Education

4 Nursing Students Expelled for Posing With Placenta

A junior college in suburban Kansas City is defending its decision to kick out four students who posed for photos with a human placenta.

One of the students, Doyle Byrnes, is seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to force Johnson County Community College to reinstate her before classes resume Jan. 19. She had posted one of the photos on Facebook.

The school has said the students could seek readmission in the fall and finish the program a year later in May 2012. But Byrnes is getting married in August and had planned to move to Virginia with her husband and work there as a registered nurse.

The Daily Mail offers more details:

Miss Byrnes and several other students were attending a lab course 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 the social networking site.

The lawsuit against the college and several of its employees said that the instructor replied ‘oh you girls’, but did not tell them not to do it or that it could result in discipline.

Miss Byrnes then posted the photo on Facebook in which she can be seen smiling broadly, wearing a lab coat and surgical gloves and leaning over the placenta in a tray.

Nothing in the image identifies the woman from whom the placenta originally came.

The photo was posted on her page for three hours until the nursing instructor called her and told her to take it down.

The college’s lead attorney, Mark Ferguson, said in an e-mail Sunday that she should accept the consequences of her actions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

UPDATE:

The controversial picture can be seen here.

Comments (107)

1 2
  • lynnep
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 12:05pm

    I just don‘t get where the issue of sensitivity come into play here it is a byproduct of the human body you don’t keep it after the baby is born and if some goofy person wanted to have their picture taken with mine after I delivered I could care less they could even post that it had belonged to me and I would not care this is ridiculous to be sensitive over the issue or to expel someone over it, there are far worse things going on the this world to get your knickers in a knot over a placenta.

    Report Post »  
  • canuck44
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 12:02pm

    “Placenta” was the ghetto name of a black twin…momma says the doctor say “Here come da placenta, but it was another check!”

    Report Post »  
  • Slobaphobe
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:40am

    Interestingly, the medical center is mum on the issue. Wonder how many new mothers are inquiring if the placenta in the photo is theirs? Imagine a photo of a heart from an organ donor being the subject of this photo. “Hey–look at me with the donated heart! How cool is this?!!”

    Report Post »  
  • Crainial Access
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:35am

    I’ve been a Registered Nurse for 35 years. 135 students started out in my freshman class, 22 of us graduated. All of us passed our state boards on the first try. Professionalism was stressed in every aspect of our education. Search your state’s professional licensing agency for actions related to professional misconduct in nursing, you will be amazed at what you find.

    Report Post »  
    • Back To Reality
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:58am

      The fact that the program started out with 135 and graduated 22 is a clear indication of the flawed academic process that passes for nursing education. I mean really…it’s not military special ops training. Even medical schools don’t have that kind of drop-out rate.

      There are vestigal elements remaning from the training program you went through 35 years ago…most of it based on humiliation and subservience, unsupported tradition, and a complete lack of attention to evidence-based practice.

      Nursing education needs to evolve and rise above that insanity…it’s one of the major reasons that nursing is STILL stereotyped as a female-oriented profession, why it repeatedly faces cyclical shortages, and why non-nurses think that all RN’s do is empty bedpans, wipe butts, and screw doctors.

      When I search my state’s professional nursing agency for actions related to misconduct (I am licensed in DC, and three other states), I can promise you that I won’t find any actions related to FACEBOOK, photographs, or anything remotely related.

      Those actions are overwhelmingly related to chemical addition, stealing and/or taking drugs, DUI, or domestic misbehavior.

      Let’s keep it in context.

      Sheesh. It’s 2011…welcome to the new enlightened age of professionalism where we teach our young instead of excoriating them for momentary lapses in judgement.

      Report Post » Back To Reality  
    • Crainial Access
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 1:35pm

      Back to Reality, I can appreciate your perspective and I respect your opinion. Nursing education has made great strides since I graduated, much of it for the better. My program prepared us to function safely and professionally when we graduated and I was very appreciative of that, especially when I watched peers from other programs crash and burn when “reality shock” hit them when they started employment in the real world.

