Social Media In The Nursing Profession

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Utilization of Social Media in the Nursing Profession
Matthew Drapeau
State College of Florida

Utilization of Social Media in the Nursing Profession
Matthew Drapeau
State College of Florida

In our technologically integrated society today, social media has become a fundamentally effective tool for communication between colleagues, friends, and family. Almost everyone uses some form of social media to foster personal exchange with their peers, including health care professionals. A common example of social media are websites, primarily: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. These social media platforms allow the instantaneous sharing of pictures, videos, and stories to virtually anyone in the world. However, in today’s …show more content…

Nurses must be very aware of their conduct online. It is essential to, take a second look at the photos that you have already posted or plan to post, as well as the information contained in any of your social media profiles. Review your posts and what they say about you (Larson, n.d, para.12). Potential employers and other staff members can easily investigate a nurse’s online profile, even many years in the past. Offensive language, negative remarks, and undesirable pictures and videos can be viewed as completely unprofessional. This can lead to the rejection of a job interview, a job offer, or even suspension/termination by a current employer. Nurses should not use social media as a means to complain about patients, discuss workplace issues, or share information regarding accidents, casualties, or patient care. Any amount of information, no matter how insignificant, can be viewed as a HIPAA violation. Therefore, it is important for nurses to understand HIPAA and the potential ways they can violate HIPAA law on social media. Adopted in 1996, HIPAA gives patients privacy and security in regards to their medical …show more content…

As soon as an online entry to websites like Facebook is submitted, instantly hundreds upon thousands of people around the world can have access to that information. These individuals can potentially screenshot posts, comments, save images, and share them with anyone, even after the individual who posted the information believes they have deleted it before anyone saw it. Even if the information posted is deleted before anyone has the chance to copy the information, the provider of the website (such as FaceBook) has recorded and archived the information posted to their database. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) writes, anything that exists on a server is there forever and could be retrieved later, even after deletion; therefore, it would still be discoverable in a court of law (“NCSBN.” P.8). Many individuals do not realize this risk, that when information has been long deleted from a social media website it can be easily obtained and used against them. As a healthcare provider there are legal liabilities that remain even when the information posted is many years

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