Week 2: Ethical Practice.

Social Media and Ethics: the Doyle Byrne Scandal 

Doyle Byrnes posing with a human placenta

In week two of my nursing informatics course the class focused on ethical practice. The class discussed a controversial news-story about an American nursing student named Doyle Byrnes who took a picture of a placenta during a clinical placement and posted the picture on Facebook. The nursing student was expelled for her behavior, but went on to successfully sue her school for the right to reapply for the nursing program. An important factor in her case was that Doyle had informed her clinical instructor she was taking the photo and the instructor did not explain that it was inappropriate.  My class discussed how the use of social media by nurses and nursing students raises complicated ethical questions, and uncertainty concerning its appropriate use.  In this posting I will discuss how Doyle's actions were inappropriate and how they did not live up to the standards of the nursing profession.  

It was inappropriate for Doyle to both take the picture and post it on a social media website, because she did not live up to the professional standards of practice set by the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO). The client was not identifiable by the photo of the placenta, so privacy and confidentiality were upheld. However, Doyle's actions still crossed ethical and professional boundaries. The CNO’s standard of accountability states that nurses are responsible for acting in a ways that “promote respect for the profession” (CNO, pg.4, 2006). Yet, Doyle’s actions reflect poorly on the profession in terms of nurses’ professionalism and trustworthiness. Furthermore, her actions did not live up to the standards set by the CNO for the therapeutic nurse-client relationship. An important aspect of the therapeutic nurse-client relationship is trust (CNO, 2006). Doyle's unprofessional actions negatively impacted the general public’s perception of nursing as a trustworthy profession. Through her actions Doyle did not live up to the standard of respect in the therapeutic nurse-client relationship (CNO, 2006). She did not have permission from the client to take a picture with her placenta; therefore, she showed the client a lack of respect by not allowing her to choose if she was okay with her placenta being photographed. Furthermore, Doyle did not show the client empathy. Her actions show that she did not consider how it might make a person feel if a health professional took pictures with his or her body part, and shared them social media. Overall Doyle showed a lack of judgment and consideration to the standards of nursing practice. 

Ethical Reasoning and Online Social Media

In continuation with the concept of ethical practice, my class was assigned to read an article called "Ethical Reasoning and Online Social Media". The article discusses a study where undergraduate nursing students were  assessed on their awareness to posting sensitive clinical information on social media, and the implications that the student's lack of awareness might have on the profession of nursing (Englund, Chappy, Jambunathan, Gohdes, 2012). The results of the study indicate that undergraduate nursing students are not aware of their legal and ethical role of maintaining privacy and confidentiality when using social media ( (Englund, Chappy, Jambunathan, Gohdes, 2012). After reflecting on the article, I found that I do not fully understand what is appropriate to post about a clinical placement or work experience online and what is not. Prior to reading the article I felt that it is inappropriate to write a social media post that contains any identifying information about a client or workplace; however, my understanding of what is identifying information developed with gaining new knowledge for the article. For example,I did not realize that it is inappropriate to identify the social group to which you are providing care. Furthermore, prior to exploring the ethical and legal polices related to social media and nursing I felt that it was inappropriate to post a negative comment about the workplace or a patient, but I felt that it was more appropriate if the comment was positive. My feelings were consistent with the findings of the study which found that less experienced nursing students were confused by the appropriateness of posting a comment if it was positive or complimentary"(Englund, Chappy, Jambunathan, Gohdes,pg 246, 2012). In addition, after reading the article I have a greater understanding of the importance of teaching nursing students about the appropriate uses of social media. Though reflecting on my own understanding of ethics related to social media and nursing, I have developed a greater awareness to what I post on social media related to my nursing experiences. 

References 

Englund, H., Chappy, S., Jambunathan, J., & Gohdes, E. (2012). Ethical reasoning and online 

social media. Nurse Educator, 37(6), 242-247. doi:10.1097/NNE.0b013e31826f2c04