Nurse posts crying TikTok after patient dies, sparks outrage for ‘exploiting’
A nurse is facing a wave of backlash after posting a TikTok video of herself crying after one of her patients died.
TikTok user olivia_tylerr33 posted the emotional video on June 17 captioned: “It never gets easier.”
“Lost a patient today,” states the video’s caption as she paces back and forth in the hospital hallway.
The nurse leans against the wall with her head down trying to calm herself. “Shake [it] off, you have 5 more hours,” states the clip.
Over the video, an emotional song plays, “I put my armor on, show you how strong I am. I put my armor on, I’ll show you that I am. I’m unstoppable.”
TikTok user @Olivia_tylerr33 has since deleted her account, but others were quick to duet the video and post it on Twitter, slamming the health-care professional for “exploiting her patient for likes and views.”
A viral tweet reposting the video with the caption, “Aw man can’t believe my patient died let me go make a tiktok rq [real quick],” has nearly 14 million views.
“I understand raising awareness on the difficulties of being a healthcare professional but this feels like a patient was just exploited for likes and views. There are other ways to share experiences, this way was not tasteful,” @ateenyalien wrote.
“Imagine walking into the hallway and seeing this,” @simonelhanna replied.
“Let me set up the camera so I can cry,” @AndyJScott commented on the video with @FreezePeach123 adding, “And then post it on tiktok with a song all about me.”
“Is my grief in frame?” @AJO_MKE quipped.
“When you are emotionally upset at the loss of a life (rightfully so) but then draw attention to yourself so others can see that you’re upset, then it is no longer about the person who died or their memory, but rather about yourself. That is called narcissism,” tweeted @OnlyRobBoss.
Nurses also took time to weigh-in on the reality.
“Not a single nurse does this ever. We have several patients to care for and when we’re dealing with patient A, we’re thinking about patient B and C. No time for this and quite frankly you get very hardened to death. This is attention-seeking 101,” @Ray82253885 wrote.
“I had a lot of people die on my watch during the pandemic- Like a LOT; and this type of performative garbage makes me furious on a level I can’t articulate,” added @anccpt.
TikTok user @marc0p0l0o3 dueted the shocking video writing, “A patient dies and their first thought is to shoot, edit and post a tiktok for likes and attention.”
“Can you imagine her just scrolling through sounds trying to pick the most trendy song while her patient’s body is being wheeled out to the morgue?” he captioned the video.
“Imagine the family of the patient she lost seeing that,” @sl1pkn0t5782 responded.
“‘How can I make this about me?’ – that girl,” added another.
“Probably took more than 1 take too,” @milkdrinker86 commented.
But not everyone believed the video to be distasteful, some online jumped to defend the nurse, pointing to the difficulties and trauma of the job.
“Maybe it’s about raising awareness that nurses and doctors jobs are emotionally draining. It’s not all glitz and glam,” @user679878018002 suggested.
“She’s sharing the trauma medical professionals have to deal with on a daily basis to raise awareness,” @not_akul claimed.