Nursing Professionalism and Social Media

Social media plays a significant role in the lives of nurses in both their professional and personal lives. Additionally, social media is now considered a mainstream part of the process for recruiting and hiring candidates. Inappropriate or unethical conduct on social media can create legal problems for nurses as well as the field of nursing.

Login to all social media sites in which you engage. Review your profile, pictures and posts. Based on the professional standards of nursing, identify items that would be considered unprofessional and potentially detrimental to your career and that negatively impact the reputation of the nursing field.

In 500-750 words, summarize the findings of your review. Include the following:

Describe the posts or conversations in which you have engaged that might be considered inappropriate based on the professional standards of nursing.

Discuss why nurses have a responsibility to uphold a standard of conduct consistent with the standards governing the profession of nursing at work and in their personal lives. Include discussion of how personal conduct can violate HIPAA or be considered unethical or unprofessional. Provide an example of each to support your answer.

Based on the analysis of your social media, discuss what areas of your social media activity reflect Christian values as they relate to respecting human value and dignity for all individuals. Describe areas of your social media activity that could be improved.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.Nursing Professionalism and Social Media

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Nursing Professionalism and Social Media

Introduction

When you’re a nursing professional, it’s important that you present yourself professionally online. When you post something on social media, people are looking to see how you can help their lives and make their lives better. Make sure that your posts demonstrate how well-informed you are about your field of expertise—and don’t include any information or advice that is not relevant to them or their situations.

Use caution with family and friends.

Use caution with family and friends. Family and friends can be your biggest supporters or your biggest critics. You need to be careful about what you post on social media, particularly if it relates to patients or clients of yours. Be sure that the information is presented clearly and concisely, including any disclaimers about privacy requirements or other legal obligations that may apply in this context.

Use privacy settings.

One of the first things you’ll want to do is make sure your privacy settings are set up correctly. This can be confusing at first, but it’s easy once you understand what all the different settings mean. Here’s a breakdown:

You have two options: Public and Private. When creating an account on social media sites like Facebook or Instagram, they default to Public so that anyone who wants access can see your posts (as long as they have permission). If someone sends you a friend request and you accept it—or if someone follows or likes one of your posts—then they will automatically become part of this public group because they’re allowed to see everything posted by other members within that group (and sometimes even contact those members).

Understand the limits of confidentiality.

You are a nursing professional, and you have a responsibility to keep information about your patients confidential. In some cases, this means that you can’t share certain details of a patient’s care with others without his/her permission.

For example, if someone comes into the office saying they were assaulted by a loved one but aren’t ready to talk about what happened yet (or ever), then it may be wise for you not to share that information with anyone else in your office until after he/she has had time enough to heal from the incident. And if someone asks for advice on how best to handle an interpersonal conflict with another family member while they’re still grieving over losing their spouse or partner? That’s something only those directly involved will know!

Avoid unfavorable language.

As a nursing professional, you should avoid using profanity in any of your social media posts. Profanity can be offensive and may also cause other nursing professionals to become uncomfortable with what they read or see on your page. It’s best if everyone is able to keep their feelings about each other at the surface level so that everyone can work together in a positive, productive way.

In addition to avoiding profane language, it’s also important for nurses and other health care providers not only avoid slang but also acronyms (words formed from letters), abbreviations (shortened forms of longer words), emoticons/emoticons (iconography representing human emotion), emoji (pictures representing human emotion)

Don’t post objectionable photos or videos.

Photos should not be offensive, and videos should not be offensive. Photos and videos that contain nudity or sexual content are inappropriate for social media platforms and can result in disciplinary action from nursing organizations if you keep them up.

Stay away from controversial topics.

Staying away from controversial topics is a good idea. Remember that social media is a public forum, and there are people out there who will make comments about you or your profession based on what they read in the news. You don’t want to get into a debate that could be taken advantage of by those who are trying to discredit nursing as a whole. It’s also important not to offend anyone, especially if they’re close friends or family members (or better yet, patient). If someone feels offended by what you say or write on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/LinkedIn etc… then maybe it would be best for all involved if this person didn’t follow along with whatever it was that caused them pain; instead simply unfollow each other and move along with life until such time as issues have been resolved between both parties involved!

Social media can be professionally risky, so be safe out there.

Social media can be a powerful tool for nurses.
Social media can be a powerful tool for nursing students.
Social media can be a powerful tool for research, especially when it comes to behavioral science and epidemiology, which are two important fields within the field of nursing education.

Conclusion

Social media is a great way to communicate with friends and family. But using it in a professional manner is another matter entirely. It’s important that we stay safe when using social media, both as nurses and as people who depend on nurses for their health care. The tips above should help you navigate the waters of social media without getting yourself into trouble!

Nursing Worker

Nursing Professionalism and Social Media