The Emergence of Social Media in Nursing: Merits and Demerits

Discuss about the Social Media in Clinical Settings for Nursing Profession.

Social media platforms are online innovations that individuals use to share information (Chretien and Kind, 2013). In the nursing profession, the platforms have demerits and merits. The platforms assist nurses to pass knowledge on disease outbreaks and diagnosis. Health facilities use social media platforms to educate the nurses on recent developments in the profession. Furthermore, nurses can teach patients about ways of leading a healthy life. However, social media consumes a lot of time when the platform is overused during working hours. Additionally, nurses can accidentally share patient information online. The sharing of inappropriate information dents the image of a nurse. Nurses should appropriately use social media to gain more dividends from the innovations.

The emergence of platforms such as Facebook and Twitter has made the sharing of information to be more comfortable. Nurses can now utilize the platforms to provide patients with useful health information such as the outbreak of a given virus or bacteria, new diagnostic tools, and the location of health facilities (Attai et al., 2015). Furthermore, health practitioners can argue on controversial healthcare information and come with a lasting solution to the problem. Nurses use social media platforms to engage with their colleagues who are far away; enabling them to learn about any emerging issues in the field (Hao and Gao, 2017). Nurses can trade information about the various methods of diagnosis with their peers through social media platforms.

Various health facilities use social media platforms to educate health workers; hence, sharpening their knowledge and skills. Hospitals prefer social media training to the physical classroom approach; since, they can reach their staff members regardless of their location (Grajales III et al., 2014). In Australia, and most parts of the USA, nursing instructors are taking advantage of social media to train their students (Panahi, Watson and Partridge, 2016). The existence of social media has made online learning to be a reality. The lecturers utilize Skype and YouTube to train nurses (Panahi et al., 2016). Social media creates an interactive platform. Nurses and students can watch the tutorials, and pose relevant questions to the instructors on unclear areas (Moorhead 2013). Therefore, social media is essential in boosting the knowledge and skills of health practitioners.

Social media also assist the patients to acquire useful health information. Nurses take advantage of Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and many more platforms to educate patients about how to live a healthy and a prolonged life (Ventola, 2014). The platforms enable patients to engage with nurses through online tutorials. Furthermore, they can request for the report on their health status without physically visiting the health facility (Autheunis, Tates and Nieboer, 2013). However, nurses should ensure that they provide credible information to patients (Like, Steiner, and Rubel, 2014). Nurses should create different social media groups through the guidance of the types of diseases (Moorhead 2013). Therefore, patients can choose to be a member of an appropriate group (Green and Hope, 2010). Through the groups, nurses can receive health concerns from patients and address them accordingly (Ventola, 2014). Patients are an informed lot today, thanks to social media.

Social Media as a Tool for Health Education in Nursing

Nurses can quickly check on the progress of patients through social media. Furthermore, health practitioners receive the complaints from patients and give them direct feedback. The first step involves the nurse and the patients connecting on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook (Attai et al., 2015). A majority of the world population have social media accounts. Most people share their lives online; they even share their health status (Hao and Gao, 2017). The nurse can correctly state how the patient is progressing (Moorhead et al., 2013). The specialists achieve that through, looking at the posts by the various patients. Therefore, the nurse can summon the patient for further medication or congratulate them for responding to treatment.

The use of social media has numerous merits for both nurses and patients alike. However, the platforms pose some disadvantages as well. In some cases, the health information shared online lacks the desirable quality; hence, patients find the data to be incredible and unreliable (Hao and Gao, 2017). Individuals parading themselves as health specialists pose unhelpful information online (Khatri et al., 2015). The patients, on the other hand, judge the data to be from a registered nurse. Therefore, nurses are losing the public trust due to the post from unskilled practitioners. Furthermore, the health information from an unreliable source is non-verifiable and incomplete (Hao and Gao., 2017). Patients who use social media platforms to search for health solutions risk their health due to the incomplete information.

