Last night I put up a post about some general thoughts of the day. In one section of the post, I asked for advice from my readers on how to handle a difficult situation at work. In that post, I mentioned a "14 year old girl" and some generalities of her personal struggle, with no specific identifiers. An "anonymous" reader from Grand Rapids went on to comment to me that I should have not brought my work home with me and that my content was a "breach of that patient's rights." The entire comment was not helpful to me and was, I felt, condescending. In reading her/his comments this AM, I immediately went on to delete my post.
Now, not knowing who the commenter was, I don't know how well they know me. I believe anyone that knows me understands how seriously and professionally I approach my job. In no way did I feel the writing was a breach of that patient's rights. The patients best interests are in my mind, and in fact, I work very hard to care for her and her family. More important than rights would be her confidentiality, which I feel is a separate issue. I was specifically vague to guard her confidentiality.
People have different feelings about how to construct their blogs. I know some blog authors who keep their content purposely shallow. Others speak of their most intimate feelings. I have tried to do a bit of both, feeling that my blog is a bit of a journal and creative outlet but try to respect the privacy of my family, friends, and clients. One character flaw of mine is that I do care too much about other's opinions of me even when they are "anonymous." So, I will no longer look to my blog readers for professional advice, although I do feel that many of your opinions would have been worthwhile.
4 comments:
Angie, I am sorry that you received such a negative post. I personally enjoy reading your blog very much. I enjoy the fun things that you post, as well as the intimate thoughts that you are willing to share with your blog readers. I feel that if someone has the audacity to post such bold thoughts, they should be "man or woman" enough to sign his/her name. Clearly, they do not know you well enough to comment on your posts, or they would know what a caring person you are and that you would never post anything that would be harmful/hurtful to anyone. I wouldn't change your blog to appease such negative bloggers. Blogs are a vehicle of expression and everyone has the right to blog what they choose. If the "anonymous" blogger feels so deeply, maybe he/she should post about it...not do it through a lousy comment on your blog.
Don't change a thing. You are doing fine. Your blog is part of my morning routine, and I love reading all of your different posts, even the knitting ones!
Thanks for the support guys!
I'm just catching up on the blogs. As a fellow MMPC employee understanding the ins and outs of HIPPA responsibility, I'm fairly certain you did nothing to breach that. Hang in their hon, you do an exceptional job in everything you do!!!
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