Professional Standards of Nursing and Social Media

Nursing Professionalism and Social Media
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Nursing Professionalism and Social Media
Social media is critical to the nursing field since nurses can use it to initiate public awareness campaigns about preventive care. Caregivers can also engage in crucial online discussions or conversations with their peers while trying to help patients with different health problems. However, social media is a double-edged sword and can be detrimental to the nursing field if not used well. For instance, nurses should not share patients’ sensitive information when discussing specific health conditions on social media. Caregivers should be careful with what they post, comment, or share on social media to avoid violating the nursing professional standards and hurting their patients.
Social media gives nurses the platform to share their work experiences. Some of the prominent social networking platforms that I use to discuss health problems with my colleagues are Twitter and Facebook. I have posted information or commented in conversations by revealing details of some of my patients in the past. Initially, it all starts with a specific issue that makes nurses engage in online discussions. Specifically, when I shared the information about my patient, I intended to help my colleagues understand an effective method to reduce suffering for patients with chronic or acute illnesses. In another conversation, I criticized a patient who had posted and generalized how caregivers are ignorant simply because a nurse who took care of her when she was admitted to a hospital failed to sympathize with her. However, I apologized later since I realized that some posts and conversations on social media could violate professional nursing standards.
Nurses have the responsibility to uphold a high standard of conduct consistent with their professional and personal lives. They must demonstrate a high degree of integrity and dignity to gain respect from their patients, which is the foundation of the creati...