(An extract from my other blog – the original
post on Facebook has since been deleted)
At tea break I
saw something on my phone's
Facebook app which I thought was rather sad. I spent much of the rest of
the day following the post and thinking about it.
I follow several
work-related Facebook groups because I find I can learn a *lot* from
other people's experiences. From time to time I've shared various experiences
myself on such sites, and many people have commented favourably. However this
morning there was consternation on the New Medical Laboratory Science Facebook
group.
During the week
I saw a case study posted up in which the patient's name was just about
visible. Someone in America had photographed a lab report and had tried to
obscure the patient information with thick black marker pen. But she hadn't
realised that the camera flash she'd used had made the original writing on the
paper visible; specifically the patient's name. (That's why I produce my
case studies as word documents with made-up patient names.)
On realising her
error, the person who'd posted the offending picture immediately removed it,
but not before some rather small-minded nasty person did a little research,
found out exactly who it was who'd made the error, and reported her to her
employers for a breach of patient confidentiality. She was promptly sacked.
OK - patient
confidentiality had been breached. That is one of the worst things a hospital
worker can do. When working in a hospital you find yourself privy to all sorts
of confidential information, and keeping your mouth shut is a major part of the
job. But this case wasn't a deliberate breach of confidentiality. It was an
honest mistake made in an effort to share knowledge and experience.
I've spent much
of today reflecting on this episode. Had I been her employer, having been
formally told of the incident I would have had to be seen to do *something*
- I would have taken her into an office, closed the door, and given her a
telling-off. It was clear she'd realised her mistake - and it was an honest
mistake. A quiet word, probably a few tears, and all that would have been the
end of it. However her employer saw fit to sack her for what was a simple
oversight. Was that *really* necessary?
And now I'm pondering
on what I share. Over the years I have shared much of my CPD blog to various
professional groups. Should I stop doing so? And if I stop sharing interesting
cases will others do likewise? How can we learn if not from the experiences of
others?
I can't help but
wonder who was it that reported this poor woman. Whoever it was must have
been a fellow blood-tester; all of the posts on that Facebook group are rather
technical and frankly meaningless to anyone who doesn't have post-graduate
qualifications in blood testing.
I *really*
want to know what possessed them to be so nasty to a colleague. Did they have
any idea of the consequences of their action? Do they subscribe to the naive
notion that everything in life is a learning experience and people won't be
victimised for errors? (not that I'm at all bitter here). Or do they
just delight in being able to do someone a bad turn?
Reading some of
the follow-up posts on that Facebook group was an eye-opener. There were some *really*
nasty comment being made.
"My Boy TM" tells
me I should spend less time on social media because of all this sort of
nastiness. I try to rise above it. Sometimes it is difficult to do so…
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