      I always tell my kids to watch what you are posting on FACEBOOK for the World to see, as it may come back to haunt you in the future. Freedomrocks nails it in the post above. I question this individual’s judgement. If it is cool and OK to “Pose with Placentas” on FaceBook I wonder where her professional judgement will fail her in the future. I work in the OR of a large metropolitan hospital. We handle individual’s body parts hundreds of times a day. I’ve never heard any employee discussing how cool it would be to pose with the breast tissue of a mastectomy patient and post it on line. “Pose with Placentas” , soon a new page to “Like” on Facebook!

      Report Post »  
    • Back To Reality
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 3:48pm

      Freedomrocks totally missed the point; FR asked if this student really needed an instructor to tell them how to behave in clinical situations. That’s kind of the point of academics; the students pay the school to teach them what to do. If they already had it all figured out, then there would be no need for these educational processes.

      BTW, even as FR obviously dumped the entire responsibility onto the students, there is a lack of acknowledgement over the FACT that the instructor gave them PERMISSION. One has to ask why the instructor wasn’t terminated…and that is precisely what I’m talking about when it comes to the vestigal archaic traditions of nursing schools, where they take a proverbial crap on the students and then the instructors carefully primp themselves on their naive academic pedastals.

      The old-school disconnect continues to be evident even in the comparisons you made; you mention that you work in an OR and handle body parts every day. How is that relevant to this girl’s circumstances? This is potentially the first placenta she has ever seen in person, and I am sure that the first time you were handed a specimen pan in the OR containing a diseased gall bladder was much different than the 1000th time you were handed one. This type of conditioning will be THE SAME for this student and just as these issues no longer cross the mind of your experienced colleagues in the OR, there will quickly come a time when situations like that will no longer hold the wonder and novelty of a new practitioner.

      It’s kind of like the years I spent working as a paramedic and flight nurse; that first time I intubated someone trapped behind the steering wheel of a car while it was cut away from around us, or the first intraosseous trocar I placed in the tiny tibia of a dying baby…those first ones were the most fantastic experiences for me, the “by.tch” of the bunch so to speak (to steal a line from Gandolfini in “True Romance”)…but after a short time it became no big deal.

      Of course this school missed a great opportunity to TEACH, to show sensitivity and tolerance, and they ultimately expressed what I observe to be the age-old behavior where experienced nurses “eat their young” and exhibit the kind of intolerance that makes nursing so unappealing to talented people who take their skills elsewhere, propogating the nursing shortage that requires us to preserve our lower levels of education and fight for compensation.

      I’m not saying, and have never said, that this student didn’t deserve some remediation (along with the instructor who let her go down that road), but this school was completely out-of-line to outright expel her without due process.

      That is the most egregious element of this story.

      Not the photo, or Ms. Doyle Byrnes’ enthusiasm for what she was learning…

      …it was the grossly improper way that this school handled the situation, and the way that many nursing schools handle situations like this across the country.

      Yes…nursing instructors act like this all the time, and the only reason we rarely hear about it is because too many women take the improper punishment in silence.

      Kind of like an abused wife who mistakenly thinks that maybe she did deserve it.

      Shame on Johnson County Community College, and shame on everyone who thinks that this school did the right thing.

      Report Post » Back To Reality  
    • ofallon
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 6:01pm

      I would much rather have you for my nurse than Miss Placenta. I know that you would respect me.

      Report Post »  
  • Liberty7
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:17am

    The Death of Common Sense is the first thought I had after reading this article. And social networking sites are becoming our modern day classroom tattletales. ;- )

    Report Post »  
  • CaptGregg
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:10am

    Granted that it was in poor taste to post the photo on Facebook, but if every medical and nursing student photographed with body parts were expelled, there wouldn’t be enough personnel to staff a quarter (if that) of the hospitals in this country.

    I live in Kansas City, and can attest that JCCC has the reputation of being EXTREMELY liberal (i.e., very PC).

    Report Post »  
  • crossdraw
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:01am

    Don’t the students realize that that placenta could be the next president just like the one we have now?

