EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A hospital fired four nurses for disparaging patients in a TikTok video. They recorded the video at work.
- The hospital issued a public apology.
- Many staff may underestimate the effect of social media posts.
- Hospitals are within their rights to dismiss employees for offensive posts related to their work.
A hospital in Georgia fired four labor and delivery nurses after they posted a TikTok video mocking patients they found annoying. They filmed the video while at work. The incident highlights the need to educate staff about posting inappropriate work-related comments or videos on social media.
The 52-second video features four nurses describing their “ick,” something that annoys them. The comments included, “My ick is when you come in for your induction talking about ‘Can I take a shower or eat?’” and “My ick is when you ask how much the baby weighs and it’s still in your hands.” Another comment was “Another ick, when you’re going room to room between one baby mama and your other baby mama.”
The video went viral, and the hospital soon posted a response on social media. “We are aware of a TikTok video that included disrespectful and unprofessional comments about maternity patients,” the hospital wrote. “We have investigated the situation and taken appropriate actions with the former employees responsible for the video. This video does not represent our commitment to patient- and family-centered care and falls far short of the values and standards we expect every member of our team to hold and demonstrate.”1
Must Create Social Media Policy
The incident highlights the need to create a policy regarding employees’ social media posts about the workplace, their work activities, and their patients, says Jeffrey Layne Blevins, PhD, professor in the Department of Journalism and School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Cincinnati. Fewer than half of all businesses tend to use a social media policy.
“All businesses — not just hospitals — tend to be reactive in the sense that an employee or their employees post something on social media, which creates a problem, and then they have to react to it and fix it. Then, they think about policy afterward,” Blevins says. “We’re well past the point where I think all businesses, and certainly hospitals, should be proactive. They should have policies in place that govern social media activity, what people can and cannot post privately.”
Blevins notes even though the video did not show patients or mention them by name, it still was disparaging to actual patients. At a minimum, that hurts the hospital’s brand and reputation in the community. “How would you feel if you were there at the hospital? What if you recognize those nurses and you felt yourself being implicated in that video?” he asks.
Administrators and employees can become confused about what restrictions are allowed on speech, Blevins says. The fact the video was created on hospital property — and presumably during the nurses’ working hours — makes a solid case for impropriety.
“I have to remind my students that there’s no such thing as free speech on private property. There’s the one thing that I would emphasize for the hospital — that they are well within their rights to say, ‘You’re not to post anything on social media that is here at the hospital, period,’” Blevins says. “ I don’t care if it’s just a close-up of you at work. This is a work environment.”
Even if the video had been recorded outside the workplace, the hospital would have been with its right to fire the nurses, Blevins says. There have been many precedents for employers firing people for what they posted on their private accounts outside the workplace.
“You don’t have a First Amendment right to be in their employ. The government didn’t arrest you, but you did lose your job as a result. I think a lot of people simply aren’t aware of that,” Blevins explains. “They tend to think of free speech as this absolute right that pervades all areas, and it’s simply not the case. The First Amendment says the government cannot regulate speech, but it doesn’t say that hospitals can’t.”
Be Explicit with Policy
The incident also illustrates how risk managers should not assume employees know such posts are wrong. Many might assume that you do not need to tell employees not to mock their patients online, but apparently you do.
“I think we all make assumptions that ‘Oh, certainly, I wouldn’t have to say that.’ But for someone who has taught in colleges for over 20 years, yes, you do have to be that explicit,” Blevins says. “I have my next lesson plan with that video, and hospital risk managers have the perfect example when they’re explaining what not to do.”
Part of the problem might be generational. Younger employees grew up with social media and a more relaxed attitude about sharing their personal lives with others online. Blevins says firing the nurses might not have been his first choice, instead assuming ignorance based on generational differences. It is unclear if the hospital enacted a clearly stated policy on social media posts the employees may have violated.
Blevins suggests if hospital administration wants to allow some social media posts from employees — even recorded at the hospital — the employee must receive permission from a manager. For example, this could be appropriate in cases of social media posts supporting a charitable cause.
However, Blevins cautions even the most well-intended social media post can go awry. For example, the many posts during the COVID-19 pandemic of clinicians performing orchestrated dance routines did not go over well with everyone.
“This is a larger problem with social media — the fact that you don’t know how other people are going to interpret it. I was not bothered by the COVID dance videos, but I could also see some people saying, ‘We’re in a pandemic, people are dying, and this is not a time for lightheartedness,’” Blevins notes. “You really have to think carefully about anything that you post. How could someone interpret this in a way that is going to reflect poorly on the profession, the hospital?”
REFERENCE
- Jackson R. Emory Hospital nurses no longer employed after viral TikTok mocking expecting mothers. Dec. 11, 2022.
SOURCE
- Jeffrey Layne Blevins, PhD, Professor, Department of Journalism and School of Public and International Affairs, University of Cincinnati. Phone: (513) 556-0788. Email: [email protected].
A hospital in Georgia fired four labor and delivery nurses after they posted a TikTok video mocking patients they found annoying. They filmed the video while at work. The incident highlights the need to educate staff about posting inappropriate work-related comments or videos on social media.
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