Two University of New Mexico Hospital workers have been fired, after being found guilty of taking photos of patients and posting them on MySpace. It appears that the two took pictures of patients being treated in the emergency room for various injuries, and later posted them on MySpace for friends and family to see.

Although the two employees only took close-ups of injuries, and the patients are not personally identifiable, they did break patient privacy, and the hospital policy, which prohibits the use of cell phones in patient areas.

Director of Public Affairs Sam Giammo said in an interview with the Associated Press that although no such incident has been reported at the University of New Mexico Hospital, such behavior will not be tolerated: “We just won’t tolerate unprofessional actions by any of our staff. We just won’t stand for that.”

It still remains unclear who told the hospital officials about the two employees, but it appears an anonymous person made the move. According to the hospital’s director, the two posted the pictures as private, so only their friends could see them.

Although this may be the first incident of this sort at the University of New Mexico Hospital, this is not the first time hospital employees are found guilty of breaking patient confidentiality and privacy.

Unfortunately, such incidents are not isolated ones, and this year alone, similar incidents have been reported in different parts of the United States. Some hospitals took the decision to prohibit the use of cell phones and cameras inside hospitals, in order to stop employees or other patients from breaking privacy policies.