Posting photos of patients on social media gets BC nurse suspended

A BC nurse has been suspended for six months for posting photos and stories online with detailed patient information.

According to a May 9 BC College of Nurses and Midwives decision, registered nurse Mei-Lin (Jennifer) Li, took photos of patients and clinical areas of medical facilities and posted those photographs online.

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The regulator said between March 2020 and November 2021 Li breached patients' privacy by posting stories with detailed patient information online.

She also offered medical advice to people online, outside of the scope of her practice and improperly used the registered nurse title while holding provisional registration as a registered nurse.

The College also said she posted online messages affiliating her private businesses with the hospital where she worked. The College's website says she works at Vancouver General Hospital, but it's unknown what businesses she was running.

Li signed a consent agreement admitting to her conduct.

Along with a six-month suspension, she will have to take courses on privacy, ethics, misuse of title, social media use, and professional responsibility and accountability.

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The College gives no other details about the specifics of what took place.

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