I defended a coworker's tweet about our hospital's staffing and got a final warning

My friend posted a chart showing our ER wait times were double the city average, blaming low nurse pay, and the hospital suspended her. I argued it was a public service, but HR showed me the post included patient info from a board in the background, which I missed. Do you think a final written warning for agreeing with her online was fair, or did they just want to scare us into silence?

3 comments

3 Comments

robertcarr2mo ago

Yeah, the part about the patient info in the background changes things. A buddy of mine got fired for something similar, he posted a pic of his desk but didn't notice a sticky note with a client's name on it. Management said it was a breach even though it was an accident. They use any slip-up to shut down the real talk about pay and staffing. Your final warning feels like that, a way to make everyone too scared to speak up at all.

hannah3202mo ago

Ugh, I see where you're coming from @robertcarr, but I gotta push back a little. Patient info is serious stuff, even by accident. That rule is there for a reason, to protect people. Your buddy's firing sounds harsh, but maybe they've had issues before and have to be strict now. It's not always about shutting down talk, sometimes it's just covering their bases on the big rules.

the_drew2mo ago

My old hospital fired a guy for a chart left open on a screen in a selfie. That zero tolerance policy just makes people hide their mistakes better, it doesn't actually fix anything. It's security theater with real paychecks on the line.