A Brief Note On Social Media And Ethics

In the present culture of the United States, social media has had a major impact in American society. It has a profound influence and intertwined itself in almost every aspect of the average American’s life. It ranges from providing updates of location of a person(s), events, and sharing personal moments. Even different industries are utilizing social media as a platform for communication, information, and sales mediums. One industry, the health care field has seen a rise in the utilization of social media. For instance, an emerging population of physicians are using social media apps such as Snap Chat, Facebook, and YouTube to educate, display surgical, and medical procedures while being performed. In contrast, as there are positive aspects of utilizing social media, a negative trait of social media is invading and exposing individual’s privacy. As of recent, a New York licensed nurse had to surrender her nursing license and sentenced to 3 years of probation for “moral unfitness in the practice (Bowerman, 2016).” She took photos with her phone of two unconscious male patient’s genitalia and shared them with coworkers. This has become an increasing issue and as the utilization of social media in healthcare is increasing, many ethical issues are developing. For instance, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was passed for the adoption of a national standard for electronic health care transactions and code sets, unique health identifiers,

Social media platforms allow us to share our expertise, insight and spirit with the general public. This is a very good thing. However, it is also true that the careless use of social media can pose unnecessary risks to ConocoPhillips’ proprietary and confidential information and our excellent reputation. To minimize risk to our Company and our employees, guidelines have been established to provide us with parameters and clarity on what is and is not acceptable online behavior. In general, when using social media, you should:

Henderson, M & Dahnke, M.D (2015, p.62) identifies that the greatest risk in use of social media in health care is to the patient’s privacy and confidentiality. If the established trust between a patient and nurse is broken, the patient may no longer feel comfortable revealing crucial information to health workers. As well as patient privacy and confidentiality, it is also possible for a nurse to cause harm by sharing the private and confidential information of their colleagues via the use of social media.

Social media use in health care continue to rise as more and more platforms become available for use. The challenge is mainly the individual’s failure to evaluate the content and the effect the message being sent be it graphic, verbal, short message system (sms) has on the patient’s privacy. In most cases the offence is not intentional and most people only get to know about the violation of patient privacy when complaint is launched and this does not exempt the staff from facing the legal and institutional implication pertaining the violation at hand (Spector, N., Kappel, D., 2012)

According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health “Many social media tools are available for health care professionals (HCPs), including social networking platforms, blogs, microblogs, wikis, media-sharing sites, and virtual reality and gaming environments.1–8 these tools can be used to improve or enhance professional networking and education, organizational promotion, patient care, patient education, and public health programs.3,5–10 However, they also present potential risks to patients and HCPs regarding the distribution of poor-quality information, damage to professional image, breaches of patient privacy, violation of personal–professional boundaries, and licensing or legal issues.2–4, 8, 10–17 many health care institutions and professional organizations have issued guidelines to prevent these risks”

As social media becomes an essential way to communicate, nurse must be aware of what are appropriate and illegitimate uses of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms. Nurses must use their best judgment in what they post, because they are responsible for protecting the public view of nurses, and most importantly, former and present patient confidentiality. Social media education should not start when a nurse starts their career, but while they are still in school. Richard G. Booth of Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, Canada, studied the use of Twitter by nursing students. In 2011, Booth collected 498 tweets over a six day

According to the Nursing Council of New Zealand (NCNZ) (Guidelines: Social Media and Electronic Communications, 2012) the use of media is helpful for health care in variety of ways in which includes encouraging professional connections, promoting appropriate communication with patients and family members, educating and notifying consumers and health care professionals. According to Nursing World Organisation (2017) there are various online media applications (apps) in which are available for nurses and also for patients to use such as services like healthy eating, physical activity and personal health and wellness. In which health care organisations that make use of electronic and social media, also have policies in place. By utilising networking sites nurses can significantly stay connected by keeping up with current nursing trends and topics (Shantelle, 2012). However, comprehend the establishments policy and use respectable judgment when it comes to utilising social media. Furthermore, nurses can use social media in their own personal lives, of where this could include having a Facebook account and or Twitter. Keeping in mind that they are responsible for sustaining the correct professional behaviours that are expected as though they were communicating in person face to face. An example being that making sure the content of that is about to be posted on Facebook is not crossing the line

The International Nurse Regulator Collaborative (2014) cites that social media are networking sites for online interaction. This

Always ask people for permission before tagging them anywhere publicly or before using their private content for public use. Show a sense of responsibility.

