As most of my loyal followers (all three of you) know I am in school to get my post-master’s teaching certification for nursing (I don’t know why, I suspect I may be insane). My assignment this week can be an APA style paper (yawn), a PowerPoint presentation (call me a geek, but I really do love my PowerPoints), or a blog post (Whee, a blog post). I can so do that (even though, I haven’t been doing that lately). Because my subject is about social media in nursing, I thought the blog post option would be the best (and okay the most fun).
Nurses can
be afraid of social media, mostly because of media coverage about nurses
getting fired for inappropriate postings, or postings during work which may
have been a safety matter. Stokowski, (2011) reports one nurse was fired
for posting on Facebook while dispensing medications, another nurse was fired
for posting a picture of one nurse removing a splinter from another nurse’s
foot in an operating room. The excuse for firing the first nurse was patient
safety and for the second scenario was because the hospital claimed it was an
unfavorable representation of their hospital (Stokowski,
2011). There was one case where a nurse
posted a picture of a placenta. She was fired and then took the hospital to
court. The court found in her favor as she had permission and there was no way
to identify the patient (Shah 2011, Stokowski, 2011).
The court maintained the court case created more coverage of the picture than
the original Facebook posting; even though the nurse took the picture down the
news showed it and it was picked up various internet sites (Shah 2011, Stokowski, 2011). Both Shah (2011) and Stokowski
(2011) maintain social media does not have to be scary and can be used for many
ways, such as nursing education, patient education, networking, and for nurse
venting (and if anyone needs to vent, it’s nurses). It is important for the
nurse posting information about work to be very careful that she or he does not
reveal any patient information, or any information where a reader could discern
who the patient is. It is also a good idea to keep from posting any disparaging
remarks about your place of employment. Shah (2011) mentions that nurses who
are very familiar with social media forget whatever is posted on the internet
is not private, even if their intention was to share with only their friends.
It is important to remember whenever you post something on a social media site,
your boss or future employers could find it and read it.
On a
personal note I do post on Facebook about experiences at work but when I do
it’s for a specific reason and I always protect the identity of our patients
and speak of my employers with respect. I will share with you some of my own
posts as an example of what types of posts are appropriate and professional for
a nurse.
The other
day I took care of a patient who was dying of cancer. It was very sad. I
posted:
Very sad night with
my patient. It’s a reminder for all of us to see our doctors regularly and do
our screenings. I made my appointment for my mammogram this morning.
This is my
version of a public service announcement. I also reposted a picture of the
nurses in our department from the hospital Facebook page to let my friends know
about the kudos our department received. Mostly, I write posts about my family,
our personal activities, repost funny cartoons or I make fun of myself. Such
as:
Most people who wake up with a numb arm
and a headache reposition themselves because most likely it was positional -- I
wake up with a numb arm and a head ache and think stroke. Glad I repositioned
myself before I called 9-1-1
We’ve
established social media does not have to be scary for the nurse if used
appropriately – remember don’t write anything your boss or future boss would
find inappropriate. But what can social media do for nursing or patient
education. Not only can it help spread information, it can open up a dialogue
between nurses and between patients and health care providers. Social media can
help with marketing, networking, and maintaining friendships.
Fraser (2012) states social media
can have an impact of modifiable health behaviors such as medication compliance
and provides an opportunity for interactive communication with patients. Health
promotion is another area where social media can be used by posting
health-promoting messages on Twitter or Facebook (Fraser, 2012). When I was the
Bariatric Coordinator I set up a blog, Facebook page and Twitter accounts for
the surgeon. I wrote blog entries about diet, exercise, emotional eating, and
information about the different surgeries offered and what to do for self care
after surgery. I also wrote informative and motivational posts for Facebook and
Twitter. These were avenues to give patients information about healthy eating
as well as helping patients stay motivated. Often patients would ask questions
on our Facebook page and it gave us an opportunity to have a discussion where
others could learn or contribute.
Social media can be used in nursing
classrooms as well as with patient education. Linked In, Blogging, Facebook,
and Twitter are the most common social media sites, but for classroom work
there are presentation sites such as Prezi, Slidesrocket, or Vimeo (Schmitt,
Sims-Giddens, & Booth, 2012). When
using social media in the classroom it is important to consider the following: everything
posted is public, understand your audience, will your post add or detract from
the discussion, keep professional boundaries, and always keep patient
information private (Schmitt, Sims-Giddens, & Booth, 2012). American Sentinel (2014) gives
suggestions on nursing sites via blogs, Pinterest, Twitter and Linked In to
help nurses and nursing students find information needed for their positions.
Following certain nursing blogs, or nursing websites can help nurses sift through
information and hone in on their own specialty or interest (American Sentinel,
2014). If I find I don’t have time to read an article, or want to keep an
online article handy for future reference I will “pin” it to my nursing board
on my Pinterest page so that I can access it later. Linked In is not only
valuable for networking; something important for new graduate nurses as well as
veteran nurses (Doksai, 2012). The last semester nursing student can network by
joining nursing organizations on Linked In in order to see what is current in
the industry as well as reading professional tips such as resume writing.
Linked In doesn’t just help directly but can help indirectly as well. I was
recruited on Linked In for a home health job, while I did not want the position
I contacted a new grad and was able to get the two together and she found a
nursing job.
Social media does not have to be
scary and can be quite beneficial to the nurse and nursing student. Be careful when using social media. Always
protect patient’s privacy (you may have noticed this theme running through this
post), protect the reputation of your institution, and be aware of your
audience. It is a wonderful way to exchange information for both the nurse and
nursing student. It can be a way to network for new positions. The advantages
far outweigh the disadvantages and those disadvantages can be minimized with
careful planning. Most importantly, have fun with it – it’s not like it’s an
APA formal paper.
References:
American
Sentinel. (2014). Nursing Together. Retrieved from http://www.nursetogether.com/use-social-media-for-professional-developme
Docksai,
R. (2012). Working and
Networking – your way to a job in nursing using social media & available
tools. Nursing Licensure. Retrieved from
http://www.nursinglicensure.org/articles/nursing-jobs-using-social-media.html
Fraser, R.
(2012). Overview and Summary: Social Media and Communication Technology: New "Friends"
in Healthcare. Online Journal Of Issues In Nursing, 17(3), 1.
doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol17No03ManOS
Schmitt,
T., Sims-Giddens, S., & Booth, R. (2012). Social media use in nursing
education. Online Journal Of Issues In Nursing, 17(3), 2.
Shah, A., (2011).
Don’t be afraid of HIPAA, say nurse bloggers. Reporting on Health. USC Annenberg. Retrieved from
http://www.reportingonhealth.org/blogs/2011/11/11/dont-be-afraid-hipaa-say-nurse-bloggers
Stokowski, L.,
(2011) Social Media and Nurses: Promising
or Perilous? Medscape. Retrieved from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/753317_3
Images:
Social media
“Like” from http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2012/10/study-checking-your-social-media-pages-is-as-addictive-as-sex-and-nicotine.html
