Original Prompt: Discuss at least two potential ethical issues that could be of concern with nursing use of social media.
Post 1)
Although each person has the freedom to use Social Media to communicate, but when it is used as a means of communication and dissemination related to medical practice, it is important that the nurses should maintain an ethical attitude (Mansfield et al., 2017). As an initiative to reduce complaints from patients and return to ethical and professional principles that at no time should be alien to medical practice, recently various health institutions and organizations such as the American Medical Association in the United States, have developed guides on good practices and responsible use of social media. Following are the potential ethical issues that could be of concern for nursing:
Confidentiality and medical secrecy: When describing a case in social media, it must be accompanied by a clear and defined objective, be it the benefit for patients or for academic medicine. In both scenarios, it is essential to ensure that the patient is not identifiable in any way, by means of his face, his name or any other information that links him to a nurse or an institution. When describing the pathology of the case, sensationalism and morbidity should be avoided.
Medical advice to other professionals: Social media is often useful for clinicians to solicit professional opinions from colleagues in other areas. However, if the exchange of images and data is required, it is essential to avoid that the information that is shared can be recognized by third parties, since this can even affect the claims of patients to their health insurance. It is recommended not to use public but private means of communication such as email and not to permanently save said images or data, unless they are used for academic purposes and duly edited (Jain, 2019).
Maintain a proper professional image: It is common for nurses to appear in their avatar with a clinical uniform, with their title, in an office or performing a procedure. It is important to note that not only is giving a personal image, the profession is also reflected, and therefore special care is required in the type of content that is added to the profile.
Maintain respect for colleagues: Faced with a journalistic note or a publication in social media by an institution that covers health issues, such as the creation of medical units, appointments of officials, the withdrawal of a drug from the market, among others, different points will always arise. Therefore, if these discrepancies arise, it is important to avoid publishing disqualifications and pejorative expressions about health professionals and other areas in the social media. As well as allusions to personal and private matters.
Maintain a responsible attitude about medical information disseminated through virtual social networks: It is important that any opinion in these media is recognized as personal and does not reflect the feelings of a group or an association. One of the most controversial points in this section is the quality of the published content, if in any social media information is detected that endangers people’s health, it is convenient to report it.
References
Jain, S. (2019). Practicing medicine in the age of Facebook. N Engl J Med, 361 (7): 649-51 Mansfield, S., Morrison, S., Stephens, H., Bonning, M., Wang, S. & Withers, A. (2017). Social media and the medical profession. Med J Aust, 194 (12): 642-4
Post 2)
Ethical Issues Related to Social Media
Technology is an instrumental tool in the provision of healthcare services. Social media platforms play an integral role in facilitating interactions with patients and educating them on healthcare issues (Milton, 2016). That is why the nursing profession has been leveraging the power of social media to engage with patients and healthcare professional colleagues. However, there are ethical issues that stem from the use of social media in nursing. If not handled appropriately, ethical issues related to social media can compromise the quality of patient outcomes.
Privacy and Confidentiality Issues
While social media in nursing has benefits, ethical issues related to privacy and confidentiality expose a negative side of technology use. From the onset, social media platforms expose people more than physical interactions. It is highly likely to expose private and confidential information on social media even without the intention of doing so (Rivera-Romero et al., 2020). Since it is a public social networking platform, information is available to a large number of people. This calls for nurses to be extremely careful not to share information that should remain confidential.
For example, it is unethical for nursing professionals to allow unrestricted access to their private information on social media. In particular, patients should not have unhindered access to personal information belonging to healthcare providers (Rivera-Romero et al., 2020). Since nurses have a role in protecting the patient-nursing professional relationship, they ought not to allow their private information to fall into the hands of patients. If they fail to safeguard the extent to which they share their personal information online, they risk damaging the integrity of the patient-nurse relationship (Rivera-Romero et al., 2020). Unfortunately, this can lead to poor healthcare outcomes. For nursing professionals to avoid this ethical situation, they should use privacy settings on social media to block unrestricted access to their private information. It is even better for them to strive to make their private and professional realms separate to avoid ethical issues.
Expression of Personal Views
Another ethical concern that arises from the use of social media in nursing is the expression of personal opinions on the internet. Social media is a platform that gives persons the freedom to express their ideas and opinions on different matters. However, for nursing professionals, this freedom has a ceiling. They have to be careful about what they post or communicate online (Rivera-Romero et al., 2020). In other words, there has to be a boundary they cannot cross; otherwise, they will end up falling into the trap of ethical dilemmas. For example, a healthcare professional who is opposed to certain aspects of healthcare reform can criticize the government openly in a manner that crosses the limits of professional practice. This move can taint the image of the professional because of allowing personal views to be shared on the wrong platform. Therefore, instead of sharing such views on social media, it is prudent for nursing professionals to communicate their opinions through the designated professional channels to avoid creating ethical issues that can be detrimental.
Indeed, social media is a powerful tool that helps to strengthen communication and interactions in healthcare settings. However, it should be utilized ethically to avoid issues that affect the development of quality and professional relationships between patients and healthcare providers. If handled most properly, ethical issues related to social media can be avoided altogether.
References
Milton C. L. (2016). Power with social media: A nursing perspective. Nursing Science Quarterly, 29(2), 113–115. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318416630104 (Links to an external site.)
Rivera-Romero, O., Konstantinidis, S., Denecke, K., Gabarrón, E., Petersen, C., Househ, M., Merolli, M., & Mayer, M. A. (2020). Ethical considerations for participatory health through social media: Healthcare workforce and policymaker perspectives. Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 29(1), 71–76. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1701981 (Links to an external site.)
Edited by Acosta Soriano, Greter on Sep 8 at 11:46pm
The post Original Prompt: Discuss at least two potential ethical issues that could be appeared first on PapersSpot.
