Doyle Byrnes, a nursing student at Johnson County Community College since 2006, was recently dismissed from the program after she and three other students took photos with a placenta they were examining during a lab at Olathe Medical Center.
The anatomical, but incorrect, photo op took place November 10, 2010, under the watch of JCCC clinical instructor Amber Delphia. When the students told Delphia that they wanted to take pictures with the placenta and share them via social networking sites, the instructor merely responded, "Oh, you girls," according to a court petition filed by Byrnes.
That evening, Delphia called Byrnes and told her to take the placenta photo off Facebook immediately, which Byrnes did. "Am I in trouble?" Byrnes asked the instructor. "No," Delphia allegedly responded.
But on November 11, director of nursing Jeanne Walsh "convened a meeting with the students who had posted photographs of the placenta on Facebook, where she verbally berated the students by screaming and crying at them," according to court documents. The students were then "summarily dismissed."
December 23 against the JCCC, Delphia, Walsh and the dean of JCCC's Health and Wellness Program for breach of contract, claiming that she
was denied a formal hearing with regard to the disciplinary action as
set forth by JCCC policy.
A month prior to filing suit, Byrnes wrote an apologetic letter to director Walsh. She told the director that she'd deleted her Facebook account ("...I cannot afford a tool that tempts me to remove any deeper thought behind my actions"). She went on to explain the academic exhilaration that had prompted Placenta Photo Day.
"We were taken aback by the miraculous service this organ had provided,
and admired in awe its perfect, yet simple design to function as the
life support for a presently recent addition to the human existence." Byrnes wrote. "Our joy in the marvels of pregnancy and the creation of life was unparalleled by any other experience we have had in nursing school thus far. For me it was a moment that confirmed all of my wants to become a nurse and continue to uphold the beauty and mystery of life...I am sorry. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me."
Byrnes' dismissal was upheld after a JCCC review, but she and the other three students are allowed to enroll again next fall. Unfortunately, "Byrnes has scheduled an August 12, 2011 wedding in Virginia and has declared her intent to reside in Virginia with her husband next fall and therefore will be unable to resume her education at JCCC at that time," the lawsuit states.
It might be of small consolation to Byrnes, but if she's forced to rearrange her wedding plans, it won't be the first time that matrimony is thwarted by a placenta.
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Everyone's over-sensitive about this stuff now because of the students that took a field trip to a morgue(?) and there was a brain sitting out with someone's name on it. That was sort of a big deal. This isn't.
Yes,but NOT to post pics on Facebook! I am a nursing student and no cell phones are allowed in the clinical setting just for this reason.
Maybe the placenta didn't have a name on it, maybe patient confidentiality isn't the issue here. As a healthcare professional, AS WELL AS A STUDENT IN A NURSING PROGRAM, it is expected that your actions will be professional. To excuse her actions with "I had a momentary lapse of judgment" is just that...an excuse. What if the instructor hadn't asked her to remove the picture from the public eye? What would the next picture be of? And if they were in school while this pic was taken, why were they posing for pictures??? I've been in nursing school....a responsible student finds learning opportunities during the short time they are allowed to be in a clinical setting and doesn't pose for a camera.
I agree. If the students had the nerve enough to post the pic, whose to say later in their career they would not post more info about other surgeries and patients. Privacy disclosure exists for a reason. We have to protect our privacy, before there is no privacy to protect. Just think, if it were the other way around and we had to post every bit about our lives; we would think it was against our civil rights….yet some of these dummies do it so freely. I guess it really does not matter until the post affects you personally. Remember, these things are posted on the WORLD WIDE WEB, and are forever captured. I think the school was totally fair in their actions.
Can you identify your placenta from a line-up? Unless they identified who it came from I don't see why any woman would be upset. People whose job is to wipe other people's asses are allowed to have their own weird sense of humor.
You have got to be kidding me. You people don't see anything wrong with what she did? She took an organ from another human being, "posed" with it, and was stupid enough to put it on the internet for everyone to see, without permission of the woman who gave birth. If I was the woman who gave birth, I would be so upset. If she had been working at that hospital, she would have been fired so why is it an "overreaction" that she get kicked out of Nursing School? Obviously she doesn't have the maturity to work in Health Care and I would never want someone who would do such a thing as my nurse. I find it ridiculous that they are going to let them back in.
Johnson County Community College is a government agency, supporting by local, state and federal tax dollars. Clearly there is a free speech issue involved here and I would hope organizations like the ACLU will support the students' efforts for reinstatement.
