After sharing what patients do to give them the ick in a popular TikTok video, a group of delivery nurses was fired from their job.
Although these nurses seem to have taken the phrase to the workplace, “the ick” is a term that has been used to describe a “sudden feeling of disgust and absolute turn-off from someone you’ve been seeing.”
The term “the ick” often refers to “little habits or behavior which suddenly become impossible to ignore,” as opposed to significant red flags like violence or infidelity.
The labor and delivery nurses from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta were heard candidly discussing their interactions with patients in the maternity unit in the video.
The women exposed some unpleasant circumstances even if they did not list the name of their patients.
Who posted the video?
Four nurses from Emory University in Georgia revealed in a video released under the account @hanhinton what patients do to irritate them. The account has since been mainly deleted.
One said: “My ick is when you ask me how much the kid weighs, and it’s still in your hands.” while donning scrubs labeled with the university.
Another person said: “Saying you are at an eight out of ten pain, but you don’t want any pain medication, no epidural.”
One patient said the picks didn’t always include patients: “When the dad comes outside and requests a paternity test right outside the room door.”
Buzzfeed quotes one commenter as saying: “My ick is when individuals work in healthcare and don’t have sympathy for people.” Other commenters got all over them.
Although it’s not apparent if they were explicitly let go as a result of the video, the school announced through Emory Healthcare that four nurses are now “former” employees.
The hospital released a statement
“We are aware of the TikTok video that includes impolite and unprofessional statements towards maternity patients,” they wrote on Instagram.
“This video does not represent our dedication to patient- and family-centered care and falls short of the values and standards we want every member of our team to hold and display,” Emory noted in response to the video.
With only one video still on the feed, the original account, @hanhinton, has been deactivated and reactivated.
In its statement, the hospital said that it chose to terminate the nurses over applying other disciplinary measures because it wanted to ensure that their patients received treatment from compassionate, experienced staff in a secure setting.
It read, ‘No patient should ever feel that they are not receiving attentive care and respect. Every patient at Emory Healthcare deserves to get the kind, competent care they need in a welcoming setting.’
The reaction to the video
According to a commentator, the video appears to have gained enough traction for the institution to act, ‘calling it such a disgrace to all patients. Never would I want my nurse to be this way. Nasty.’
The scenario divided the opinions of many social media users when the news spread online. Some thought the company’s punishment of the four nurses was too severe.
