Jenna Godfrey

Social Media Discussion

Case Studies #4, 5 & 9
Case #4
A department director is interviewing several well-qualified candidates for an RD position in a
large wellness program. The position will require good oral and written skills in dealing with
the public and media. A colleague mentions she is a Facebook friend of one of the applicants.
Would it be okay for the director to ask the colleague to view the applicants personal
Facebook page?
Discussion Questions

Is the situation described an ethical issue?

Or, is it a business dispute?
This case presents an ethical issue, as it
involves invasion of the applicants privacy.
The director does not have access to the
applicants Facebook page, and therefore it
can be assumed that the page is set to
private. Showing the applicants private
Facebook page without permission from
the colleague/director is a violation of the
applicants right to privacy and represents
an ethical concern.

What principle(s) of the Code of Ethics does it relate to and how/why?

#1- The dietetics practitioner conducts himself/herself with honesty, integrity, and
fairness.
In general, this situation would be unfair to the applicant. Both the director and
colleague are not conducting themselves with fairness when choosing to view the
applicants private Facebook page. This is especially unfair to the applicant whose
consideration for the position may be altered by his/her Facebook page (which may be
why it was set to private).
#9B- The dietetics practitioner treats clients and patients with respect and
consideration.
The dietetics practitioner respects the clients right to make decisions regarding the
recommended plan of care, including consent, modification, or refusal.

Both the director and colleague are not treating the applicant with respect and
consideration for his/her right to privacy. The applicant was not given the opportunity to
consent or refuse the viewing of his/her Facebook page.
#10- The dietetics practitioner protects confidential information and makes full
disclosure about any limitations on his or her ability to guarantee full confidentiality.
The colleague clearly is not protecting the applicants confidentiality by showing the
director his/her private Facebook page.
#15- The dietetics practitioner is alert to the occurrence of a real or potential conflict of
interest and takes appropriate action whenever a conflict arises.
The colleagues relationship (friendship via Facebook) with the applicant presents a
potential conflict of interest. By exposing the applicants private Facebook page to the
director, the colleague is not taking appropriate action to avoid or resolve this conflict of
interest.
Indicate the Category for the Code of Ethics
Fundamental principles
Responsibilities to the Clients
Responsibilities to the Profession
Indicate the Principle(s) of the Code of Ethics
Principles #1, 9, 10 & 15
What key points should be considered?
Colleague and directors violation of applicants right to privacy
Consider that Facebook is usually a platform that employers look to when considering an
applicant, so this case might not be too severely unethical.
Also consider that the applicants Facebook page may be representative of his/her public
media oral and written skills, which are skills the director is specifically looking for in an
applicant.
Case #5

An RD consultant receives a free package of cereal in the mail from a cereal company for
which she serves as a consultant. The RD consultant writes a blog about this cereals health
benefits for her personal web site, where she has listed all her current clients on the "About
Me" page. Does she need to disclose the free cereal she received in the blog itself?
Discussion Questions

Is the situation described an ethical issue?

Or, is it a business dispute?
This case displays an ethical issue of
disclosing potential conflicts of interest
between the RD consultant and the cereal
company. While the RD may not need to
disclose the free cereal she received in her
blog itself, she should disclose the potential
conflict of interest anyway as her readers
may not be aware of the disclosure written
on the About Me page. This can be
misleading to readers if it is not clear to
refer to the About Me page for disclosure
information. This potential misleading of
conflicts of interest is unethical and the RD
should make every effort to avoid it when
providing informative media posts to the
public.

What principle(s) of the Code of Ethics does it relate to and how/why?

#1- The dietetics practitioner conducts himself/herself with honesty, integrity, and
fairness.
Choosing not to disclose potential conflicts of interest directly on the blog post is not
representative of honesty in the practice of dietetics. The RD should make every effort to
write her blog posts honestly and with integrity by disclosing all relative information the
public should be aware of.
#15- The dietetics practitioner is alert to the occurrence of a real or potential conflict of
interest and takes appropriate action whenever a conflict arises.
The RD does not display taking appropriate action by not including the disclosure
directly on the blog post.

#18- The dietetics practitioner does not invite, accept, or offer gifts, monetary incentives,
or other considerations that affect or reasonably give an appearance
of affecting his/her professional judgment.
The case is a direct example of this principle, as it involves the RD receiving gifts as well
as compensation for consultant work while communicating health benefits of the
products to the public. It is clear that the RDs professional judgment is being affected by
her relationship with the cereal company, as she is considering not disclosing the
potential conflict of interest directly on the blog post. Instead, she has provided the
disclosure only on the About Me page, which may not be entirely clear or accessible to
her readers. It would definitely be clear and accessible to readers if the disclosure was
provided directly on the blog post.
Indicate the Category for the Code of Ethics
Fundamental
Responsibilities to the Client
Responsibilities to the Profession
Indicate the Principle(s) of the Code of Ethics
Principles #1, 15, & 18
What key points should be considered?
Unethical to not provide disclosures directly on blog posts
Consider that the RD writes the blog posts for a personal blog, which she may not be
showing to her direct clients/patients
Consider that the RD did provide disclosures on the website, just not directly on the blog
post
The blog post should contain the disclosure directly so as not to mislead readers or hide
information from them if they do not know to look on the About Me page
Case #9
Hospital administration has received reports that many staff members are on Facebook
frequently during the work day. They are concerned about the loss of employee work time and
productivity as employees use work computers and time to send personal e-mails, play games,
and shop, in addition to visiting social media sites. Can the hospital monitor employee Internet
use at work?

Discussion Questions

Is the situation described an ethical issue?

Or, is it a business dispute?
This case presents a business dispute, as it
involves the issue of productivity rather
than ethics. This could only become an
ethical issue if the hospital does not disclose
its monitoring policies. The employees may
feel that this is a violation of their right to
privacy, but they are using the companys
equipment and time for personal reasons
which is most likely a violation of the
companys policies. Therefore, this becomes
a business issue rather than a question of
ethics. The hospital can monitor employee
internet usage at work so as to improve
productivity. This issue is difficult to
control any other way than monitoring
their usage virtually, so the hospital should
begin monitoring.

What principle(s) of the Code of Ethics does it relate to and how/why?

#1- The dietetics practitioner conducts himself/herself with honesty, integrity, and
fairness.
This case could potentially relate to the ethical issue of honesty and fairness if the
hospital neglects to disclose the new monitoring policy/implementation. The hospital
should also disclose the reasons for the new monitoring policy so that the employees are
aware and fully understand that their internet usage is affecting productivity.
Indicate the Category for the Code of Ethics
Fundamental
Indicate the Principle(s) of the Code of Ethics
Princple #1
What key points should be considered?

Consider that the employees are deliberately using the companys computers for personal
reasons and are directly reducing productivity
This is an issue of productivity and employee insubordination rather than ethics
Many businesses monitor their employees for productivity reasons