Professional conduct among Registered Nurses in the use of online social networking sites

Abstract

Although most of the UK and Italy RNs appear to be aware of the risks posed by their online exposure, their online activity indicates the blurring of their personal and professional lives; this is posing new ethical, legal and professional challenges to members of the nursing profession. Further research and debate is encouraged at national and international level.

Social networks in nursing work processes: an integrative literature review

“…In this sense, only two studies addressed it. One of the articles presented a discussion about the implications of nurses using social networks for posting personal content (23) , and another article addressed the ethical issue of data collection from public social networking profiles (24) . Among the results and benefits mentioned about using Facebook, it can be noted that this social network can be useful for identifying risk conditions, such as those related to stress in undergraduate students; disseminating information; contributing to students' learning with educational activities; promoting positive behavioral changes; improving participants' adherence in longitudinal studies through contact that Facebook provides; recruiting participants for research, especially in younger age group populations; helping young adults quit tobacco use through support groups in this social network; acting as a platform for communication and support among individuals in a particular situation, such as people with schizophrenia and their caregivers, nursing mothers of preterm infants, or caregivers of palliative care patients.…”

“…However, in contrast to observations at a public park, social networking users like Facebook have the option of making their content available to the public or restricting their accessibility through privacy settings (53) . Also in the context of using social networks for developing research, one of the studies of this review aimed at evaluating the use of Facebook by nurses in Italy and the United Kingdom (23) . The researchers identified the disclosure of potentially unprofessional information regarding alcohol, nudity, and vulgar material (23) .…”

“…Also in the context of using social networks for developing research, one of the studies of this review aimed at evaluating the use of Facebook by nurses in Italy and the United Kingdom (23) . The researchers identified the disclosure of potentially unprofessional information regarding alcohol, nudity, and vulgar material (23) . These results point to ethical, legal and professional challenges that permeate the nursing profession.…”

“…Regarding data collection from social networks, one of their facilities is the fact that there are profiles whose content is publicly available with no viewing restrictions, allowing for information to be collected (23) . According to the literature, recruiting participants for research through social networks presents advantages such as reaching a large number of people in a short period of time and low cost, as well as being an effective way to communicate with participants (26,29,39) .…”

“…2014 (23) Facebook was used to explore the use of social networks for nurses in Italy and in the United Kingdom, focusing on disclosure of personal and professional information.…”