    Report Post »  
  • bekkorswife
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:58am

    Get over it people, it is just a body part, why is this even in the news. Hearing the stories of what my daughter went through to become an EMT they need to find humor in this. Don’t be a stick in the mud, laugh a little geeeezzzz……

    Report Post »  
    • Back To Reality
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:02am

      It’s in the news because the school irrationally expelled good students, and the school is being faced with a lawsuit because of their stupid and unsupportable behavior.

      Report Post » Back To Reality  
    • chips1
      Posted on January 4, 2011 at 1:46pm

      I agree with you. Apparently they don’t look at the over easy eggs before they eat them. The libs are O.K. with abortion up to actual birth, but this makes them mad. next thing they will complain about is the act of blowing your nose and seeing the results. They are just as snotty.

      Report Post »  
  • Back To Reality
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:52am

    The funny thing about this is that the student has been revealed to be an excellent student with a great record. She is active in her church and comes from a conservative family.

    But then, knee-jerk and irrelevant decisions tend to come from our more liberal institutions (colleges/universities) such as JCCC.

    Something to consider; do you think JCCC would’ve been so quick to kick her out if she were NOT WHITE!?

    Report Post » Back To Reality  
  • Willie Wonka
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:44am

    Young students acting silly and dumb. Give ‘em a break!

    Report Post »  
  • MER-Maid
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:42am

    I don’t get it…why are we mad? It was a placenta, not a fetus. Gross, but not game changing…

    Report Post »  
  • N37BU6
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:38am

    I’d be annoyed if someone played with my dinner too.

    Report Post » N37BU6  
  • Ghostrider
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:37am

    Look, if it would have been an aborted baby, then there would have been no problem. But, because it was a placenta, or after birth, then there is the problem, because the school obviously cannot support the wanton showing of after birth. It may be disgusting to look at, but it is not as disgusting as looking at a MURDERED baby!

    Report Post »  
  • texasfarmer
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:36am

    They will be employed (hope not) under ObamaCare. Maybe they could have a shot take when they euthanize granny.

    Report Post » texasfarmer  
  • stifroc
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:29am

    If she was wearing a burka there would be no problem. Plain & simple.

    Report Post » stifroc  
  • johnconnersmom
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:09am

    I don’t get it… Is there a RULE against this? Sensitivity is fine thing to try to impart BUT, but there has to be a policy to suspend them. If not… Reinstate them. To me a placenta is the equivalent of poising with a dissected frog. It wasn’t an aborted baby. It wasn‘t a picture of somebody’s loved one from an autopsy…

    Report Post »  
  • Dash Riprock
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:07am

    It’s called professionalism, or lack there of.

    Report Post » Dash Riprock  
  • Lonescrapper
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 9:57am

    You are an idiot for having your instructor friended on your facebook

    Report Post » Lonescrapper  
    • Cemoto78
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:03am

      Your an even bigger idiot to post such stupid pictures on any social network for the world to see.

      Report Post » Cemoto78  
    • EgoBrain
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:06am

      This I agree with.

      Report Post » EgoBrain  
    • sWampy
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 5:51pm

      What’s the big deal, google image it, and you will find thousands of pictures, it’s a mile stone in their nursing training, delivering a baby, see no difference than a dentist student posting a picture of the first tooth they pulled, welder the first weld they welded, etc.

      Report Post »  
  • jburke4
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 9:56am

    I don’t get why this is an issue. It’s a placenta, other animals eat it after childbirth, who cares about it? If they want to pose with a colon I don’t care. I could understand if it were a fetus which is an unborn baby, but this is different. Unprofessional yes, but these are kids and as such are clueless about pretty much everything in life. As a father of three I now consider anyone under the age of 25 to be a kid, because they don’t seem to have a functioning brain from the age of 15-25… at least mine don’t.

    Report Post »  
    • justanamerican
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:32am

      LOL…….. another good point

      Report Post » justanamerican  
    • Reagan/DeMint.deciple
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:27am

      WOW, JBURKE4 so I guess you’re right on target with the libs that have “ children ” up to age 26 on their parents health insurance, right ??? Whatever will you do when the repubs, defund/repeal/replace obamacare and you can’t have that part of the bill ??? Oh man… I hate to tell you but at 25 you should be out on your own contributing to society like I was.

