Professionalism and social media can be an uneasy mix. In the police force, Freedom of Information data have shown that, in the past four years, two officers have been sacked, seven resigned, and over 150 been disciplined for placing “inappropriate” photographs or comments online. Nurses have been sacked after making comments about patients and colleagues online, posting photographs of themselves exposing their breasts while in uniform, and putting pictures of patients online. In the United States, four nursing students were expelled after putting a photograph of themselves with a human placenta on Facebook; and, in Sweden, a nurse has been disciplined for putting photographs from the operating theatre on the same social networking site.
Abstract
McCartney, Margaret, BMJ, 344, e440, DOI: 10.1136/bmj.e440
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