While many health care workers have used social media to show Americans the harsh effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, one Oregon nurse is in trouble for doing the opposite.
An oncology nurse at Oregon’s Salem Health was suspended Saturday after she posted a TikTok video in which she bragged about flouting her state’s pandemic restrictions, the hospital told CNN.
The video, which has since been taken down, showed the nurse, wearing scrubs and a stethoscope around her neck, pretending to scream with a caption that read: “When my coworkers find out I still travel, don’t wear a mask when I am out, and let my kids have playdates.”
The video, posted Friday, went viral, and at least one other TikTok user posted a version of it to their account — which has received hundreds of thousands of views.
The video “displayed cavalier disregard for the seriousness of this pandemic and her indifference towards physical distancing and masking outside of work,” the hospital said in a statement posted to Facebook on Saturday.
The hospital went on to distance themselves from the nurse’s comments, saying “We also want to assure you that this one careless statement does not reflect the position of Salem Health or the hardworking and dedicated caregivers who work here.”
The hospital said the nurse will be on administrative leave until an investigation that “will thoroughly and accurately ascertain the facts in this case” is complete.
CNN affiliate KPTV said it sent a crew to the nurse’s home to get a comment but she declined.
CNN has not been able to reach her for comment.
The video comes as Oregon has been experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases over the past few weeks, setting records in the number of new cases of the disease just last weekend. Plus, Marion County, the home of Salem Health, has had some of the highest numbers of cases in Oregon, while the hospital itself is fifth on Oregon Health Authority’s list of workplaces with employee-related cases.
Oregon’s latest weekly report on the pandemic reported that Salem Hospital has had 91 employee-related positive Covid-19 cases, though the state includes family members of employees who test positive in these numbers as well.
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