This article was originally written by Don Sweeney for the Idaho Statesman.
A Salem, Oregon, nurse has been placed on leave following a social media uproar over a TikTok video mocking COVID-19 precautions, hospital officials say.
“When my coworkers find out I still travel, don’t wear a mask when I am out and let my kids have playdates,” read a caption on the video in which the nurse, wearing scrubs and a stethoscope, lip-syncs to a song from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” KPTV reported.
The woman’s video and account have since been deleted, but the video was captured by other TikTok users, KING reported.
On Saturday, Salem Health said in a Facebook post the nurse had been put on administrative leave pending an investigation, calling the video a “cavalier disregard for the seriousness of the pandemic.”
“We want to thank those of you who brought this to our attention and assure you that we are taking this very seriously,” the hospital chain said. “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.”
“I’m absolutely disgusted by this employee,” reads one response to the Facebook post, urging that the nurse be fired. “I truly would NOT trust her to care for anyone.”
Posters angry over the video had been leaving one-star reviews for Salem Health on Google, KING reported.
Salem Hospital, part of Salem Health, has 91 employee-related coronavirus cases, the highest for any Oregon hospital, The Statesman Journal reported.
More than 62 million cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 1.4 million deaths as of Nov. 29, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 13 million confirmed cases with more than 266,000 deaths.
