Introduction
Social media channels are an exciting way to share information about life experiences and maintain contact with individuals without necessarily meeting them. However, the extensive use of social media poses risks to some professionals, more specifically, those who handle classified or private data and individuals’ personal information due to data privacy issues. The Bridge Nursing Home, which specializes in caring for patients with acute illnesses, recently dealt with a case where a nurse shared a picture that she took with a patient during her recovery. Although the photo did not share any demeaning information, the patient was disappointed because the nurse uploaded the picture without her consent. Hence, as the Chief Nursing Officer, I took the initiative to design a policy to govern social networking within the institution. The policy entails that all nurses should avoid using social media for any purpose other than those targeted toward achieving professional obligations, which may include obtaining medical information from practitioners and searching for research resources.
Definition of Terms
The policy stated above prohibits using social media for reasons not associated with their professional obligations. Social media refers to all websites and applications that enable individuals to engage in social networking by creating and sharing content (Chen & Wang, 2021). On the other hand, professional obligations entail all activities involving offering a higher quality of care to patients. Therefore, nurses in The Bridge Nursing Home can use social media to communicate with other practitioners, engage with other professionals in groups and communities, and search for online information on the best solutions to deal with various patient cases. On that account, all other social media activities, including communicating with friends, posting status updates, and sharing patient information via these channels are against the organization’s social networking policy.
The Policy’s Adherence to ANA’s Principles for Social Networking
The American Nurses Association established a set of principles to guide nurse practitioners when they use social media. These standards are intended to prevent nurses from publishing any content that undermines their patients’ privacy and confidentiality (De Gagne et al., 2018). Hence, they suggest that nurses should never share identifiable patient information online and must observe ethically stipulated patient-nurse relationships during service. In addition, nurses should be aware that their colleagues, other organizations, patients, and employers can view these updates (American Nurses Association, 2012). Moreover, they should leverage privacy settings to separate their private and personal information online. Also, they must not post content that could harm the patients’ rights, privacy, and well-being by warranting unnecessary attention. Finally, the principles expect nurses to engage in governing their online conduct and participate in organizational developments (American Nurses Association, 2012). Thus, a reliable social networking policy ought to adhere to these standards and prevent nurses from acting in ways that can disrupt their careers, tarnish the organization’s reputation, and risk patients’ privacy and confidentiality.
That being said, the proposed policy limits nurses and other staff members from engaging in any activity that does not align with their duties to provide high-quality care. Hence, it encompasses all the principles that advise nurses against engaging in online activities that can harm the reputation of the institution of the well-being of their patients. Moreover, it urges them to separate their professional and personal activities by purely engaging in evidence-based practice using social media channels (De Gagne et al., 2018). In the process, it allows nurses to uphold organizational values and work toward positive developments. Therefore, the policy is aligned with the AMA principles of social networking and the guidelines provided to avoid negative outcomes due to inappropriate usage.
Recommended Professional Filters Nurses Should Apply Before Posting on Social Media
The proposed policy applies to the recommended filters nurse professionals should use to judge their actions on social media. Nurse practitioners can gauge the amount of risk associated with their online activities by applying professional filters to their behaviors (Saenger et al., 2018). These filters ask about the laws that apply to a case, the people involved, the professional and medical standards they should assess, and the most effective strategies to advertise their practice (McBride & Tietze, 2022). Moreover, nurses should think about their employers’ regulations or contracts and their standards of professionalism since it will allow them to decide whether they want to be associated with what they do online. Going through these filters and ensuring that online behaviors do not violate their propositions is the key to limiting disastrous social media use.
Conclusion
The Bridge Nursing Home is a medical institution dedicated to ensuring the well-being of its patients. As a result, it pays attention to medical standards that dictate practitioner-patient interactions and information management. Thus, after a recent incident that involved a nurse’s inappropriate use of social media, the institution established a policy to govern social networking among its staff. The policy obligates individuals to only use social media within the nursing home for initiatives geared toward achieving better health outcomes. As a result, it adheres to the ANA principles of social media use and applies to the recommended professional filters nurses should adopt when using social networks. Hence, the policy will assist nurses to avoid actions that might harm a patient’s privacy rights and break the institution’s promise of confidentiality. Moreover, it encourages nurses to engage in initiatives that promise the organization’s positive development.
References
American Nurses Association. (2012). ANA’s Principles for Social Networking and the Nurse: Guidance for Registered Nurses. 2011. Web.
Chen, J., & Wang, Y. (2021). Social media use for health purposes: systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(5), e17917. Web.
De Gagne, J. C., Yamane, S. S., Conklin, J. L., Chang, J., & Kang, H. S. (2018). Social media use and cybercivility guidelines in US nursing schools: A review of websites. Journal of Professional Nursing, 34(1), 35-41. Web.
Irving, A. V. (2017). Policies and procedures for healthcare organizations: A risk management perspective. Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare. Web.
McBride, S., & Tietze, M. (2022). Nursing informatics for the advanced practice nurse: patient safety, quality, outcomes, and interprofessionalism. Springer Publishing Company.
Saenger, A. K., Berkowitz, M., Carley, S., Haymond, S., Ennis-O’Connor, M., Sherbino, J., & Smith, S. W. (2018). The power of social media in medicine and medical education: opportunities, risks, and rewards. Clinical Chemistry, 64(9), 1284-1290. Web.