The Role of Social Media in a Nursing profession
Social Media platforms present an ideal platform for nurses to enhance their careers and personal lives. A social platform such as LinkedIn, enables professional such as nurses to advocate for their accomplishments and strengths. Upcoming professionals in the field of nursing can easily get connected to reputable medical institutions by developing an appealing profile of their experiences on LinkedIn. Facebook is also one of the social media platforms that contain groups such as Nurses Community, which enables professionals in the field to interact by sharing their experiences and encouraging each other on upholding the standards of their career. However, social media could present a threat to nurses who breach the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or conduct themselves unprofessional through their social media pages and groups.
Social media Unprofessional conducts in Nursing
Nurses can easily fall prey to misusing information communication technology mainly due to their informal set-up misperception. Negative attitudes in society could get perpetuated through the sharing of information across social media. For example, sharing stigmatizing images or videos of women undergoing a cesarean section could make women in their fertility years harbor negative feelings towards childbearing. One of the crucial roles of a nurse is to present a client with a risk analysis of his or her medication and then leave them to make a decision. A year ago, I found myself engaging with a patient on Facebook to choose her cancer medication. At some point in the conversation, I found myself convincing her that chemotherapy is better than radiotherapy since it could use more drugs to kill the cancerous cells. I feel that I violated the professional code of conduct by indirectly deciding for the client rather than just providing the risk analysis statement. In one of the nursing groups on Facebook, I found myself posting complaints on how most children and female clients whom I attended to on that day presented cases of obesity. The post on the patients’ appearance was inappropriate despite not being accompanied by their names or photos since I had described the client in a criticizing way (Weiss, Tappen & Grimely, 2019). Despite posting the social media comments and stories impulsively, one should take a minute or two to consider their implications on the nursing profession.
Nurses responsibilities in upholding a standard of Conduct
Social media posts from certified nurses directly affect their personal lives, medical institutions they serve, and the nursing profession. Individual nurses get viewed as ambassadors of the entire nursing board within a state. Thus, personal expression of thoughts on social media directly affects the public perception of the professional. A nurse who posts complaints on the hospital’s management he or she serves risks repercussions such as job termination, fines, temporary or permanent revocation of a license (Selekman, Shannon & Yonkaitis, 2019). Nurses have a role in upholding patients’ confidentiality to align with HIPAA rules and professionalism in their careers. Social media could lead to the infringement of a client’s privacy and confidentiality rights willing or unwillingly in different ways (Hao & Gao, 2017). For example, posting a client’s details of their medical condition, either in written or photographic form, is a violation of privacy and confidential rights.
Christian Values are reflected in Nurses’ social media activities.
I apply Christian values in social media as a nurse by guarding my clients’ information and refraining from discussing their medical conditions regardless of their race, nationality, ethnicity, age, and beliefs. As a Christian, I uphold my profession’s dignity by doing to others what I would consider right when done to me as a human begin. Any service that gets done in a compassionate and caring way always seeks to find solutions to organizational loopholes rather than revealing the shortcoming to the public. My social technology communication areas that could be improved are engaging in health-related communications with potential clients. In the future, I will redirect any social media friend to a medical site that provides a list of options to access the healthcare services of their choice. Establishing a clear communication boundary within the early stages of interaction can prevent a nurse from intentionally or unintentionally breaching other nursing rules of professionalism and ethics codes.
Reference
Hao, J., & Gao, B. (2017). Advantages and disadvantages for nurses using social media. of, 3, 2.
Selekman, J., Shannon, R. A., & Yonkaitis, C. F. (2019). School nursing: A comprehensive text. FA Davis.
Weiss, S. A., Tappen, R. M., & Grimley, K. (2019). Essentials of nursing leadership & management. FA Davis.