      Report Post » one years food ration like glenn says  
  • SND97
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 9:43am

    Problem is guys, my wife works in surgery, and they take the privacy stuff VERY seriously. My wife can’t even discuss minor events with me when it comes to anyones case. Even family members, and if you think hard about it would you want anything of you being discussed or shown even if no one would know about it?

    Report Post »  
    • Dustoff
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:01am

      BINGO. As a flight-nurse this is a huge NO-NO. The laws on this are very strict.

      They should be kicked out!
      This is beyond stupid.

      Report Post » Dustoff  
    • justanamerican
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:27am

      This was a lab specimen!!!!!!!!!!!! Not a patient …..nor was the person identified in the photo.. Lighten up.. If it was your duaghter who did this silly , but not criminal thing, I‘m sure you’d have a different response..

      Report Post » justanamerican  
    • Back To Reality
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:44am

      Dear JustanAmerican…thank you for that note of reason.

      The issue of accusations of PRIVACY violation do not even apply unless the students shared the name of the person who delivered the placenta…and having spent many hours in cadaver labs, and in anatomy labs, I will point out that it’s highly unlikely that anyone in that lab, including the instructors, had any idea where that placenta came from.

      Additionally, I have to wonder if that is even a human placenta; I’ve delivered a few babies in my time, and that one is pretty darn big…most of the fresh material we used came from animals (hearts, livers).

      I revisit the theory that this is a gross overreaction by the school, especially since one of the instructors said it was OK, and that instructor was not punished.

      I agree that the decision to post the photo was questionable, but not so egregious that it warranted expelling four students. As a former nursing student, I simply point out that this manic and inconsistent behavior by the nursing instructors is a reflection of the warped mentality that is exhibited by MANY nursing instructors. An answer that is right today is wrong next week. Instructors get to subjectively create controversy where none exists.

      There are a few nursing programs that are emerging from the post-medeval/industrial era mindset of abusing nursing students, but by in large this tradition seems to be tough for them to discard.

      I will allow you to inject your own speculation about the behavior of a female-dominated occupation.

      Happy New Year.

      Report Post » Back To Reality  
    • Back To Reality
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:47am

      Dear Dustoff, there are NO laws that have anything to do with what this student did.

      None. Whatsoever.

      If you think there are, I challenge you to explain them instead of just tossing out misspelled acronyms.

      The fact that the only legal action being taken is against the school (not the student), should be your first clue.

      BTW, if in some twilight zone someone tried to make this a legal issue against the student, then the school would be equally as liable.

      Report Post » Back To Reality  
  • starman70
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 9:35am

    This was a childish action and is inappropriate for young ladies wanting to enter the nursing profession. They should have been disclipined but not expelled. Unfortunately, this is a product of the modern American education system in which morality, sensitivity and good behavior are no longer stressed. This is a sad commentary on America.

    Report Post »  
  • Back To Reality
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 9:33am

    Ms. Jeanne Walsh (jwalsh@jccc.edu), and Mr. Dennis Day (dday@jccc.edu), Your decision to expel Ms. Byrnes is harsh, unwarranted, and overreactionary, and reflective of the terrible nursing tradition of ‘eating our young.’

    This is what an educator should consider a “teaching moment,” not simply another opportunity to execute punitive behavior that is reflective of a time when nursing students were berated, humiliated, and treated as subservient technicians.

    I had believed that contemporary nursing education was finally emerging from the past-time of mistreating students, but it seems I observe on nearly a daily basis that most nursing educators are ‘stuck in the past’ and unable to apply basic elements of leadership, mentoring, and forgiveness to the new generation of nurses.

    People often speculate as to why there seems to be a cyclical nursing shortage…it is because of the education process and the way it treats it’s students.

    Reinstate Ms. Byrnes…and please review the very similar story of Nina Yoder; the courts found the school behaved improperly in discharging her from their nursing program and required the school to reinstate her.