Typical liberal reflex to point out an obvious reason for a legitimate abortion.. The baby is dead already? Seriously are you that narrow minded that you're going to play Captain Obvious and use an example like that to justify keeping 2nd term abortions legal? I think by definition, the fetus must be alive in order for it to be considered an abortion. I'm sure your classroom is quite enlightening. Just a thought.
What is the big deal? The patient who owns the placenta was not named and it is just going in the trash anyway. Hey google "kidney" and see how many pictures of them are out there floating around. Ask how many med. students anatomy class body parts come up missing at Halloween time??
JCCC has a history of dismissing students for whatever they feel reasonable. I started the program and after only a few weeks was asked not to return due to an exacerbation of a back injury, even with my physician stating I was fine to continue. I am not the only person this has happened to. A pregnant student was asked to withdraw from the program even though she was early in her pregnancy and would complete the program before delivery. Additionally co-worker was also asked not to return after a shoulder strain. She got an attorney and fought back. These are only a few instances I have heard in the past month. We both graduated this month, I from another nursing program and she from JCCC.
I agree that the student needs to be disciplined, however I don't feel dismissal is warranted just on this instance. The truth is we only get a portion of the story, maybe she was barely passing, had made other poor decisions etc, however based on what I know about JCCC instructors and dean, it is more likely that she was doing fine and had a momentary lapse of judgement.
The art of nursing teaches you to be compassionate, caring and use good NURSING JUDGEMENT. Apparently the instructors have failed to exercise and/or teach that.
If your baby was dead inside of you and also slowly killing you or taking away your ability to have more babies, you might want a late term abortion. How about not giving anyone else a reason to make negative comments about the people of Kansas? Just a thought.
I wonder how JCCC would have reacted if it had been a cancerous tumor the students were intrigued by and posted. Honestly, wouldn't this have been a good opportunity to talk over the issue with the students, respect them as adults and if they think their policy should change, then change it, but DON'T just react and KICK THEM OUT OF THE PROGRAM. From what I know about JCCC nursing, they were chosen out of hundreds of applicants and just about made it through their 1st year of a 2 year accelerated program.
I would think that they had gotten permission from their instructor, I wonder what position she is in? Is she still employed at JCCC? This to me was a way over the top when u have bright students whose careers are put on the line. We need good nurses !!!
I agree with the comments who say this was an over-the-top reaction and I, too, do not understand what rule they violated? They are nursing students, I'd expect them to have a different appreciation for the body. A morbid curiosity and humor is normal in career paths like this. Come on, with what they see (or will see) on a daily basis, I consider this quite tame.
facebook has privacy controls for a reason. my placenta photo-shoot is safely available only to my "placenta lovers" group of friends. at least they didn't sue facebook for being an enabler.
Most abortions take place well before the placenta is fully functioning, during the early stages in pregnancy where the nutritional support for the embryo is the corpus luteum or "yellow body" that develops at conception.
A placenta of that size is clearly from a baby delivered at a significantly later gestational age. Also, Overland Park Regional Medical Center is not a provider of such services. Its actually one of the best hospitals (particularly to deliver a child) in the area, and coincidentally where I plan on having my second. (I'm 37 weeks.)
By the way, Kansas was, until his demise, home of doctor George Tiller, 'lovingly' coined by Bill O'Reilly to be Tiller the Baby Killer, and ironically in our wonderful state of sunflowers and buffalo we allow second trimester abortions. We may be a red state, but our abortion laws are quite liberal.
Personally as a resident of Kansas I don't appreciate the propagation of implied negative comments about the people that live here, especially when those comments are based on ignorance.
Healthcare facilities are taking HIPPA (The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act) waaaaay beyond its intended goals. JCCC will argue the student’s pix with said placenta compromised patient confidentiality, thus violating patient privacy. (Well, I'll be...that's my MOM'S PLACENTA!) If the prior owner of the placenta had her name on the tray and they posted the pix with her name in clear sight, then YES, that would be a HIPPA violation. However, I am pretty damn sure there are no identifying marks as to who's placenta that was. JCCC...you should be EXCITED you have students proud of what they’re doing and want to share their experiences with others.
Hey as long as it wasn't placenta from an ABORTED baby, then it should be ok in Kansas right????
Though apparently a lot of people do eat placenta. Just one of the things one learns when typing "placenta" into Google.
Judging from her pseudo-intellectual writing style, Byrnes would make a great sports commentator.
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