In preparation for this assignment I reviewed the article
Social Media Use in Nursing Education.
Social media is defined as a form of electronic communication through
which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal
messages, and other content. This type
of learning platform can assist nursing faculty and students in gaining a
better understanding of communication, professionalism, healthcare policy, and
ethics. This technology is changing the
way that people and organizations throughout the world transmit and receive
information.
Nurses are very knowledgeable and work with many entities
within the healthcare system such as administrators, healthcare providers,
patients, families, and communities.
Nurse educators are starting to explore methods to apply this type of
technology in the curriculum. The
National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) revised the
curriculum standards, encouraging nursing programs to incorporate not only
nursing informatics, but technology competencies as well. Technology is viewed as a medium in which
educators can teach and students can learn.
Several nurse researchers and educators have published
accounts about the potential of social media.
There are typically three themes or categories under which social media
use fit: expository commentaries
outlining functionality or potential social media; social media best practice
recommendations and discussions of privacy, legality, and ethics within nursing
education; and research studies exploring the efficacy or value of social media
modalities in education.
Expository commentaries outlining the functionality or
potential of social media appear often in the nursing literature. Integrating the use of blogs or wikis in the
classroom can assist in supporting continuing education, outlining the benefits
within clinical settings to promote inter-professional collaboration,
facilitate peer support, and assist in project management. Twitter and Facebook
are also other innovative approaches to knowledge and sharing of information.
There are many recent publications that focus on best
practices and legal/ethical considerations of social technology use. Best practice should be outlined related to
social media usage by nurses (and students), including various topics related
to professionalism, knowledge generation, and developing a functional online
reputation. Other issues include
focusing on topics such as third-party material ownership and
confidentiality/privacy. Nurses who
elect to use social media should display competence, image, confidentiality,
privacy, boundaries, expectations, integrity, policy, and accountability.
Several forms of social media can be integrated across the
curriculum in nursing education, but the confidentiality aspect needs to be
highlighted. The Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) training should be required of all
students and nursing faculty. Students
need to understand the following:
- · Everything typed may be publicly accessed.
- · Who is the audience, and who can see each posting?
- · Whether postings will add to or distract from the profession of nursing and their professional reputation
- · The need to establish professional boundaries even between friends and family
- · At all times to keep patient information private including the assigned work unit and minor information
- · The need to keep privacy settings reviewed and updated
Nurse educators must become early adopters and disseminators
of the feasibility, acceptability, and outcomes of technology integration. As long as nurse educators have a clear
purpose and administration support, nurse educators can successfully integrate
social media into nursing curricula. It
is very important for nurse educators to instill a level of understanding in
the student regarding the social and legal implications of utilizing social
media.
Reference
Schmitt, T. L., Sims-Giddens, S. S., & Booth, R.G.
(2012). Social media use in nursing education. The Original Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(3). doi: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol17No03Man02
Dr.Mack,
ReplyDeleteYou have raised very good points in your post. These are, however not limited to, social media and its impact on redefining our world in general and education in particular, nursing curriculum in the digital world, and the concept of best practice.
Reflection on your insightful initial post, I would like to expound more on the principle guide that can help an educator to choose from the huge amount of educational technologies that (s)he would like to use to enrich the learning experience. First, let us agree that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and social media applications are swiftly turn out to be an indispensable facet of modern education. Therefore, it is mandatory to have a clear criteria that can enable educators to choose from the huge amount of the available educational technolgies (Ridgway, Mitchell, & Sheean, 2011). In response to Dr.Zaier, the professor of teaching strategies at University of Baghdad, about what constitutes an ideal learning environment in terms of the required educational technologies, all students in our master class rushed to write a long, detailed list of sophisticated learning technologies. However, Dr. Zaier’s feedback to our list was that before listing all these educational advanced technologies, you need to ask yourself, what is the educational situation and the learning outcome. After defining the intended educational situation, you can start constructing an ideal learning environment in terms of the required educational technologies. In other words, the educational situation and the intended learning outcomes are the core variables in terms of determining the required teaching materials and educational software. The earlier mentioned direction is supported by DeYoung’s (2009) opinion. In addition to this, DeYoung (2009) created a detailed list of critical questions that educators need to answer before determining their educational software choices. Example of such questions are, however not limited to accuracy, design, feedback, cost-effectiveness, and most importantly copyright of the educational technologies.
References
DeYoung, S. (2009). Computer teaching strategies. In S. DeYoung (Ed.), Teaching strategies for nurse educators (pp.168-185) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Ridgway, L., Mitchell, C., & Sheean, F. (2011). Information and communication technology (ICT) use in child and family nursing: What do we know and where to now?. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession, 40(1), 118-129.
Hayder Reply to Dr. Mack
ReplyDeleteDr. Mack, you highlighted an interesting topic in the world of technology. Technology has made an unbelievable revolution in the process of social communication. Social media is a powerful revolution that transforms the way that people communicate around the world and it has become a part from the world in which we live. Millions are communicating through social medial and can read, exchange ideas, and share information at the same time, which make it powerful tool for education, especially online education. If we look to a few years ago, the world was not a small village as it is now with the availability of the internet-based tools. According to Spector and Kappel (2012), “in most cases, social media carries messages far more mundane, but in their own way, they are just as powerful because such communication has changed how the world is seen and experienced” (Para. 3).
Despite the extreme valuable benefits that social media provide for nurses in terms of learning, communicating, and navigate the change or update in the evidence-based practice, it can be devastating when it is inappropriately used. Sometimes, nursing students unintentionally violet the ethical and the professional rule in terms of privacy and confidentiality of patient information. Spector and Kappel mentioned three interesting scenarios that nursing students may not pay attention to when using social media as a learning tool, which most of the time lead to undesirable outcomes. For example, sharing information with other nursing students on a personal blog regarding patients’ that he/she cared for. The information includes patients’ name, picture, age, medical condition, diagnosis, and/or hospital name by which someone can identify the patient. One of the scenarios (a nurse shared her picture with a patient that she cared for to show how the patient was brave in facing the disease and how proud she is a nurse and care for people). She did not mean to disclose patient’s information, but it was recognized as a violation to the moral and ethical rules of nursing. Therefore, nursing faculty should raise students’ awareness about the appropriate use of technology and the limit that students can go with using social media in order to reach the optimal benefits in the ethical and legal limit.
Reference:
Spector, N., & Kappel, D. (2012). Guidelines for using electronic and social media: The regulatory perspective. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(3). doi: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol17No03Man01
Hi Rachel
ReplyDeleteA relationship on social media can add another dimension of involvement for instructors and learners. It is very important for both parties to act ethically. For example, it is not appropriate for an instructor to use the learner’s post in a vindictive manner, or vice versa. Similar to a face-to-face relationship, professional boundaries must remain intact. The concepts of beneficence and none malfeasance must be employed. Burt (2011) defends that instructors can appropriately be friends with current learners, as long as that relationship does not breach institutional regulations. The level of privacy that is available and applied to social media sites is important to consider. An instructor may have the best of intentions, but misinterpretations occur all the time – and the same applies to students. Legally, a social media post could be used as a libelous statement. Anything posted during a time of increased stress, e.g., Nursing school, could be regrettable. A major concern for healthcare students and employees is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). A learner could post an innocent statement, without inappropriate intent, and that post could result in a breach of confidentiality for the patient/client/family/clinical group/instructor/school.
References
Burt, R. (2011). The why and how of using face book for educators – no need to be friends at all! Retrieved from: http://www.theedublogger.com/2011/05/11/the-why-and-how-of-using-facebook-for-educators-no-need-to-be-friends-at-all/