit-container").appendTo(".submit-placement"); ", "Be assured we have handled the situation and reported her actions to all appropriate state and federal agencies.". If you want to play you need to play with some children. I am not sure what hospital administrator would say this wasnt a HIPAA violation. Author: Steve Alder is the editor-in-chief of HIPAA Journal. A Florida nurse has been fired for posting photos on social media cruelly mocking a newborn with a birth defect, hospital officials said. All other violations of HIPAA are civil offences subject to an employers sanctions policy or sanctions set by HHS Office for Civil Rights. Is she a bad nurse? Hospital officials cited patient privacy as a top priority while saying the blatant breach would be investigated. 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Duke is certainly not the first medical professional to get herself into trouble on social media. 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. Looking for a change beyond the bedside? She was, she said, showing how life and death situations play out every day in the hospital. Again not an expert on HIPAA by any means but from all my years of experience and training thats how I see it. Too Many Absences or Tardies 7. In the same way that you should not disclose information about your patients, nurses should take care not to post their personal information. It seems so many people want to denigrate Katie Duke, from her choice to post the photo being discussed to the measurement of her waistline. No nurse is immune to penalties resulting from inappropriate social media sharing. }); 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, I think its easy for us non-vaxxers to make assumptions, but most of us have never and will never see one of these diseases. learn from my mistake.. It highlights just how easy for nurses to make an error that could cause them to lose their job. Was the HIPAA violation attributable to a lack of knowledge, or was it a malicious act? Man vs. 6train So, did this really happen? If so, it certainly upped her ratings, Im sure Im dont believe I like that sort of stereotyping about nurse role models though. Your intestines posed to be inside not outside baby! Samuels sickening post read, WSVN reported last month. When you couldnt visit your sick loved one in the hospital, they were practicing their dance moves because an endorphin hit matters more to a narcissistic monster than showing empathy for your personal sorrows. BREAKING:U.S. military is tracking another mysterious balloon that flew over parts of Hawaii. go-to source for nursing news, trending topics, and educational resources. Its nomenclature. ", 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP. I cant be certain that this is the case, but it should be considered when looking at the big picture here. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, I tried to shoot a day-in-the-life TikTok and accidentally filmed myself getting fired, Don Lemons fiery exchange with GOP candidate left CNN leaders exasperated, As public radio becomes stridently left-wing, its time to defund NPR, IRSto spend $80B to hire 30,000 new employees, boost audits on wealthy. Nurse Katie Duke has been featured on two seasons of the reality medical drama, "New York Med. Reader Offer: Free Annual HIPAA Risk Assessment, Video: Why HIPAA Compliance is Important for Healthcare Professionals. If not, you wont be able to report a nurse for a HIPAA violation although the nature of the event may qualify as a violation of other laws. If a nurse violates HIPAA, a patient cannot sue the nurse for a HIPAA violation. It can be used to hold people to account for discriminatory views, comments or actions. Can You Get an Associate Degree in Nursing Online? Nurse Julie Dyde and healthcare worker Rachel Keys have both been sacked by Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust, West Yorkshire, and nurse Caroline Luxford-Noyes, has been fired by. Patient Abuse or Poor Professional Conduct 2. But beyond penalties themselves, remember that you are a representative of your profession. @NurseBecca thank you so much for your comment Becca. We as licensed healthcare professionals are held to a higher standard by licensure and ethical / legal standards such as HIPAA. The intent is to explore the complex issue of where personal life intercept work end and how social media makes that all the more complex. HIPAA Advice, Email Never Shared The photo itself tells a story. All links on this site may be affiliate links and should be considered as such. If a nurse accidently discloses ePHI due to a Covered Entity failing to implement a technical safeguard, the designation of fault can depend on many factors. This would explain why the MD did not get fired for posting the same photo (without patient identifiers) but Katie did. The doctor who also works for the hospital was not reprimanded, she said. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules must be followed by all covered entities and their business associates. She has launched social media training programs, nurse travel and excursion, her very own scrub line, and a wildly popular podcast. Delivered via email so please ensure you enter your email address correctly. The childs mother had been notified of the privacy breach, hospital officials told WFOR. There have been several recent cases of nurses taking photographs and videos of patients in compromising positions, recording abuse of patients in nursing homes, and taking embarrassing or degrading photographs and sharing them with friends via social media networks. We strive for accuracy, but cannot be held responsible for the current validity of data as best practices are ever-changing. We strive to be the But this poor kid was bad off and as a parent, I could see vaccinating out of fear, as reported by the Houston Chronicle, which obtained screenshots of her Facebook posts. Every grievance, no matter how small or destructive, is considered permissible within our culture of narcissism and it has a convenient shield from criticisms