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.

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ANSWER

Social Media Usage among Nurses

Introduction

The world has been encountering technological changes which have redefined and influence various operations in different industries. Social media has been among the most recognized technological changes that have significantly influenced the healthcare industry. Social media usage is common in the healthcare professions, especially among nurses and doctors. Social media’s easy accessibility and convenience have increased its popularity among healthcare experts and have turn out to be a relevant tool in the healthcare industry (Hale, 2021). However, social media practices and perceptions among nurses vary considerably. This study aims to review social media activities based on professional nursing standards and identify what can be considered unprofessional and potentially detrimental to the career and influence reputation in the nursing field. Nurses should maintain professionalism in their social media practices to preserve their professional behaviors, identities, and values on social media.

The social media patterns and online professionalism of nurses have been highly examined. This is due to unprofessional behaviors such as violation of patient’s privacy, excessive self-disclosure, and inappropriate social media posts (Surani et al., 2017). After reviewing my social media accounts, I have realized several posts that have been violating the professional standards of nursing, according to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA). I came across a post which I had made that showed being at home with an elderly patient with Alzheimer’s disease on my Instagram page. The picture had a caption “I love my job” and a hashtag “Alzheimer’s disease.” The post was inappropriate since the patient had not granted permission for me to post their photo on social media or expose any information about their condition. I have also made a post on a detailed procedure and diagnosis to type 2 diabetes. I made the post to educate the public, thus serving as a learning opportunity. I have also been tagged in posts and photos of my friends and me consuming alcohol after the end of a long shift. These posts may lead to argumentative behaviors and judgments of my professional conduct by potential employers. I also have other tagged photos that have questionable conduct and inappropriate humor bordering unprofessional conduct.

The professional standards of nurses are used to describe their level of competence in providing patient care. The professional standards aim at directing and maintaining a clinically competent and safe nursing practice. Ideally, ethical considerations are significant for every healthcare provider. Ethical values are considered universal rules of conduct that offer the practical foundation of acknowledging the kind of intentions, actions, and motives that are valued. Therefore, nurses must uphold the standards of conduct that govern the profession to meet the ethical value at home and in their career lives. For instance, nurses are expected to understand the professional guidelines and professional relationships that need to be maintained with patients and families. They are expected to have high respect for all individuals and maintain confidentiality, dignity, and integrity regarding all dealings in communication and care.

In using social media, nurses have to maintain professional conduct in sharing and posting any information. The HIPAA privacy rules require that the nurses focus on protecting the patient’s health information from unauthorized distribution (Lefebvre et al., 2020). Posting health information on social media websites violates the HIPAA rules. The HIPAA privacy rules have placed restrictions on the use and disclosure of protected patient health information. Nurses have to ensure that they know the restrictions to avoid violations of HIPAA rules, such as posting on social media sites. For instance, a nurse posting a series of photos and comments concerning less cases of measles and sharing an encounter of a boy in the hospital with the disease that could be avoided by vaccination is violating the HIPAA rules. The nurses can be suspended due to the social media posts since the action has violated the healthcare organization policies and HIPAA rules by posting secured patient data on social media (Lefebvre et al., 2020). Another example of HIPAA violations is where a nurse gossips about a co-worker or a patient and goes ahead to post a medical event related to the patient or co-worker.

I have increasingly focused on posting things that reflect my Christian values. As a Christian, social media principles have to come into play since there is a need for a higher standard beyond basic human decency. Regularly, I go through my social media accounts to ensure that my post is within Christian values. I also delete tags that are not in line with my Christian perspective. I ensure that I follow and join groups that respect the human value and dignity of all individuals. Lately, I have focused on posts that educate, motivate and promote community development. For instance, I have made informative and educational posts to help the nurses advance their knowledge, career, and expertise. I have also posted job opportunities for healthcare professionals to help others seeking employment.

I will need to delete my older posts and make improvements to my timeline activities. Most of the posts being tagged in do not align with my professional guidelines and Christian values. Some of these posts have shown questionable behaviors, unprofessionalism, and inappropriate behaviors. I also have to focus on what I like and comment to reflect my Christian principles.

Conclusion

Social media plays an essential role in the lives of nurses in both personal and professional lives. Nurses have to maintain professional boundaries and standards in the use of social media. Nurses are strictly restricted from transmitting patient health information or medical events on social media. Unethical and inappropriate use of social media can lead to legal problems for nurses due to violating HIPAA laws and other hospital policies. Therefore, every activity on social media should promote human value and dignity. As a Christian, I will ensure that I present my values in personal and professional lives to create a good reputation in the nursing field.

References

Hale, K. (2021). Benefits and Challenges of Social Media in Health Care. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, 44(3), 309-315.

Lefebvre, C., McKinney, K., Glass, C., Cline, D., Franasiak, R., Husain, I., … & Stopyra, J. (2020). Social media usage among nurses: Perceptions and practices. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 50(3), 135-141.

Surani, Z., Hirani, R., Elias, A., Quisenberry, L., Varon, J., Surani, S., & Surani, S. (2017). Social media usage among health care providers. BMC research notes, 10(1), 1-5.