Some nurses are unintentionally or intentionally violating the privacy and confidentiality rules of medical practice. A section of nurses posts the images of their patients online (Attai et al., 2015). They go ahead to disclose critical information about the patient on social media platforms (Courtney, 2013). The legislation on medical practice indicates that any information concerning a patient should remain secret between the nurse and that patient (Panahi et al., 2016). The nurse can only share the information with the third party through the consent of the patient. In case patients learn about the action by the nurse, they feel dejected and cut any ties with the nurse (Naslund, Aschbrenner, Marsch and Bartels, 2016). Furthermore, such posts dent the image of the nurse and the health facility.

Social media addiction wastes the time of nurses. Health specialists who are used to social media spend the valuable time that they would use to attend to patients (Grajales III et al., 2014). Furthermore, continuous use of social media interrupts and distracts nurses during working hours (Ventola, 2014). Moreover, nurses cannot accurately attend to patients. Therefore, health facilities record an increasing number of incorrect disease diagnosis and medication (Autheunis, Tates and Nieboer, 2013). Mistakes in the mediation process are harmful to the patients. In extreme cases, errors in treatment lead to death (Schmitt, Sims-Giddens and Booth, 2012). Patients and the general public avoid the visitation of hospitals that report, more incidences of death (Moorhead et al., 2013). Therefore, nurses should avoid social media during working hours.

Online Training and Learning Through Social Media in the Nursing Profession

Social media platforms have numerous advantages when nurses use them appropriately. However, their misuse is detrimental to Nurses, health facilities, and Patients. Nurses should ensure that they strictly follow the professional code of conduct when using social media platforms (Moorhead et al., 2013). Health specialist should understand that they can only share patient details with prior permission from the patient (Autheunis et al., 2013). Furthermore, nurses, interns, and other health workers should read and understand the requirements of the health clauses about sharing any critical information on social media (Hao and Gao, 2017). Nurses should not allow that anything they post on the platforms reach a broad audience (Korda and Itani, 2013). Additionally, they should only share credible information and desist from posting confidential patient files.

Apart from patient details, nurses should post information that is verified and approved. Additionally, they must seek permission from the relevant healthcare authority before sharing any content on social media (Hao and Gao, 2017). The consent should be a detailed one; it should be in the form of a written document (Househ, Borycki and Kushniruk, 2014). Nurses should maintain constant deliberations with the person who has copyright of an image or information (Attai et al., 2015). Before posting any health insight, the nurse should be in a position to explain the source of that information. Furthermore, in the process of sharing information, clinicians should carefully examine the details of the report. Nurses should avoid sharing contents which are: discriminative, abusive, and racist (Panahi et al., 2016).

Nurses should ensure that their posts do not disobey their colleagues, seniors or patients in any way. Furthermore, the position should have a polite and accommodative tone for all. During working hours, nurses should avoid the use of individual cell phones to share health information (Naslund et al., 2016). However, they should appropriately use the systems and computers at the health facility to share, essential health findings (Andrews, 2012). Additionally, the sharing of information should strictly follow the health center’s rules and regulation regarding the acceptable use of use of social media platforms (Grajales III et al., 2014). If the nurse has to use their garget to share information, the same workstation rules should act as guidance.

In case the nurse is unsure of the validity of the information that they want to share; they should use an anonymous name. When nurses hide their identity, they protect themselves and their working stations from a possible backlash in case the shared information is incredible (Ventola, 2014). Nurses should not mention their qualifications or workstation when posting critical information (Cheston,  Flickinger and Chisolm, 2013). Health practitioners must understand that social media is a public entity and as such, only verifiable information should occupy the platforms (Antheunis et al., 2013). Health specialists should post information that cannot taint their reputation or that of their colleagues (Moorhead et al., 2013). Therefore, nurses should be careful when using social media platforms for any purpose.

Advantages of Social Media for Patients in the Nursing Profession

Conclusion

Whenever Nurses and other health practitioners, use social media appropriately, the platforms remain to be a useful tool in the medical field. Social media platforms provide an opportunity for nurses to share health information with patients and the general public. Through the platforms, nurses can educate patients on ways of leading a healthy life. Consequently, health specialists train nurses on health developments through social media. Nurses can engage with their colleagues; hence acquiring fresh information and skills. However, overuse of social media wastes valuable time. When nurses share patient information online, they violate rules on privacy. Health specialists should adhere to regulations that ensure appropriate use of social media.

References

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