Social Media Issues In Nursing

Social media in nursing should be used carefully as there are risks associated with its use. The following risk may occur in a health profession which will lead to lawful issues. Firstly, information available online for nurses and community members is unreliable sometimes as anyone can post it (Gorea, R.K., Gorea, A., & Gorea, A., 2016). Peate, I (2013) suggest that information found on social media can be wrong, invaluable or even risky to use and nurses find it to be a challenge to offer patients some assistance with determining the difference between relevant and irrelevant information. In nursing, there is a possible breach of confidentiality with the use of social media (NCSBN, 2011). The NCSBN (2011) discusses disciplinary action against nurses who violate the patient’s privacy and confidentiality both intentionally and
Nurses may intentionally breach patients confidentially by the use of social media (NCSBN, 2011). Research carried by the NCSBN (2011) includes examples where patient confidentially has violated, for instance, humiliation a patient, posting videos and photographs on social media, etc. The use of social media may lead to unprofessional behaviour (Gorea, R.K., Gorea, A., & Gorea, A., 2016). According to Barry & Hardiker (2012), social media has sometimes been inappropriately used nurses, situations include; online criticism of managers and co-workers, bullying co-workers, etc. Last and most importantly the use of social media may damage the reputation of nurses due to misconduct on social media (Gorea R.K, Gorea.A, & Gorea.A, 2016). According to Raffkin (2014) since 1999, nursing is the only profession that has been respected for its ethics and