Nursing Students Kicked out for Placenta Photos

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Four students who posed for photos with a human placenta have been kicked out of a suburban Kansas City nursing program after at least one of the placenta pictures was posted on Facebook.

Now one of the students, Doyle Byrnes, is seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court in Kansas to force Johnson County Community College to reinstate her before classes resume Jan. 19.

The Kansas City Star reported that Byrnes and several other students were attending a lab course off-site at Olathe Medical Center in November when one of them asked a nursing instructor for permission to photograph the placenta so they could share the experience on Facebook.

The lawsuit against the college and several of its employees said that the nursing instructor responded, "Oh, you girls," and did not tell them not to do it or that it could result in discipline.

Afterward, at least one of the students, Byrnes, posted a photo on the social networking site showing her smiling broadly, wearing a lab coat and surgical gloves and leaning over the placenta in a tray. There was nothing in the photos to identify the placenta as coming from a particular woman.

The photo remained on Facebook for about three hours until the nursing instructor called her that evening and told her to remove it. Byrnes asked if she was in trouble and the instructor replied she was not, the lawsuit says. Byrnes removed the photo immediately and has since closed her Facebook account.

Byrnes and the other three students who posed with the placenta were expelled the next day. None of the other expelled students were fully identified in the lawsuit.

Jeanne Walsh, director of nursing at the college, was critical of Byrnes in a letter to her that was included as an exhibit with the complaint.

"Your demeanor and lack of professional behavior surrounding this event was considered a disruption to the learning environment and did not exemplify the professional behavior that we expect in the nursing program," the letter said.

An e-mail that The Associated Press sent to the defendants' attorney, Thomas Hammond, on Saturday night was not immediately returned.

Clifford Cohen, who represents Byrnes, argues that his client was deprived of due process and that nothing in the school's code of conduct addresses photographs or social media. He said Byrnes' actions were not disrespectful.

"They're not giggly teenagers," Cohen said of the four expelled students. "They are mature, I would say serious, professionals. I've interviewed the other women. They all impress me as serious, career-minded women who are utterly stunned at what's happened to them."

Walsh had said she would support Byrnes if she sought readmission to the nursing school next fall, according to court documents. But Cohen said his client is engaged to be married in August and planned to move to Virginia with her husband and work there as a registered nurse.

Cohen said his client's career hangs in the balance.

"With this kind of black mark on her record, who knows whether she can enroll in another nursing school," he said. "Would she be able to get a job?"

[MKK0125]

I am currently a Nursing Student in PA, and these actions would have had the same consequences at my school. The FIRST thing our program director told us on the first day of our first class, is that photos are NOT to be taken within the walls of a hospital, not of patients, not of body parts, not even of each other...our director told us that if we want to take photos, we could take them in Nursing Lab, where we learn procedures on simulated humans. I think this college acted appropriately. People of college age should not have to TAUGHT professionalism...they're in college, they're learning in a professional environment, maturity should be assumed, not taught. If they can't make such a mundane decision, whether or not to take a photo, then they shouldn't be nurses.

[maddog0802]

Patient privacy is a paramount concern for health professionals and is the law ( HIPAA act ). Young people, especially training to be professionals, should know better. Facebook is a fad that can ruin your life and someone else's ( the gay guy who killed himself over a facebook posting ). Saying the placentas used could not be identified is no excuse. The college acted appropriately and will no doubt put it's students on notice to respect other people's right to privacy. This is not something to joke around with. Find other ways to amuse yourself.

[TimFargo]

This isn't about patient privacy because a placenta is not a patient. It seems these students (in their zeal) made an error in judgment, but so to did their instructor. By not giving a difinitive "NO" when asking to take pictures, the instructor should be held accountable for unprofessionalism also. It is unfortunate that future health care professionals have not been given the oppourtunity to learn from their mistakes while they are students. The truth here is they weren't professionals yet and the instructors are supposed to guide them into making professional decisions.

[billpl-2009]

Kansas?

....isn't that next to Afghanistan?

[jbright9]

This was a placenta, not a fetus. Who cares, who is attached to their placenta. I think the school could have disciplined them without kicking them out of the program. I think this seems extreme.

[gig76]

This type of behavior continually happens in the nursing profession. Surprised that a nursing program actually stepped up integrity and promotes ethical behavior for once. Kudos to this nursing program and hopefully all nursing programs will follow suit. We need real nurses who really care about the whole not just parts. What would be next -- a stillborn? All health care professions need to heed integrity and ethical behaviors. Patients and families deserve the best care possible.

[fleabag75]

Look! How many times do people have to be reminded! People are NOT accountable for their actions! Okay? That went out a couple of generations ago.

[thinkaboutit13]

This was on the cooking channel? MMmmmmmm.... BBQ.

[forgotmyemail]

Probably some backward, right wing conservative that had a tantrum over the picture.

Seriously people, kicking someone out of school for something like this is deplorable.

[Jhihmoac]

It's a school assignment...Don't have a cow! (LOL)

[AnnieDanny]

It does seem like these students didn't get a fair shake, based on what's in the article. There's no way to know the origin of the placenta, so what's the big deal? Did they do anything disrespectful? I can understand why they're upset. Higher education costs a huge fortune, and to be dumped when they're only a few months from graduation - without any kind of disciplinary process or warning system or anything - it seems very odd.

[maddog0802]

I agree the punishment seems a little harsh, maybe they should have been sternly reprimanded instead. However, student nurses should never, ever post anything of a patient's on facebook. In the real world, they could all be sued and the hospital they work for. This is against the HIPAA laws for patient privacy that were enacted in the late 90's to protect the public from just such unauthorized exposure.