    Report Post » Back To Reality  
    • Dustoff
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:03am

      Maybe you should read up on HIPPA laws.

      Report Post » Dustoff  
    • Back To Reality
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:25am

      Dear Dustoff, it’s not HIPPA, there is only one P.

      HiPAA.

      And this is not a violation of HIPAA laws…not even close. If you are able to determine the name and illness of the placenta based on the photo or anything the student said, then you might have a case, but I‘ll patiently explain why this doesn’t even apply.

      First, the school is not punishing them based on HIPAA or any thing related to that. Second, the school is only punishing the students, and has not done anything to the INSTRUCTOR who gave them permission to take the photo.

      I could go on, but I that should give you a starting point to understand why this is not even remotely a HIPAA issue.

      Report Post » Back To Reality  
    • EgoBrain
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:42am

      I’m thinking of all the museums in this country, that have babies AND body parts, in jars for the world to gawk at.
      What makes this instance, different?

      Report Post » EgoBrain  
    • Back To Reality
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:53am

      BTW, I sent the note above to the email addresses listed at JCCC; Ms. Walsh and Mr. Day are both administrators listed in the lawsuit.

      I encourage you to do the same; the best resolution would be for Ms. Byrnes to be reinstated before Jan 19.

      Report Post » Back To Reality  
  • justanamerican
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 9:31am

    If only we could focus on the real problems we face, we’d be in much better shape…….. Enough with the nonsnse, who the heck cares about this stuff??????????????

    Report Post » justanamerican  
    • frgough
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:08am

      Has it ever occurred to you that the reason we have the “real” problems we do is because the foundation of compassion, sensitivity and decorum have been lost from our society?

      Report Post »  
    • justanamerican
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:18am

      NO……. It’s because of Political correctness, and laser-like attention to everything BUT the problems at hand!

      Report Post » justanamerican  
    • justanamerican
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:28am

      “Nothing in the image identifies the woman from whom the placenta originally came.”

      QUOTE !

      Report Post » justanamerican  
    • 8jrts
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:04am

      Frgough is right…this just shows lack of common sense which is the root of the big problems we are facing now. You are also right, this incident is stupid, but down the road what bigger stupid things will these people do that could cause harm because of lack of common sense?? I hope they grow up wiser than this.

      Report Post » 8jrts  
    • walkwithme1966
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:11am

      I am with you JUSTANAMERICAN – we have bigger problems than this situation.
      http://maboulette.wordpress.com

      walkwithme1966  
    • Reagan/DeMint.deciple
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:17am

      @TRACIS… How ???

      Report Post » one years food ration like glenn says  
  • TruthTalker
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 9:31am

    Libs can’t stand the truth.

    Report Post »  
    • chips1
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:55pm

      Double standards? I’ve seen pictures of Reid and Polosi together.

      Report Post »  
  • Soldiertocitizen
    Posted on January 3, 2011 at 9:30am

    I don’t get it. What did they do wrong? Its a slice of their life, as nursing students, and they shared that with thier social network. No injury ( I mean that in the legal sense of the word ) was inflicted, no damages done. Whats the reason for the punishment? Anyone?

    Report Post »  
    • Dustyluv
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 9:47am

      Miss Byrnes then posted the photo on Facebook in which she can be seen smiling broadly, wearing a lab coat and surgical gloves and leaning over the placenta in a tray.

      There ya go dummy…

      Report Post »  
    • untameable-kate
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 9:53am

      It was tacky and disgusting. Aren’t these people supposed to be sensitive and caring about the human condition? Nurses are thought of as the heart of the medical profession, they are the ones who are supposed to be caring when doctors are too busy to visit patients and check in on them. I don‘t want anything to do with someone who doesn’t have any more good taste than to pose with body parts.

      Report Post » Untameable-kate  
    • EgoBrain
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:02am

      Well Soldier, I don’t get it either. Guess that makes me a dummy, too.
      Whatev.

