When social media bites back

I have talked several times about not burning your bridges or putting yourself in a position where you may have to defend your reputation as a nurse, but this week I saw the worst example of what I am talking about.
I heard rumors going around the hospital about a charge nurse on another unit that was posting negative remarks about his manager and unit on Facebook.  Another nurse came to me to talk about it because she knew that I was friends with this manager.  She even showed me what was posted.

Not only did this charge nurse post these remarks about his boss, but even stated these remarks using her name and the unit name.  Unbelievable!  I can’t believe that a nurse, especially a charge nurse who is in a leadership position, would stoop to that.  He was even having dialogs with other nurses form that unit talking trash about the unit and manager.

I requested to be his friend to make a comment about how inappropriate what he is doing is, but I decided the best way to handle this was to present this information to the manager of the unit.  I felt it was her problem to deal with, and I was not going to sink to his cowardly way of dealing with problems.

Not only did this make him look bad as an employee, but also weak as a leader on the unit.  It is one thing for nurse to complain about their boss in private or in the breakroom, but it is another for one of the members of the leadership team to lead the complaining session.

Also, just an FYI to all you out there that think what you post on Facebook or any other social networking site is private……it is not.  It is out there for the entire world to see.  Just because you think only your friends can see what you post, you will have friends that will show what you posted to others, and eventually that can get back to your employer that can put you in position that may jeopardize your job or at the very least the trust your boss has in you.

Remember, it is normal to complain about your boss, just be careful you who do the complaining to, and how you do it.