because weve pedestalized self-expression over self-respect. It was the caption, which was very insensitive. But the lack of professionalism and empathy these nurses expressed to publicly mock their patients is inexcusable their terminations were warranted. The nurse, Kelly Morris, said the social media videos in question were just jokes. A nurse can be fired for a HIPAA violation if the violation represents gross misconduct, a criminal act, or a repeated violation for which the nurse has previously been warned. Over the last several years, the world has witnessed the explosion of social media and other electronic communication like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. If reporting the event to HHS Office for Civil Rights, the agency will review the complaint and investigate the violation if it believes the complaint is justified. When Emory found out about the viral videos mocking patients, they quickly fired the nurses who were involved. At this point, most hospitals have a social media policy. And even if they were, are Katies posts protected by the waivers the producers of NY Med no doubt have patients sign? "Dont play with peoples lives. (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. We've received your submission. I was told I was being fired for being insensitive, she said. In some cases, someone is terminated from a current job for recent problematic posts. Oh, I dont recall them elaborating on that during the show. Nicole Acevedo. At HIMSS 2017, the former deputy director of health information privacy at the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) explained that OCR plans to issue guidance on HIPAA and social media and what is and is not acceptable. People often use keywords like I shouldnt violate HIPPA, but that make the inappropriate material pop up on a search for HIPAA. There are a few frequent fliers on my search lists but their employers obviously arent doing the same searches. Nurses can talk about themselves, the nursing profession, their families, hobbies, and interest, Nurses should aim to uplift the nursing profession in their posts, Become keenly aware of your employers social media policies, Realize that nothing online is ever really anonymous, Never talk about patients or identifiable coworkers, Avoid identifying your employer on your social media profiles, Dont post anything online that you wouldnt say in front of your boss or human resources, Dont post online that you are at work as this could put you and your home at risk, Dont use the employers internet to post on social media sites--just dont post to social media while at work, Dont identify your employer on your personal profiles, Dont do anything you would be embarrassed to say to your mother, your clergy, your boss, or a potential employer, Dont do anything that could degrade or embarrass your profession. HIPAA-covered entities are likely to report such incidents to law enforcement and investigations will be launched. Last year, a St. Louis doctors Facebook complaints about a chronically late patient drew hundreds of outraged comments from Internet posters. See our disclaimer for more information. Four labor and delivery nurses at an Atlanta hospital came under fire over a TikTok video in which they shared the things that annoy them about expecting mothers and their families. This article is written not to attack Katie, but instead, share a very public example of how nurses can easily be fired for inappropriate social media use. In fact, it is my understanding is that a physician shared the same photo without the caption and didnt lose his job or receive a known reprimand. However, these same sites have been used inappropriately by nurses who have found themselves in significant legal problems both for the organizations in which they work, but also for their own registered nurse licensure. Even so, the example still has the potential to help many nurses avoid making similar mistakes. Recently, I lost my father-in-law, and as unexpected as his death was, he did not die in discomfort because of the amazing nurses who cared for him until he passed. It is illegal and fineable for nurses and other healthcare professionals to purposely or accidentally release information about patients. Mary, in my opinion the photo wasnt the problem. Additionally, if the violation has serious consequences for either a patient or an employer, the case could be referred to a licensing board; while, if the accidental HIPAA violation is considered a criminal act, the nurse could be reported to law enforcement. This article is written not to attack Katie, but instead, share a very public example of how nurses can easily be fired for inappropriate social media use. I sincerely wish that Katie had used this opportunity as a teachable moment. Definitely would make me think twice, however. Subscribe for the latest nursing news, offers, education resources and so much more! 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. The bombs people drop on social media can detonate right away or lurk like hidden land mines. "Everybody knows thats not a joke," she told WXII. I saw a lot of nurses / RTs posting because the media released the name she wasnt bound by HIPAA. You have every right to express your opinion, as do the others who have blogged or posted about this situation. She is known to be difficult. It bothered me that she was fired for re-tweeting the image that was originally posted by a doctor a doctor who works for the same hospital. 