Nursing

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.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

ANSWER

Social Media in Nursing

Social media has permanently changed communication since it allows people to connect, share and collaborate with others in present easily. Some of the common social media platforms include Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. These have allowed easy connection and access to content through their services that allow collaboration and information sharing. Nurses use social media for both professional and personal reasons. The impact of social media on nurses’ lives has become an increasingly significant issue due to professional nursing standards and HIPAA. This paper will focus on unprofessional conduct on social media, the standards of conduct in nursing, and social media activities that reflect Christianity values.

Inappropriate use of social media entails posting patient’s information and condition and photos that could be used to identify a patient (Jackson, Fraser & Ash, 2014). I recall an incident where one of my nurse colleagues posted a video on Instagram of a patient saying about their cancer condition. The nurse was terminated due to the violation of the patient’s privacy. Ideally, posting videos of a patient, their records, conditions, descriptions, or treatment on social media breaches the confidentiality and privacy of a patient. Therefore, social media can damage professional image due to specific behaviors that violate the patient’s privacy or lead to negative comments about the patient.

The standards of nursing practices offer a guideline on how nurses are required to conduct themselves. The standards of conduct are in line with the provision of competent care and desired level of performance of nurses. Therefore, nurses must uphold the standards of conduct to maintain their competence and improve their practices in the healthcare environment. For instance, using social media to communicate with patients can improve their health outcomes and care, which describes the competent level of care in the nursing process (Ventola, 2014).

HIPAA regulations are also related to professional standards of nursing. HIPAA focuses on protecting sensitive patients’ information in the highly digital world (Klich-Heartt and Prion, 2010). This determines who accesses the patient’s health information and how the patient’s information can be distributed for healthcare operations. Posting patient’s information on social media violates their privacy and confidentiality, which eventually violates HIPAA regulations. Relatively, a quick comment about a patient’s condition on social media may seem innocent enough but is a breach of confidentiality, thus violating the HIPAA regulations.

My social media activities such as posting, liking, and commenting have reflected my respect for human value and dignity. I focus on maintaining a positive relationship with people, which requires respect and being considerate. Considerably, some people have suffered from violent behaviors online, affecting their depression and anxiety. As a nurse, I promote healthcare through social media interactions with patients. This has dramatically served a good purpose and added value to lives. I have engaged in public health programs that advocate for and educate the public concerning health issues. Most of the health information I gain from these programs has been essential in boosting my professional conduct that promotes dignity and respect for human value in my nursing practices.

Considerably, posting something on social media means that one is willingly making the information available to the public. Employment programs are now gathering information from social media to make decisions regarding hiring applicants. Therefore, I have decided to improve and more careful on what content I post online to maintain my professional image.

References

Jackson, J., Fraser, R., & Ash, P. (2014). Social media and nurses: insights for promoting health for individual and professional use. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 19(3).

Klich-Heartt, E. I., & Prion, S. (2010). Social networking and HIPAA: Ethical concerns for nurses. Nurse Leader, 8(2), 56-58.

Ventola, C. L. (2014). Social media and health care professionals: benefits, risks, and best practices. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 39(7), 491.