An Atlanta mother gave birth to a baby boy who was unintentionally decapitated during delivery in late 2023. Within hours of this unimaginable tragedy, the doctor performing the autopsy had posted photos of the baby to his social media accounts. It would seem to be common sense to most of us, medical professionals or not, that this is despicable behavior. We have to ask ourselves, what would compel an established, well-respected physician to post such traumatic and sensitive medical images to social media with no regard for the patient or family? Is it possible that he saw this case as a unique opportunity for exponential views, and subsequently disregarded his professional standards?
Social media has always impacted healthcare education and professional behavior. However, the birth of TikTok has triggered a shockwave more profound than any other platform, and not necessarily a good one. I was in my Bachelor’s of Science of Nursing program in the mid 2010’s, before TikTok existed. Of course, we had several other forms of social media, such as Facebook and Instagram. As nursing students, we were repeatedly told, quite simply, “Don’t do it.” While social media conduct was not an extensive focus of the nursing curriculum, still, every professor and clinical instructor emphasized the same sentiment. We were conditioned to go into the healthcare field with an understanding that literally nothing about your practice goes on social media, and we followed that dutifully.
Since the implementation of TikTok, a new set of social norms has emerged that only exists within the app. The purpose is no longer to share photos of the tropical vacation so that Grandma in another state can see. Now, it’s the goal of the user to put the most shocking and attention-grabbing footage out there, to try and get the most views possible. The difference is that TikTok shows all users the video view count, something previous social media platforms did not do. Such a format plays on the innate human competitive nature and fosters a culture of publishing content that will get the maximum number of eyes on it, often at any cost. This has created a new subculture of people putting anything and everything on TikTok, no matter how shameful or embarrassing it may be in the real world. Doing or admitting things that one wouldn’t utter out loud in public, but rather only in the privacy of their own home while, of course, filming it for TikTok. The return is a hit of dopamine achieved by thousands, or even millions of views, giving the user the illusion of fame and notoriety. That’s the thing, though – it’s an illusion. In real life, they are still just a regular person who can walk down the street unnoticed. But in the app, they are a version of a virtual reality celebrity.
As we know, dopamine is addictive, and such is this process of posting videos and achieving high view counts. This becomes a major issue when it transcends into the minds of healthcare professionals. Several of us are on TikTok, whether that be with the goal of public education, information sharing, or simply “clout.” In fact, “NurseTok” is a specific niche of videos on the app, which provides an incentive for nurses to create tailored content, as it’s an opportunity to reach an already interested audience. The problem occurs with the combination of healthcare content and the set of antithetical virtual social norms. As healthcare professionals, we see things that would stop most people in their tracks on a daily basis, and we become blind to it. Posting these sorts of things online, while likely attracting the desired views, creates a major risk for HIPAA violations, patient safety risks, and even humiliation of patients to captivate the viewers. Something that would be shielded from the public eye in the real world, such as a decapitated newborn baby, would be displayed proudly on TikTok, and gain thousands and thousands of views. As healthcare professionals utilizing the app, we walk a fine line between creating interesting content and upholding our professional values.
Why did we enter this field anyway? Is it because we want to help people, or is it because we knew we could get endless views on “NurseTok”?
As we educate a new generation of the healthcare workforce, we need to highlight the risks of putting any information relating to practice on social media and bring attention back to patient privacy and dignity. More public awareness is needed of the social impacts of TikTok in general, but especially as it pertains to healthcare professionals. At the core of this issue is the patients, and our responsibility to be their advocates. To young healthcare students reading this, remember the distinct delineation between who you are on TikTok and who you want to be in the field. And to healthcare educators, consider implementing content relating to this current issue into your curriculum. Maybe then, we can hear fewer stories of nurses and doctors being fired after their boss found their TikTok account, and most importantly, fewer stories of patients being exploited for TikTok views.
About Alexandra V. Aglieco, APRN, FNP-BC
Alexandra V. Aglieco, APRN, FNP-BC. is a certified family nurse practitioner with six years of nursing experience and is a current Doctor of Nursing Practice student at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.