      Report Post » EgoBrain  
    • wash1776
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:06am

      That was totally inappropriate. I was a nurse for many years and to take a picture of it and put it on facebook is disrespectful. The teacher should have made that very clear to the girls not to take the photo. The only proper place for a picture like that would be in a medical book of some kind, not on the internet. I worked part of the time in labor and delivery. There were no abortions in the hospital where I was at that time. We were taught the sanctity of life, not to parade it on the internet on facebook.

      Report Post »  
    • justanamerican
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:19am

      You are exactly right !!!!!!!!!!!

      Report Post » justanamerican  
    • snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:21am

      I have to look at this in one simple way, did they break any of the schools written rules – clearly and easily understood rules of “do not do this and that”. I mean still, I have heard one med student use the name of “Abra cadaver” to describe the first surgery procedures he learned. (He is now my own doctor, until Obama care comes fully into force.)

      http://www.artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm

      Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • petey
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:50am

      Just suppose it was a cadaver,you couldn’t see the face,or did not know the identity of the deceased.If they posted various body parts,would that be acceptable? Idiots who lack sound judgement.Yeah,and I’m a nurse.

      Report Post »  
    • TraciS
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:51am

      Add your comments

      Report Post »  
    • White Devil
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 10:59am

      snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}…Will you please explain why you ignore the Blaze rules against posting personal and commercial websites on this comment board? How does that jive with your beliefs? How do you expect to be listened to if we know you flaunt the rules for your own personal gain? I have zero respect for you. I for one am sick and tired of reporting your posts. Also the Blaze staff moderator never, ever stops you. Show some integrity.

      White Devil  
    • John 1776
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:05am

      So it is ok to kill an unborn child but it is a no-no to pose with something that results naturally in the birthing process in a medical environment? I don’t get it. Yea, it’s tacky and should not have been done, but lets examine the bigger picture of what is considered right and wrong. No one was hurt, no one was humiliated. It was just stupid, worthy of a written reprimand, not expulsion.

      Report Post » John 1776  
    • EgoBrain
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:11am

      @WhiteDevil~
      Why do you report ANYONE?

      Report Post » EgoBrain  
    • AzDebi
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:14am

      I don’t get it either! I guess I’m a dummy too!

      Report Post » AzDebi  
    • Diane999
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:25am

      What she did wrong was an ethics violation. All those who are trained in the medical profession are to maintain an very serious respect for the patient and to hold their charge as almost sacred. Displaying a human placenta on a social network page showed a blatant disregard for her charge and a flippant attitude towards her role in the care of patients. So, yes, this was wrong and the school totally justified in their actions.

      Report Post » Diane999  
    • Back To Reality
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:49am

      A violation of what “ethics?”

      It can’t be traditional ethics because surgery used to be done in a “theater” literally designed in ampitheater style so everyone could watch.

      It can’t be modern “ethics” because there is nothing specifically denying us the right to show a picture of ourselves and an unidentified placenta. Can anyone actually be specific instead rhetorical on this issue? Really…a good person is fighting for their career here.

      Here is the violation of “ethics;” a complete lack of DUE PROCESS. The instructor specifically gave her permission, and the student did exactly what she was told. The instructor is protected by the school, while the student faces a punishment that is not reflective of the alleged violation.

      As far as “training” in the “medical profession,” well…the school completely missed the point here; Ms. Byrnes is a STUDENT…do you see the irony in your statement? This was a TEACHING opportunity…and the placenta is NOT a patient. While it’s essential to the survival of the baby during pregnancy, it’s garbage after the delivery.

      Garbage. Literally.

      It’s going to get THROWN AWAY. How’s that for “disgregard” and “flippant?”

      The school showed a complete failure to understand their own role in the education process.

      And the school did not give the student due process in making this decision. A little due process on their part might do more than just ruin a girls’ career; it might point out a shortfall in their own education process (remember…you said medical professionals are taught this; maybe the school failed and needs to improve their program), but a lack of due process might mean that they don’t address this essential issue. A lack of due process might also reveal that the instructors and other hospital staff were complicit in the action…

      ….which, BTW, was not illegal.

