Social Media And Ethical Issues In Nursing

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Pages: 2

The ethics of Social Media and how nursing is affected is my topic. Social media is a platform of websites and online forums of communication utilized by groups of people to share information and to develop social and/or professional contacts. The article by Lachman (2013) suggest that social media is changing the way that man communicates with each other. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have billions in subscriber usage. It is becoming important for nurses to understand the ethical implications they can have to their practices.
The primary issue arising from the use of social media is Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) violations. Patient’s information should never be shared on social media and nurses should always keep their patient’s information private. Reporting inappropriate use of patient information to the chain of command is a nursing obligation. Cyber-bulling is a recent term that refers to negative online posts. Nurse should refrain from this as it affect the working environment and degrades the profession as a whole. Be on guard when it comes to having
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3- Nurses should understand patients, colleagues, institutions and employers may view postings
4- Nurses should take advantage of privacy settings and seek to separate personal and professional information online
5. Nurses should bring content that could harm a patient’s privacy, rights or welfare to the attention of the appropriate authorities.
6-Nurses should participate in developing institutional policies governing online conduct.
The ethical issues of Social Media involves both patients and nurses. Most people have their cellphone everywhere, therefore, social media is instantly accessible. The patient carry their phones into the hospital while nurses carry their phones or have them close by. It’s useful for connecting with your “friends” but it should not come at the price of patient