A 33-year-old nurse of seven years at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and featured star on the ABC reality-TV show "New York Med," Katie Duke, was fired after posting an "insensitive" photo on Instagram.

The picture, which showed a disheveled trauma room after a surgery on a man who was hit by a subway train, with Duke's caption "Man v. 6 Train," was deemed by hospital staff to be potentially offensive, and her employment was terminated.

Duke was shocked by the news, telling the New York Daily News that she shared the photo because it was "something that people rarely get to see."

"Somebody's life was saved in this room," she said. "I just thought it was a moving and impactful picture that I wanted to share with my followers. It was just a very genuine intention of ... [wanting] people to see what goes on in an emergency room, from the perspective of being an ER nurse."

Before posting the image online, Duke made sure the photo did not violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a patient privacy protection law, or the hospital's social media policy. She said staff told her she had not violated policy, but was still fired due to the picture.

"New York-Presbyterian Hospital does not discuss individual employee matters," said the hospital representatives in a statement. "['New York Med'] provides snapshots of experiences at NYP. It would be impossible to convey every aspect of every situation in one-hour of television."

TV cameras filmed Duke during her tearful departure from the hospital. Her termination on the show shocked fans two weeks ago when it aired. While Duke said she made peace with the hospital's decision, watching the episode on television was, for her, "traumatic."

"At the end of the day, watching the episode brings a whirlwind of emotions, and I'm okay with the growth I've made since then," she said.