      Report Post » Back To Reality  
    • TheGoverness
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 11:54am

      Yes, let’s have none of this “s.m.i.l.i.n.g” in class. Zer iz to be no enjoyment of your education. Do NOT EVER be excited about something you think is cool, awesome, exciting. Hence forth, no nurse should ever post a picture next to a child in cancer remission who is smiling, b/c heavens, you shouldn’t express happiness about happy moments because you should be a robot.
      Obviously the instructors response of “oh you girls” was wishy washy at best! If there really was a problem then the instructor would have dropped everything and huddled with the girls and explained that it would be a serious ethical problem. She didn’t. It wasn’t.

      Report Post » TheGoverness  
    • Hoosier Daddy
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 12:41pm

      Their careers are delayed, not ruined. Don’t like the rules? Pick a different school.

      Report Post » Hoosier Daddy  
    • Back To Reality
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 12:57pm

      Hoosier…that’s the point; the students didn’t break any rules.

      The school, however, did violate their own rules in giving the students permission to photgraph, then revoking it (the students complied), and then the school failed to follow their own policies on due process.

      The school was wrong, and Ms. Byrnes should be reinstated. As far as a setback…I didn’t have the time and money when I was a nursing student to go through the selection process and be set back just because the nursing instructors were irrational.

      Report Post » Back To Reality  
    • SHOGG
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 2:14pm

      Add me to the “Dummy” list.
      I’ve been there for the birth of 6 of my children and each time seeing the placenta is a big deal, as it is a major part of the amazing process of bringing another human being into the world. These were nursing students who were excited to be a part of the process and as far as I can tell they did nothing disrespectful to or with the placenta. I would much rather have a nurse that is so excited about what they are doing that they post their progress for others to see, than a nurse that could care less.

      The students asked permission to do this. They, at worst, should have been told to never do it again and the instructor that gave the permission should have been disciplined.

      We live in a thin-skinned world where common-sense takes a back seat to knee-jerk PC.

      Report Post »  
    • tower7femacamp
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 3:08pm

      I guess it’s ok for the TSA to use naked body scanners
      but the poor slave girls can’t be excused for a little immature
      fun ??? Come people lay off these girls….

      Report Post » tower7femacamp  
    • Libertyluvnmomma
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 3:52pm

      No -
      I’m sure it was the pharmaceutical company that harvests the hormones had something to do with it.

      Report Post » Libertyluvnmomma  
    • AmericanSoldier
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 5:21pm

      I honestly don’t understand the issue here. It was a placenta, an empty sack. Sure, was it in bad taste, I’ll give you that. I wouldn’t want body parts pictured on my Facebook but to kick students out of school for it?

      Reinstate the students!

      Report Post » American Soldier (Separated)  
    • cindy1850
      Posted on January 3, 2011 at 9:09pm

      They should be expelled and not allowed to return for at least a year and then with extensive education on privacy, hippa, confidentially and professionalism with extensive written assignments to be sure they have learned and understood what nurses do and do not do, a course in critical thinking skills should be required prior to nursing school. Those of us in the nursing profession do not need any more nurses who violate pt’s confidentially. I really doubt the woman whose placenta it was gave them written permission to post it. Nurses are professionals these students are not. Facebook info is seen by friends, friends of friends or more, many don’t even know how to set their privacy settings. You not need to see a placenta on facebook to further your education, reading, studying, blackboard discussions on colllege web sites are for this, not social networking sites. Cindy RN

      Report Post » cindy1850  
    • ThePapaJohn
      Posted on January 4, 2011 at 11:43am

      Did they do this before taking the pictures??
      http://www.inhabitots.com/doing-it-for-the-kids-design-exhibition-placenta-teddy-bear/

      Report Post » ThePapaJohn  
    • hickoryrat
      Posted on January 7, 2011 at 12:56am

      they thought their mothers might want a pic of them with the president.

      Report Post »  
1 2

Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

Glenn Beck Radio

Listen to Glenn Beck 24/7 Listen Now
Restoring Love