[genna]

The New Paper
Sunday, Mar 11, 2012

An Oregon nursing assistant convicted of taking graphic photos of elderly or disabled patients and posting them on Facebook was sentenced to jail and ordered to write an "insightful" apology.

Chao Nai Mai, 26, served eight days in jail after a jury found her guilty of invasion of personal privacy late last month. She was released last Friday.

Chao was accused of taking disturbing photos of patients using bedpans and posting them on her Facebook page. The pictures date back to April last year, AP reported.

The pictures show at least two patients - one is of a patient lying down and another is of the back of a patient's head. The rest of the pictures are of the contents of her patients' bedpans.

Chao's Facebook page has since been taken down.

Her Facebook friends commented on several pictures, expressing disgust or amusement at the photos.

Chao surrendered her nursing certificate in January and was fired from the Regency Pacific Nursing and Rehab Centre in Portland.

She denied taking the photos but admitted to posting them. The charge of invasion of personal privacy is a misdemeanour.

In addition to the jail time, Chao was ordered to write a 1,000-word apology to a patient that "should be an insightful look at why the defendant did what she did".

The patient couldn't read it as he died two months after the incident.

As part of her conviction, Chao must avoid all social media sites. She is also banned for two years from working in a job that would require her to care for children or the elderly.

Oregon TV station KOIN Local 6 spoke to some residents, who said they were outraged over what they see as a blatant lack of respect for those in their last stage of life.

"That's disgusting," said Chao's neighbour, Miss Jessica Hunt.

"I used to work for a company like that, and I would never, ever do anything like that."

Even those investigating the charges said Chao showed "no regard for human life and dignity".

Another neighbour, known only as Christina, said she was disappointed in the former nurse aide.

"She took on the job and she has to follow the Hipaa oath and she violated that," she said.

Health-care professional take the oath, agreeing to take on protecting privacy and security as a part of patient care.