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Nurse Fired For Blackface Beyoncé Halloween Costume

LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. (CBS Local) -- A white nurse at a Missouri hospital has lost her job after sharing a picture of herself in a racially offensive Halloween costume.

Shelbi Elliott-Heenan used blackface to dress up as Beyoncé in a photo uploaded to Facebook on Monday. She is seen next to a man who was also in blackface, dressed as the singer's husband, rapper Jay-Z.

The picture quickly went viral and sparked a fury on the Internet. One angry user reached out to Heenan's workplace Saint Luke's East Hospital in Lee's Summit, where she was a registered nurse, after seeing the offensive costume.

"I do not feel that it is safe having a racist employee working with the public," Lynese Sade wrote on Facebook.

By Tuesday, Saint Luke's confirmed Heenan was no longer an employee.

"While it is against Saint Luke's policy to comment on specific personnel matters, we can confirm that this individual is no longer a Saint Luke's employee," the hospital said in a statement.

"Saint Luke's is deeply committed to our culture of diversity and inclusion," the hospital said. "It is fundamental to who we are as an organization and we vigorously protect it on behalf of all our patients and employees and expect those who represent us to do the same."

Heenan's Facebook account was no longer active Wednesday and she has not yet commented on the photo.

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