How Social Media Has Changed My Role As A Nursing Student And Future Health Care Professionals

Social media rules our world today and provides instant resources that keep us informed and connected. Advancement in technology has provided multiple resources and valuable information that is literally available at one’s fingertips. The availability of information is endless and provides for fast, more effective learning within the nursing and medical world. There is mass skepticism and question within the nursing environment regarding the use of technology, whether it is via cell phone use, computer, laptop, or internet usage. There is a serious concern regarding HIPAA laws, patient privacy acts, and the legalities tied to an individual’s rights while under medical care.

It is no secret as to how fast social media has grown over the past decade between helping connect with long lost friends and family on Facebook, getting your resume out to others through LinkedIn, sharing a video on YouTube, or even just letting off some steam on Twitter, hard to believe that so much of this we see in our day to day lives can be creating such a controversy within the Health Care System. Most of these sites listed are made into little convenient applications on majority of the populations smart phones that can be helpful as well as distracting (Gill, Kamath, & Gill, 2012).

According to Steven Waldern, director of the American Academy of Family Physicians Center for Health IT, social media has taken a toll on the healthcare industry. Patients are now interacting with patients that are going through a social media site, Patients like me. This site is used to improve the patient’s outcome, connect patients with one another, and enable research. This website has secure portals to ensure that patient information is kept personal or with only healthcare providers. (Hartford, 2012)

There are many public service announcements, advertisements, or paid social marketing that target the health field. Methods that are used in other industries that can be use in hospitals is the emergence of new technology. Technology that offer easier communication to health providers and their patient. It will also enable them to learn skills that are needed in their daily lives or future jobs. Social media has also taken a huge toll on hospitals and health systems. Generally, social media is used to communicate things outside of the work field. Today, it is use to communicate messages about current and new issues. Overall, the methods of media is one of the innovation that helps to improve communication in the health care field. It allows easy understanding through the healthcare providers and its

Social media in hospitals can affect the patient as well as the nurse and the nursing student. Westrick states: “Nurses must find a balance between taking advantage of the benefits social media use

Advances in modern technology surrounds us in our day to day lives, allowing conveniences and efficiency at our fingertips. Great strides have been made over the years with technology, and the healthcare industry along with many other industries have adopted this new way of functioning; electronically. The effects of technology have come to the forefront in where our government has acknowledged the benefits and opportunities. “The promise of Health Information Technology for improving quality and safety of health care while reducing costs has caught the eye of policy makers and other leaders in health care” (Hersh, 2006). It deeply affects how we connect, interact, and communicate internally and externally, but also gives us a sense of control on how we engage ourselves to the innovative software and systems.

As technology continues to improve, many communication issues that patients and health care provider experienced with communication has become less of a problem. In the past, patients experience many problems with communication which affected the quality of care patients received due to communication issues with health care providers. Due to technology improvements, many patients and health care facilities have improved the communication between providers and patients resulting in better communication, better quality of care and improved trust among patients in providers. The technology improvement made in the healthcare field has occurred in the form of multimedia improvements, websites, and various applications.

With the advancement of modern technology, social media is increasingly finding use in healthcare delivery and management. Health professionals including doctors, nurses and therapists have adopted social media to communicate with their patients and for health sensitization. Social media can benefit healthcare delivery in a variety of ways including fostering professional connections, patient and community education and promoting communication with patients and families. On the other hand, use of social media in healthcare exposes patients’ data to breaches and leakages creating confidentiality issues. Misuse of patient data results in serious career penalties for negligent medical professionals. Protocols have been established to oversee the use of social medial by health practitioners. The paper seeks to explore the recognized rules that regulate the use of social media, and its risks and benefits. Health professionals should utilize benefits of social media while adhering to confidentiality, privacy, and ethical guidelines for private or professional communications with respect to patient data.

The researchers believe that social media should be embraced in healthcare to improve communication as it will continue to grow and become more relevant to consumers. There are only a few regulations in place so there needs to be a balance from healthcare professionals if they decide to get involved. Questions to be asked, what are some appropriate uses for some of these channels? Does the type of content matter? Are some social media channels better than others?

The current trends in business communication have been greatly influenced by the advancements in technology. The Internet, cell phones, MP3 players, personal digital assistants, social networking sites, and video conferencing among others, has allowed business communication to take place in many forms and from all over the world with ease. These current trends have made it easier for healthcare professionals to communicate more efficiently internally and externally and allow day-to-day activities to get accomplished more quickly than in the past.

Health information communication technology (HICT) is the new standard in healthcare when it comes to enhanced patient care and education. According to Elsevier Journal (2013), “Searching the World Wide Web for healthcare information is second only to searching for sites related to sex, while multiple forms of social media, now increasingly mobile, are challenging the limits of healthcare providers’ professionalism” (Reis et. al., 2013). This shows an increasing prevalence in the use of HICTs in both healthcare and the general population. Discussing the use of HICTs will further education about how beneficial they are to healthcare systems. This paper will outline the importance of HICTS in healthcare and the nurse’s role in the use of HICTs

The technology patients have access to will allow them to navigate their opportunities to achieve the best healthcare possible for them. The plethora of options to communicate in health care between patient and provider are effective and are rapidly expanding. Ultimately, the communication between patient and provider will allow the patient to have a better understanding of their health, therefore have them be the most efficient in their healthcare process, and will provide the best path to having a long and healthy

The article suggests that the use of social media has become common and expected among the millennial generation, as they have grown up with this technology. The author indicates, however, that nursing students may not be aware of their professional responsibilities with regard

In health care professional various tools are available including social networking, blogs, microblogs, media-sharing sites, and virtual reality environment. These tools are used to improve and enhance the professional networking, public education, organizational promotion, patient care and public health program. Among these tools virtual healthcare is one of the fastest growing trends that is used by physicians to evaluate and communicate with their patient without physically looking at them. Health Resources Service Administration define it as “the use of electronic information and telecommunication which is used in long- distance clinical health care, patient and professional’s health related education, public health and other health care

“Social media have invaded health care from at least three fronts: innovative startups, patient communities and medical centers” (John Sharp 2010). The Social Media arena helps the health care system for their planning strategy and their marketing. However, their use is very controversial. There is a discussion about the use of social media in the healthcare settings due to its vulnerability. Even though social media is important for the healthcare development, the security issues will remain big concerns for the healthcare system.