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Nurse Fired After Instagramming "Man vs 6 Train" Photo
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 8, 2014
Modified Jul 8, 2014
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 8, 2014
Modified Jul 8, 2014
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A nurse at New York Presbyterian Hospital was fired for posting a photograph on her Instagram profile showing an empty trauma room, with the hashtag "#Manvs6Train."
The story was detailed on the ABC docuseries NY Med which follows doctors, nurses and other staffers at both New York Presbyterian and Newark University Hospital. In a review of the show, the NY Times TV critic Neil Genzlinger (who hates the word "Really") wrote, "With all the blood and close-up surgery on display, it’s surprising that perhaps the most startling moment in the premiere has nothing to do with a medical procedure. It involves a nurse, Katie Duke, first seen in the 2012 season. She is abruptly fired. The reason won’t be spoiled here, but given that this hospital is allowing itself to be filmed for prime-time network television, it seems ridiculous."
Duke told ABC News, "I got a call at the end of my shift telling me I was being let go after seven years in the ER."
Duke claims she was told by her supervisor that she had not breached hospital policy or violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a law known as HIPAA that protects patient privacy.
“I was told I was being fired for being insensitive,” she said.
Duke also claims that the photo was not even hers, but rather reposted from a doctor’s Instagram page. The doctor - who also works for the hospital - was not reprimanded, she said.
New York Presbyterian declined to comment on Duke’s firing or anyone else’s involvement.
Duke, who has other endorsement opportunities, insists she did nothing wrong and was just showing what hospital staffs experience. She did admit, "If you hung around nurse’s station and heard the way we talk about injuries, life and death you might get the wrong impression but it’s just a coping mechanism... Now I check my posts so no one gets offended or thinks I am a cold-hearted person."
Nowadways, Duke seems to post a lot of selfies.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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