Impacts of Social Media On Nursing Practice

Impacts of Social Media on Nursing Practice.
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Impacts of Social Media on Nursing Practice.
Social media and nursing practice brings the idea of changing the balance between the social
and technical aspects of work. Modern communication methods have substantially changed how people
interact with each other. Nursing as an occupation has to be flexible with these changes to remain
relevant to the community. In the 1960s, researchers came up with a sociotechnical theory that stated
workers would be motivated and productive if there would have been a good balance between the
social and technical aspects of their work (Collegian, 2014). Modern day technology is reducing the
boundaries between social and technical, hence transforming human contact and communication into a
multi-method process. For instance, Australians are focused on making social media technology to be
more efficient, creative and connected. Their nurses should also accept changes in technology to exploit
the professional opportunities provided by social media. This article visualizes a world where nurses
view social media as a platform for assessing, implementing and evaluating care ( E Casella, J mills,
2014).
While looking at the positive impacts of social media on nursing practice, it is clear that its use
can have a significant impact on nurses’ health at the individual level and at their workplace. Nurses can
use a range of social media platforms to promote their personal goals. According to Ferguson (2013),
nurses can step forward and be leaders in using social media where they can retrieve information for
their workplace or for themselves, connect with colleagues, share information about best practices and
promote health through personal and professional means.
Social media is an important part of communication, especially for the millennial generation.
People of all ages are using it to obtain news worldwide which means that nurses will be attending to
patients connected via social media. Since nurses have a holistic role to attend to patients, they must
connect with patients involving continual evolution in developing knowledge and skills through having
encounters with patients (Hines, 2009).

Similarly, social media also has some negative impacts on nursing practices which include;
nursing programs not offering enough technological training to efficiently meet the study needs, desires
or the Technologies Informatics Guiding Education Reform (TIGER) competencies ( McDowell & Xiping,
2007). Barriers may also restrict the use of social media tools. Some barriers examples include lack of
knowledge and skills in technological use, the rapid nature of technology change, many demands and
distractions from outside or misuse of mistakes within social media (Schmitt & Lily, in press).
According to NCSBN (2011), social media risks patients and students privacy, with a larger reach
and documentable evidence. However, many non-compliances are non-intentional and could be solved
by a clear education for both students and faculty, prior to being used, giving a chance for mistakes to
be made as it is done in physical clinical environments, and faculty development so as to have a know-
how and education mechanisms for safe use of social media.
The disadvantage of using social media in nurse education is because, there has been an
increasingly reported rate of usage of social media among students and faculty. Use of public platforms
for personal benefits can have professional negative effects if not used appropriately with both personal
and academic use. (Valda, Natalie, 2017).
Communicating with patients on social media can at times go beyond professional-patient
boundaries, risking patients confidentiality, exposing patients to wrong information from physicians and
bringing about therapeutic relationships. Such closeness can be unhealthy for both practitioners and
patients putting pressure on the professional boundaries, resulting to differences of opinions among
staff as to where the right boundaries lie ( Christine, Melinda, 2012).
Similarly, oncologists may find out personal information concerning a patient that places him/
her in a very awkward situation. In addition to that, information learned by either the provider or the
patient via social media can bring about ethical tensions.

Nurses can optimize social media to improve patient care. Many social media platforms are
readily available for health care workers, including blogs, microblogs, wikis, media-sharing sites, and
virtual reality and gaming environments. These tools can be used to improve and advance professional
networking and education, and public health programs. However, these tools expose patients and
health care professionals to distribution of poor quality information, destroying the professional image,
violating patients privacy rights and personal-professional boundaries and licensing. Many health care
organizations however, have issued guidelines to prevent these risks (Ventola, 2014).
Earlier on, teens with asthma and 18 parent-caregivers engaged in semi structured in-depth
interviews to come up with mechanisms for improving asthma self-management and suggested
characteristics for coming up with a digital media tool to support such efforts. They identified physician
recommended strategies for asthma management as well as currently employed strategies. They
thought a possible media solution would be a positive step but spelled out specific design requirements
for such a solution to have utility and grow. Most participants considered mobile platforms to be the
most effective way to improve asthma management (Panzera, 2013).
Use of mobile devices, social media and crowdsourcing as digital strategies to improve
cardiovascular care was also considered to help patients. Building all these tools didn’t actually mean
that the approaches would not be adopted and be effective in improving patient health and health
systems. The type of data used across digital media also varies, and it is important to know how this
information would be made better, organized and optimized for collection and analysis.
In conclusion, social media has made communication easier, allowing the nursing profession to
use it across all domains of practice, enabling nurses to connect with colleagues and share information.
The risks that come with dealing with social media can be mitigated through continuous practice.
REFERENCES.
Casella, E., Mills, J., & Usher, K. (2014). Social media and nursing practice: changing the balance between
the social and technical aspects of work. Collegian, 21(2), 121-126.
Ferguson, C. (2013). It's time for the nursing profession to leverage social media. Journal of Advanced
Nursing, 69(4), 745-747. doi: 10.1111/jan.12036
Henderson, M., & Dahnke, M. D. (2015).The ethical use of social media in nursing practice. Medsurg
Nursing,24(1), 62-65
Schmitt, T. L., Sims-Giddens, S., & Booth, R. (2012). Social media use in nursing education. OJIN: The
Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(3), 1-11.
Duke, V. J., Anstey, A., Carter, S., Gosse, N., Hutchens, K. M., & Marsh, J. A. (2017). Social media in nurse
education: Utilization and E-professionalism. Nurse Education Today, 57, 8-13.
Wiener, L., Crum, C., Grady, C., & Merchant, M. (2012). To friend or not to friend: the use of social media
in clinical oncology. Journal of oncology practice, 8(2), 103-106.
Ventola, C. L. (2014). Social media and health care professionals: benefits, risks, and best practices.
Pharmacy and therapeutics, 39(7), 491.
Panzera, A. D., Schneider, T. K., Martinasek, M. P., Lindenberger, J. H., Couluris, M., Bryant, C. A., &
McDermott, R. J. (2013). Adolescent asthma self‐management: patient and parent‐caregiver
perspectives on using social media to improve care. Journal of school health, 83(12), 921-930.

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Impacts of Social Media on Nursing Practice.

promote health through personal and professional means.

encounters with patients (Hines, 2009).

how and education mechanisms for safe use of social media.

and academic use. (Valda, Natalie, 2017).

Communicating with patients on social media can at times go beyond professional-patient

staff as to where the right boundaries lie ( Christine, Melinda, 2012).

patient via social media can bring about ethical tensions.

most effective way to improve asthma management (Panzera, 2013).

the social and technical aspects of work. Collegian, 21(2), 121-126.

Nursing, 69(4), 745-747. doi: 10.1111/jan.12036

Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(3), 1-11.

education: Utilization and E-professionalism. Nurse Education Today, 57, 8-13.

in clinical oncology. Journal of oncology practice, 8(2), 103-106.

Pharmacy and therapeutics, 39(7), 491.

McDermott, R. J. (2013). Adolescent asthma self‐management: patient and parent‐caregiver

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