Many social media tools are available for health care professionals (HCPs), including media-sharing sites, social networking platforms, blogs, wikis, and virtual reality and gaming environments. These tools can be used to improve or enhance professional networking and education, organizational promotion, patient care, patient education, and public health programs. However, they also present potential risks to patients and HCPs regarding the distribution of poor-quality information, damage to professional image, breaches of patient privacy, violation of personal–professional boundaries, and licensing or legal issues. “The rising impact of social media on the private and working lives of health care professionals has made researchers and

Concerns about privacy emerge when use of cellphones or improper use of social media gets out of hand. Based on the article by Nancy Spector and Dawn M. Kappel, “breach of privacy or confidentiality against patients are the most egregious errors that nurses can make when posting on social media” (Spector & Kappel, 2012). All patient information must be kept confidential because everyone has the right to be treated with both dignity and respect. Any violation of a patient’s privacy—whether intentional or unintentional—is a serious act that must be addressed immediately. It does not only damage the nurse’s credibility and relationship with the patient, but also affects the overall quality of care given. Additionally, nurses and other healthcare professionals may face disciplinary action, drastic consequences, and/or legal charges once held accountable.

Social media is a big part of our future as it is constantly evolving, it will be no surprise to find our patients on a group variety of internet-based applications. Social media allows users to interact online by creating and sharing information, ideas and opinions. Nurses deal with ethical dilemma throughout their profession, it’s when a situation involves the need to chose from among two or more morally acceptable or unacceptable options. The ethical dilemma arises when nurses on social media consider it part of their personal lifestyle but end up having restrictions due to their professional image. The question is then asked to which extent should nurses be held accountable for their actions during networking? Limits must be set for nurses on social networking because even though it may be for personal use they still have a reputation to maintain as a healthcare provider. It can easily be inappropriate usage of social media that can damage not only personal reliability, but also affects our relationships with patients and coworkers, and current and future employment chances that we may wish to create or keep. As an individual in the millennial generation, social media is seen in our daily lives but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to uphold the image of nurses. We must represent the profession through our actions and that is way boundaries must be set when nurses use social media.

The evolutions in social media come with an increasing number of ways of socializing and connecting with others, which brings about challenges that were not faced previously. This is shown in the case scenario where a student nurse, Roxanne, receives a friend request on Facebook from her client, Ashley, who is recovering from depression and whom Roxanne has developed a therapeutic relationship with during clinical. Ashley appreciates Roxanne’s supportive care and hopes to attend nursing school. Roxanne’s clinical placement is coming to an end this week. The nursing student faces an ethical dilemma on whether to accept or to not accept a client’s friend request on Facebook. The use of an ethical framework is beneficial in aiding a nurse

In many public places such as the mall, restaurant or birthday parties, many of us see technology and social media being used. The growth of technology and social media has evolved drastically and has pushed itself into the modern world and is used as an electronically communication tool. Information spreads and people retain information that is posted on social media. According to Pew Research Center’s article “Social Media Usage:2005-2015”, almost two-thirds of the American adults which composes about 65% of the population, uses social networking sites (Perrin, 2015). Two-thirds of the adult population reflects on the amplification of usage upon teens and upcoming generations. Perrin stresses that social media has affected politics, work, communication patterns, receiving and sharing information about health (2015). In the health care field, technology and social media has been incorporated to be used in being beneficial such as increasing awareness and education on new or known diseases. However, with positive aspects, there are also negative impacts on the use of technology and social media. Ethical and legal means have been placed and integrated into the system to counteract the negative impacts of technology and social media. In this paper, we will explore and discuss safeguards, advantages, disadvantages, legal and ethical concerns regarding the protection of patient’s privacy.

Social media has made an impression in every dimension of our lives, the dimension of healthcare is not far away, and is indeed catching up pretty expeditiously. In recent times, with emergence of social media era, "the freely available web-based platforms that facilitate information sharing of user-generated content, such as social networking sites, media-sharing sites, blogs, micro blogs, and wikis, has benefited the healthcare areas in many ways by playing the crucial role" (American Heart Association, 2013). However, the open and communizing shape of social media generates a number of potential risks, both at individual and organizational level.