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. A nurse has been sacked after sharing a picture of her homemade face mask and speaking out about the conditions she works under amid the COVID-19 outbreak. This article contains personal opinions and assumptions based on the facts available to me as of the original publication date. By consuming any of our content, you agree that you will hold us harmless for actions you made as the result of the data. ", Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. However, the most common causes of HIPAA violations in recent years that could be attributed to nurses include impermissible uses and disclosures of PHI, the failure to respond to or a delay in responding to patient access requests, and failing to comply with the Minimum Necessary Standard. The average adult spent around 3 hours 35 minutes a day on their phone in 2018 and phone screen time is expected to surpass television watching time in 2019 (Wurmser, 2018). Follow us and never miss out on the best in nursing news. Lack of Professionalism Final Thoughts Related Article HIPAA-covered entities are unlikely to recruit a nurse that has previously been fired for violating HIPAA Rules. Social media can do many wonderful things for nurses. If you practice medicine you know this. "To be belittled and mocked during that experience is outright unacceptable. Whitley Patterson, whose mother passed away at the nursing home, said she does not buy Morris' explanation. Were told we shouldnt reward bad behavior, but we routinely do on social media by clicking the like button for the most dysfunctional entertainment, retweeting reprehensible messages and subscribing to consume more narcissism. Now I check my posts so no one gets offended or thinks I am a cold-hearted person., Emergency Medicine Tweet Chat Today at 1 PM, ET. This time it looks like she didnt exercise the best judgment when it comes to using social media as a healthcare professional and has consequently been forced to deal with her own inappropriate actions. Just wanted you to know, I saw an episode of NY Med that showed this story at the time she was fired. There are many examples of HIPAA violations in nursing homes thanks to areportproduced by ProPublica in 2017. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) has released a useful guide for nurses on the use of social media (on this link). Receive weekly HIPAA news directly via email, HIPAA News Termination for a HIPAA violation does not just mean loss of current employment and benefits. HIPAA Advice, Email Never Shared This story has been shared 679,840 times. I do not know. I know this is old but I just saw this episode and if you seen the very beginning of the show it had Katie Duke saying she would never want to work at another ERand then by the end of the show she was fired. Due to the information contained in the posts and the rarity of the disease, it is possible that the child could have been identified. Her employers agreed with that stance. Sign up to receive the latest nursing news and exclusive offers. Top 6 Reasons Nurses Get Fired 1. Take the 2014 case of an RN in New York City who was fired by her employer for posting a picture on Instagram depicting a chaotic emergency room following the care of a man who was hit by a subway train. It is a violation of HIPAA to share EMR login credentials because, under the Administrative Safeguards of the Security Rule (45 CFR 164.308), Covered Entities are required to implement procedures that record system activity including who accesses systems containing ePHI and when. More recently, the pandemic brought about an explosion of cruel, unprofessional online behavior, even among people who ought to know better. In my humble opinion, this type of social media is insensitive and inappropriate. Nurses are held to the highest standard in their jobs and profession. The Highest Paying Jobs For Nurses With a BSN, Types of Masters in Nursing Degrees & Specialties, Pros & Cons of Getting a Master's Degree in Nursing, Nurse Practitioner vs Physician Assistant, Highest Paid Nurse Practitioner Specialties, How to Conduct a Nursing Head-to-Toe Assessment, How to Read an Electrocardiogram (EKG/ECG), Understanding and Interpreting the Glasgow Coma Scale, Complete List of Common Nursing Certifications. man vs 6 train. Your email address will not be published. . Katie Duke's story spotlights the hazards of social media in hospitals. Even Katie has used social media to catapult herself as a personal brand and grow a huge following online. Social Media Misconduct 5. But those of us who do have an audience have obligation to lead by example. Nurses who accidentally release patient information can be fined anywhere from $100 to $50,000 civil fine. We can all learn from her mistake and her perseverance. Duke posted the photo with the caption "#Man vs 6 train." Join Today's Emergency Medicine Tweet Chat Today at 1 PM, ET Breach News I rarely heard her complain even in private, and she had a love for the profession and her patients. Marian Weber, a travel nurse in Alaska, said the not-for-profit PeaceHealth rescinded her contract after she raised a concern about patient safety. Nurse Katie Duke was fired from a New York City hospital for sending this photo out on Instagram. 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. But she was fired for being insensitive. Im not a HIPAA expert by any means, but I thought it was more than insensitive IMO it was a HIPAA violation. 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. Its not some dramatic social media driven statement to evoke anything. I saw that episode of NY MED. Steve is responsible for editorial policy regarding the topics covered on HIPAA Journal. Top Cheap and Fast Online RN to BSN Programs, Affordable Online Nurse Practitioner Programs, Top Direct-Entry Nurse Practitioner Programs, Top Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Programs, Top Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Programs, Top Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Programs, Top Online Family Nurse Practitioner Programs, Top RN to Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Programs, Top Womens Health Nurse Practitioner Programs, How to Get an Associate Degree in Nursing. However, she concedes the posting might have upset someone not familiar with the morbid exchanges that can occur in the emergency room. She has such a huge audience and so many nurses that look up to her. It would be unfathomable for my mother to record herself feigning emotion after watching someone die, as it would put her nursing ethics into question. It can help nurses to better understand employers HIPAA policies by taking advantage of an onlineHIPAA training course, especially modular courses that can be taken in small sections. 