Guidelines for Using Electronic and Social Media: The Regulatory Perspective

TLDR

Social media can be a very effective way of communicating in nursing, but guidelines for appropriate use by healthcare providers are essential. The article introduces social media use in nursing, highlights real violations, and outlines guidelines and resources for appropriate use, recommending policy development and education. The authors discuss three real scenarios of nurse violations, relate them to social media, career, concerns, and nursing regulation, and analyze complaints and myths using board of nursing case data. The study identifies common complaints and misunderstandings about social media use, and emphasizes guidelines and resources to inform policy.

Abstract

Social media can be a very effective way of communicating in nursing, but guidelines for appropriate use by healthcare providers are essential. This article briefly introduces the phenomenon of social media and introduces three actual scenarios where nurses unintentionally violated appropriate use of social media in healthcare. The scenarios are discussed related to social media, career, concerns, and nursing regulation. Incorporating these and other examples with data from board of nursing cases, the nature of complaints against nurses is explored as well as common myths and misunderstandings about using social media platforms. Guidelines for appropriate use by nurses and available resources to inform policy are highlighted. Next steps in social media in nursing should include development of organizational level policies and educational programs on the use of social media.