Social Media For Nursing Essay
546420
research-article2014
NSQXXX10.1177/0894318414546420Nursing Science QuarterlyBlock
Book Reviews and New Media
Book Review of Social Media for Nurses:
Educating Practitioners and Patients in a
Networked World, by R. Nelson, I. Joos, and
D. M. Wolf, (New York: Springer, 2013)
Nursing Science Quarterly
2014, Vol. 27(4) 341
© The Author(s) 2014
Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0894318414546420 nsq.sagepub.com Michelle E. Block, RN; PhD1
Keywords
book review, networked world, social media
Social media is a part of modern daily life whether or not one chooses to use it. One can hardly get through a day without hearing about Twitter©, Facebook©, and other social media outlets. However, most people do not think about healthcare …show more content…
when they hear the words, social media.
Ramona Nelson,
Irene Joos, and Debra Wolf’s new textbook, Social Media for
Nurses: Educating Practitioners and Patients in a Networked
World (2013), presents social media in a straightforward manner, within a nursing context.
The content of this book is divided into ten chapters representing distinct content areas of social media. The book begins with an introductory chapter on the basic of social media and digital literacy and moves into more complex topics such as selecting devices to support social media, telehealth, regulations, and laws that influence health-related social media communication. The authors provide much breadth when discussing virtual health communities and how to produce media suitable to post on social media sites. In addition, research studies on informatics are included to support the book’s content. It is clear to this reviewer that the authors recognize the role the nurse has in empowering patients to take charge of their health by using social media responsibly.
A clear strength of the book is the pedagogical design. Each chapter begins with learning objectives and terms specific
to the content and ends with exercises that support these objectives. Furthermore, there are important features such as questions to ask and guidelines that serve as a foundation for discussion with patients and their families. For example, chapter 3 focuses on electronic devices and hardware that support the use of social media. The authors provide a list of pertinent questions related to the selection of devices and a list of key features and respective functions that guide the decision-making process prior to purchase. Later chapters build on using electronic devices to access health-related social media, to start and maintain blogs, to build effective podcasts, and to manage personal health information. In addition, well thoughtout strategies to protect personal identity and ensure basic safety when using internet sites are presented throughout the book. While many persons are savvy to internet safety, these strategies are especially useful for the novice internet user. The
final chapters focus on business models, ethical principles, professional guidelines, and regulation of social media to round out the comprehensive focus of the book.
A drawback that comes with any book related to digital devices and web addresses is that the information becomes outdated rapidly. For example, since the time of publishing the book, some tablet devices do have USB ports. While the authors do provide an appendix that lists online chapter delineated resources, this author wishes there was an associated password protected website for the book that could maintain active websites and web addresses to prevent broken links that are likely to occur in the future.
This reviewer believes that the information presented in this book can be useful to nurses in a variety of settings and with different levels of understanding regarding social media. The authors masterfully present information on Web
2.0 and Health 2.0 applications for nurses at the point of care, educators, advanced practice practitioners, administrators, and nursing students.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this column.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the authorship and /or publication of this article.
References
Nelson, R., Joos, I., & Wolf, D. M. (2013). Social media for nurses:
Educating practitioners and patients in a networked world.
New York: Springer.
1
Associate Professor, Purdue University Calumet
Contributing Editor:
Mary Morrow, RN, PhD, Vice President of Nursing, Gottlieb Memorial
Hospital, 701 W. North Avenue, Melrose Park, Illinois 60160.
Email: mary_morrow@luhs.org
research-article2014
NSQXXX10.1177/0894318414546420Nursing Science QuarterlyBlock
Book Reviews and New Media
Book Review of Social Media for Nurses:
Educating Practitioners and Patients in a
Networked World, by R. Nelson, I. Joos, and
D. M. Wolf, (New York: Springer, 2013)
Nursing Science Quarterly
2014, Vol. 27(4) 341
© The Author(s) 2014
Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0894318414546420 nsq.sagepub.com Michelle E. Block, RN; PhD1
Keywords
book review, networked world, social media
Social media is a part of modern daily life whether or not one chooses to use it. One can hardly get through a day without hearing about Twitter©, Facebook©, and other social media outlets. However, most people do not think about healthcare …show more content…
when they hear the words, social media.
Ramona Nelson,
Irene Joos, and Debra Wolf’s new textbook, Social Media for
Nurses: Educating Practitioners and Patients in a Networked
World (2013), presents social media in a straightforward manner, within a nursing context.
The content of this book is divided into ten chapters representing distinct content areas of social media. The book begins with an introductory chapter on the basic of social media and digital literacy and moves into more complex topics such as selecting devices to support social media, telehealth, regulations, and laws that influence health-related social media communication. The authors provide much breadth when discussing virtual health communities and how to produce media suitable to post on social media sites. In addition, research studies on informatics are included to support the book’s content. It is clear to this reviewer that the authors recognize the role the nurse has in empowering patients to take charge of their health by using social media responsibly.
A clear strength of the book is the pedagogical design. Each chapter begins with learning objectives and terms specific
to the content and ends with exercises that support these objectives. Furthermore, there are important features such as questions to ask and guidelines that serve as a foundation for discussion with patients and their families. For example, chapter 3 focuses on electronic devices and hardware that support the use of social media. The authors provide a list of pertinent questions related to the selection of devices and a list of key features and respective functions that guide the decision-making process prior to purchase. Later chapters build on using electronic devices to access health-related social media, to start and maintain blogs, to build effective podcasts, and to manage personal health information. In addition, well thoughtout strategies to protect personal identity and ensure basic safety when using internet sites are presented throughout the book. While many persons are savvy to internet safety, these strategies are especially useful for the novice internet user. The
final chapters focus on business models, ethical principles, professional guidelines, and regulation of social media to round out the comprehensive focus of the book.
A drawback that comes with any book related to digital devices and web addresses is that the information becomes outdated rapidly. For example, since the time of publishing the book, some tablet devices do have USB ports. While the authors do provide an appendix that lists online chapter delineated resources, this author wishes there was an associated password protected website for the book that could maintain active websites and web addresses to prevent broken links that are likely to occur in the future.
This reviewer believes that the information presented in this book can be useful to nurses in a variety of settings and with different levels of understanding regarding social media. The authors masterfully present information on Web
2.0 and Health 2.0 applications for nurses at the point of care, educators, advanced practice practitioners, administrators, and nursing students.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this column.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the authorship and /or publication of this article.
References
Nelson, R., Joos, I., & Wolf, D. M. (2013). Social media for nurses:
Educating practitioners and patients in a networked world.
New York: Springer.
1
Associate Professor, Purdue University Calumet
Contributing Editor:
Mary Morrow, RN, PhD, Vice President of Nursing, Gottlieb Memorial
Hospital, 701 W. North Avenue, Melrose Park, Illinois 60160.
Email: mary_morrow@luhs.org