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. Im not saying that nurses should be monitored any more closely that anyone else, but unfortunately its an option for any employer these days so everyone should be on their toes about it. At nurse.org, we believe that no one knows nurses better than, well, nurses. 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. You need someone in your corner telling you what your managers really need from you, helping you learn to interact with your preceptor, and really just manage your life. Duke also claims that the photo was not even hers, but rather reposted from a doctors Instagram page. Breach News Just admit you made a mistake and move on. A nurse at a Texas childrens hospital has been fired for violating Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rules by posting protected health information on a social media website. Making Too Many Mistakes 8. Texas Childrens Hospital suspended the nurse when officials found out about her social media posts and an investigation was launched. Releasing patient information is a serious problem for nurses. Perhaps I can clarify a little. There have been several recent cases of nurses taking photographs and videos of patients in compromising positions, recording abuse of patients in nursing homes, and taking embarrassing or degrading photographs and sharing them with friends via social media networks. Unless prior authorization has been received from a patient, in writing, nurses should avoid sharing photographs and videos of patients (or any PHI) on social media sites. It can make it very hard for a nurse to find alternative employment. If you want to support this channel, please visit the following sites below: Cash app: https://cash.me/$Dawson305Paypal Donation Link:https://www.paypal.com. Nurses are under intense pressure to work as efficiently as possible; and, due to this pressure, there may be times when shortcuts are taken with HIPAA compliance in order to get the job done. This story has been shared 542,106 times. Now I know they cut interviews and spin them so I dont know if she admitted she was wrong or not. The egotistical monsters we complain about exist because weve encouraged these people to incubate in an algorithmically curated narcissism ecosystem. 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. Samuels had worked for the Miami-based Jackson Health System since 2016, the station reported. Regulatory Changes Duke claims she was told by her supervisor that she had not breached hospital policy or violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a law known as HIPAA that protects patient privacy. A good rule of thumb is to keep work and private lives separate, and never to post any information about patients on a social media platform, even if you do not think that a patient could be identified from the post. If nurses share EMR login credentials, it is impossible for Covered Entities to accurately monitor system access or determine if a system containing ePHI has been accessed by a person without authorization. Id never heard of Katie Duke, until this string of blogs. Ooooh I saw this episode! I am a nurse in NYC, have worked at Columbia, Katie and I have mutual friends, I am very familiar with the operations of the nursing unions in NY, and I have had this conversation with other nurses here. If made aware of a breach in client confidentiality, the actions a charge nurse should take depend on the nature of the breach. The firing of a New York City nurse for her social media use has reaffirmed the hazards of healthcare workers bringing their work online, according to ABC News. Emory Healthcare said in its statement that patients should always feel they are being treated with "care and respect.". A malicious disclosure of PHI on social media is likely to be considered gross misconduct in which scenario the penalty will likely be termination of contract and referral to the nurses licensing authority. You can read it in the stills. The lines are way too blurry to point fingers. Employees who violate these privacy rules, despite being educated, are subject to disciplinary action included suspension or termination, hospital officials told WFOR. This is a great chance for nurses to learn from the mistakes of one another and put a little more thought into the pictures they take, the statuses they post, and even the times they post them. I can understand how someone can be upset but not to the degree they are taking it. I just wished she used this opportunity to talk about how to use social media appropriately. How you report a nurse for a HIPAA violation depends on if you are a patient (or family member of a patient) or a colleague of the nurse. However, if the nurse has a long history of accidental HIPAA violations and has been warned previously about their future conduct, the sanction could be a written warning or termination of contract. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? The pediatric ICU/ER nurse worked at Texas Childrens Hospital and posted a series of comments on Facebook about a rare case of measles at the hospital. Abuse of Prescription or Non-Prescription Drugs 6. NYMed provides snapshots of experiences at NYP. "My ick is. equally, but do you know which nurses are making the most money in 2023? By Portia Wofford. Courtesy Marian Weber. However, as this incident shows, the patient does not need to be mentioned by name in order for them to potentially be identified. It could be a mistake to reprimand a member of the workforce for a disclosure that is allowed. In a recent case, OB nurses from Emory got fired for sharing their patient "icks" on social media. Delivered via email so please ensure you enter your email address correctly. Katie Duke states that when she was dismissed from her job of nearly 7 years that she wasnt fired for committing a HIPAA violation or for breaking any hospital policies, but for being insensitive.