NUR3606 Report: Benefits and Risks of Social Media in Healthcare

This report analyzes the multifaceted role of social media in contemporary healthcare, focusing on its applications, benefits, and inherent risks. It explores how healthcare workers leverage social media for information sharing, quality improvement, training, crisis communication, and patient engagement. The report delves into professional guidelines, emphasizing HIPAA compliance and ethical considerations, including the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) guidelines. It provides a comprehensive overview of various social media platforms and their uses, offering examples such as blogs, images, and social networking sites. The report then examines the legal and social risks associated with social media use, including legal issues related to patient privacy, freedom of speech, and professional image. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of responsible social media practices to enhance patient outcomes and maintain professional standards within the healthcare sector. The report is a valuable resource for nursing students and healthcare professionals seeking to understand the complexities of social media in the healthcare landscape.

Report Improving Health
Outcomes for Nursing

Table of contents
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
The uses of social media by healthcare workers in contemporary healthcare...............3
The professional guidelines for using social media.......................................................3
Social media platforms...................................................................................................4
Reasons to engage social media.....................................................................................4
RISKS............................................................................................................................5
Legal issues....................................................................................................................5
Social issues...................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

MAIN BODY
The uses of social media by healthcare workers in contemporary healthcare
The health care workers are using the social media for various reasons such as:
Sharing information
The healthcare workers use the social media as a tool to share information through the websites
where they can share the information about the general flu shots and the advice on how to avoid
a cold (Merchant (2020).
Compare and improve the quality
The social media can be used by the health workers to compare and improve the quality of the
content posted by them. They can observe their competitors online and evaluate their practices
as well as the social media involvement, this helps them to improve their practices. This helps
in improving the customer service and the rate of responding to the patients on the social media.
Train medical personnel
Social media is being used in the training purposes by the health professionals. The trainees are
encouraged to get involved in the social media platform for the interactive and the enjoyable
learning.
Live updates
This use of the social media is controversial. The use of the social platforms in the operating
rooms for providing the up to date information and the state during the procedures, for the
students and some doctors. Some people state this practice to be distracting for the doctor who
is operating. The argument is going on the educational value of this use.
Communicating in the time of crisis
At the time of crisis social media can be a life changing tool for the workers and the health care
professionals. The organizations can spread the information getting from the centers for
diseases control, to keep others updated.
The professional guidelines for using social media
The social media information is protected under the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act) complaint guidelines. Various security guidelines are set for protecting the
information on the social media channels from being misused. Social safeguards are used to
protect the social media post from going live that is against the policies of the social media. The
social networking policies are made clear to the employees. The discussion of the patients are
strictly prohibited even in general. The professional are allowed to speak in general about the
condition as well as treatments. The professional are not allowed to practice the medicine online
by responding to the offline patients (Borgmann and et.al(2018).

NMBA (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia)
The guidelines encourage the professional to practice ethically in any situation. Aware the
professionals for keeping a standard when interacting online. Helps the professionals at the
healthcare to know about the obligations and the pitfalls while using the social media platforms
(Medway, Sweet and Müller(2021).
Social media platforms
The social media platforms can be used to provide:
 Provide the updates (Frank and Torphy(2019).
 Introduce new doctors in practice.
 Respond to various questions.
 Information about the pre- and post- operative care.
 The patients with the information that can be practiced itself.
Purpose Platform Example
For providing the updates on the
new technologies
Blog Tumbler
Give information and the
updates, gain more customers
Blog and articles Twitter
For posting the results of the
patients and other information
Pictures and videos Instagram
Share health tips and tricks Images Pinterest
Gain more customers and for
awareness as well as
encouragement, communicating
Posts Facebook
Reasons to engage social media
People worldwide use the social media for various reasons such as:
 To always stay in touch (Gardner and Allen (2019).
The whole information of the time is provided on the social media so people keep a track of
the happening in the word through these platforms.
 To be up to date with the current news and affairs.
 To just spend their free time.
 For the general networking with the people around.
 To share relevant photos and videos of their interest.
 To research about new things.
 To meet new people.

RISKS
Legal issues
The use of social media has created new issues in the legal complexities. Many constitutional
rights are applied on the use of the social media such as freedom from search, freedom to
speech and the right to privacy. Various rights of the patient can be challenged under the use of
social media. The professional at the health care cannot share the information about the illness,
personal information or the medical condition without the consent of the patient itself. In case
the permission is taken by the patient, the permission when obtained is to be clearly mentioned
in the post on any platform. The disclaimers are to be used necessarily that the views shared in
the post are strictly of the professional posting it and none of the others. The law restricts the
professional form posting any legal discussion of current law cases as they are discover-able.
The privacy and as well as the security of the patient is the considered most important
when sharing the medical information on social media. The privacy setting needs to be used to
protect the information of the patient (Thoma and et.al, (2018).
The boundaries are to be made in accordance to maintain the standard of the
communication while communication online to protect the information getting spread on the
social media.
Social issues
The social risk of the social media for the health care professional is the risk of damage to the
professional image. The post from the professional that is irrelevant and unprofessional impact
the image of the professional as well as the harm the people following the professional for their
doubts and queries about the health issues. People on the social media make images of the
professional by their ideas, beliefs and values of posting and spreading the information. The post
can impact the follower for a long period. The perceptions of the people on social media can be
influenced by many factors of the professional such as the kind of photos being uploaded, the
comments and shares of the posts, organization and any personal detail that is uploaded by the
professional. The professional can also trap in the cyberbully.

REFERENCES
Merchant (2020). Evaluating the potential role of social media in preventive health care. Jama.
323(5). 411-412.
Borgmann and et.al(2018). Online professionalism—2018 update of European Association of
Urology (@ Uroweb) recommendations on the appropriate use of social media. European
urology. 74(5). 644-650.
Medway, Sweet and Müller(2021). Barriers and enablers for midwives to use the Nursing and
Midwifery Board of Australia's Endorsement for scheduled medicines for midwives. Women and
Birth. 34(1). e57-e66.
Frank and Torphy(2019). Social Media, Who Cares? A Dialogue Between a Millennial and a
Curmudgeon. Teachers College Record. 121(14). 1-26.
Gardner and Allen (2019). Keep calm and tweet on: legal and ethical considerations for
pathologists using social media. Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine. 143(1). 75-80.
Thoma and et.al, (2018). Establishing a virtual community of practice in simulation: the value of
social media. Simulation in Healthcare. 13(2). 124-130.