Patient Safety in Nursing and Healthcare

Running Head: PATIENT SAFETY
PATIENT SAFETY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

PATIENT SAFETY1
Introduction
Patient safety is an essential aspect in the field of nursing and healthcare. It is the role and
responsibility of a nurse to work for positive patient outcome. Standards and protocols have to be
maintained so that quality care and safety is delivered to the service users. Registered nurses,
midwifes and nursing students are the foundation of a healthcare system. It becomes their duty to
follow the rules so that they can maintain a decorum with a patient. However, when nursing
students are going through the phase of transitioning from a student to a practicing nurse they
have to face difficulties. They have to communicate effectively with professionals from different
field of healthcare to deliver safe patient care. They have to face challenges during their practice
as there are various criteria and standards they have to maintain. One of the issue that comes
between the patient and quality care is social media. It interferes with the privacy and
confidentiality of patients, which is an important factor that is needed for their safety. This report
will show an activity plan related to usage of social media by nurses and its guidelines according
to the Australian law.
Discussion
I am a newly graduated nurse with six months registration experience who is working on
a medical ward as a part of my reason in the Transition to Practice Program at Sturt Health
Service. The nurse unit manager in the told me to lead a small team for the implementation of a
quality improvement plan, which is related to social media and the obligations under the
National Law.
The importance of the documentation about the obligations and usage guidelines of social
media by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia is that it focuses on the implications of

PATIENT SAFETY2
social media in nursing practice. It is a guidance for nurses so that they use it under control so
that it does not affect the rights and privileges of a patient. Certain rules have to be followed
while using social media as instructed by the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (the
National law) and the National Board’s code of ethics and professional conduct. It includes
points such as complying privacy and confidentiality obligations, following professional
obligations as explained by the Board’s code of conduct. It also includes maintenance of
professional boundaries, communicating with patients in a respectable and professional manner.
Showing information that is false or misleading and deceptive about the patient should not be
supported and only advertising the claims that are acceptable by evidence based practice
(Ahpra.gov.au, 2020). All these obligations are related to patient safety and it helps in
maintaining standard of care and quality, which is why this document is important.
Social media is the reason for breach of patient confidentiality and privacy rights as the
improper use of internet and the habit of posting can reveal private details of a patient’s
treatment and recovery. This might not be acceptable by the patient as they want privacy. This
can also interrupt their treatment and spread false information about them that can lead to
deception. The pieces of information being posted on social media can get in the hands of a
perpetrator, which can also increase criminal activities (Kayaalp, 2018). The National Board
looks after such matter because patient safety is the highest priority, which allows them to also
find a link between a nurse’s private use of social media with their professional designation
because it can affect the fitness to hold a registration in nursing. This can make a negative impact
on the professional career of a nurse if they do not follow the guidelines maintained for the
protection of patient privacy and the professional development of nurses (Duke et al., 2017).