7 Powerful and Positive Insights on Ethical Issues in Nursing Social Media Use | Studycreek.com

Find out 7 strong and positive findings on the ethical issues in nursing social media use, such as patient confidentiality, professionalism, and the best practices of ethical online behaviors. Find out how nurses can use social media to avoid affecting trust and integrity in the healthcare setting.

Introduction

Social media has gained an inseparable role in the life of the modern world. Professional networking on LinkedIn, brief news about X on Instagram, and long-term storytelling on Tik Tok, nurses are no exception to the digital environment, as well as any other professionals. As much as the social media has incredible education and advocacy opportunities and aiding to professional growth, ethical issues have become intricate. Learning about ethical considerations of using social media in nursing is no longer a choice, but a professional task.

Nurses are always ranked as one of the most reliable professionals across the world. This trust is, however, so easily broken with just one wrong post, comment, or image. The issue of ethics in the field of nursing social media is not only an individual matter but also impacts on the patients, the medical organizations, and the general attitude of the population towards the medical profession in general. This paper discusses the most severe ethical issues, their importance, and ways in which nurses can utilize social media without explicitly violating ethical and professional principles.

The Increasing Nursing Role of Social Media.

General Before analyzing the ethical concerns in the use of social media in nursing it is best to discuss the reasons why nurses use social media in the first place. Peer support, further learning, health education to the masses, and professional branding are facilitated through social platforms. Nurses exchange evidence-based data, spread patient safety, and engage in international healthcare discussions.
Nevertheless, social media risk is increased by the pace and diffusiveness. A post made within a few seconds may reach thousands of people, be copied, saved on a hard disk, and reposted by people who are not even under the control of the nurse. This permanence poses the ethical problems that could not be posed by traditional face-to-face communication.

Violation of Patient Confidentiality and Privacy.

Breach of patient confidentiality is one of the gravest ethical problems of using social media in nursing. It is an ethical and legal responsibility of the nurses to safeguard patient information, be it oral, written, or electronic. Without using names, posting patient stories, clinical photos, or special medical cases online may still result in unintentional identification.

As an example, a case of a strange diagnosis, an emergent situation, or even a patient experience can be perceived as harmless when a post is made. However, the situation may be identified by the family members, community members, or even the patient herself. This is an abuse of ethical standards of confidentiality, privacy and nonmaleficence.
The use of social media in nursing with ethical dilemma associated with confidentiality may lead to disciplinary action, termination of employment, loss of licensure and legal ramifications. More importantly, they destroy the trust of patients that is the cornerstone of effective nursing care.

Professional Boundaries in the Digital Space.

Professional boundaries are another big issue of ethical problems in the use of nursing in social media. Social media erases the borders between personal and professional identity, and thus, the crossings of the boundaries are easier. Acceptance of friend requests by patients, private messaging, or commenting on patient posts may violate professional objectivity.

There are professional boundaries that are set in order to safeguard the nurse and the patient. In cases of weakened boundaries in the online context, nurses might unwillingly establish dual relationships and imbalance of power. The use of social media in nursing presents ethical concerns when personal interaction and the clinical judgment or the expectations of the patients are involved.
One must have a distinct professional-personal online presence. Nurses should keep in mind that online communication could affect the perception of patients regarding their competence, power, and reliability.

Damage to Image and Trust in the Profession.

Professionalism of nursing is not only limited to the work environment. Implications of ethical concerns in social media use in nursing have a tendency of demeaning the professional image of nurses. Such posts covering offensive language, discriminatory statements, explicit material, or ridiculing workplace conditions may negatively impact on an individual nurse and the profession in general.

Even the information posted on personal accounts can be tied to the professional role. Such content can be perceived by patients and employers as being unethical on the part of the nurses. The use of social media in nursing ethics, thus, incorporate reputational damages that may decrease the level of trust in healthcare systems.
Nurses should be aware that professionalism does not terminate with a shift. Professional conduct is an online behavior.

Biased Information and Ethical Accountability.

Misinformation is another aspect of the use of social media in nursing that has not been considered with regards to ethical concerns. Nurses are considered to be reliable health sources. Disclosure of unproven material, subjective views in the form of facts or false health care beliefs can have dire repercussions.

Patient decision making can be impacted by misinformation, unsafe practice may be encouraged, and evidence-based care may suffer. The problem in the use of social media in nursing is the lack of ethics in the area when the nurse does not check the information or crosses the boundaries between professional advice and personal faith.
Accuracy, honesty, and accountability are ethical values in nursing practice that should be ensured on the internet in the same way as they are in the clinical environment.

Ethics of Workplace Confidentiality and Organizational Confidentiality.

Patient interaction is not the only area of ethical concerns in the social use of the nursing media. Disclosures of frustrations at work, disagreements among employees, employee staffing, or make decisions at work may be against organizational confidentiality. Although nurses are entitled to speak up, it might not be the right place to do so on social media.
Coming out publicly to condemn employer or colleagues can cause conflict of ethics concerning allegiance, professionalism and dignity in the workplace. These posts can also damage the reputation of institutions and put them at risk of legal action.
The concerns of social media use in nursing ethics here are the requirements of discretion and adequate communication avenues.

Criminal and Legal Responsibility.

Nurse Ethical Social Media Use: Best Practices.

• Posting no information or images of patients.
• Having different professional and personal accounts.
• Checking health data prior to disclosure.
• Avoiding the Web communication with current or former patients.
• Checking privacy settings on a regular basis.
• Thinking before posting: Would I be happy to see this in a court/ board hearing?

The reason why Ethical Awareness is increasingly important.

Conclusion

SAMPLE QUESTION

discuss at least two potential ethical issues that could be of concern with nursing use of social media.

Submission Instructions:

• post should be at least 500 words, formatted and cited in the current APA style with support from at least 2 academic sources.
• less 20% AI detection

ANSWER

Moral Concerns related with the use of Social Media in Nursing.
The popularity of social media has revolutionized the way people interact, exchange information and make professional contacts. Social media tools can be useful in nursing in terms of education, professional collaboration, and advocacy. Nevertheless, their application brings serious ethical issues that can undermine patient rights, professionalism and the confidence of the population in the nursing profession. The two key ethical concerns related to the use of social media by nurses are the violations of patient confidentiality and unethical professional boundaries.

The risk of violation of patient confidentiality and privacy is one of the most significant ethical issues associated with the social media use of nurses. Patient information protection is a moral and legal duty of nurses, which is highlighted by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and professional codes of ethics in nursing. The online disclosure of clinical stories or images or experiences can inadvertently disclose patient identities, particularly in small/close-knit communities even though they contain no patient names or other identifying information (Ventola, 2014).

As an illustration, the post of a photo on a clinical environment or a presentation of a rare medical case may enable others to identify the patient. This is against ethical values of confidentiality and nonmaleficence because it may lead to emotional trauma, mistrust, and legal implications to the nurse and the healthcare facility.

According to the American Nurses Association (ANA) directly, nurses should protect patient privacy and confidentiality in any communication, both electronic and social media (ANA, 2015). Moral breaches in this field may lead to either a disciplinary measure, employment termination or a loss of licensure.

In addition to legal consequences, violations of confidentiality damage the therapeutic relationship between nurses and patients, as the latter heavily depends on the trust. The patients will be unwilling to give out sensitive information because they will be afraid that their experiences can be publicized and this negatively affects quality of care.

The second ethical problem is a breach of professional boundaries. Nurses are both in charge and responsible, and the personal and professional relationships may be mixed up with the social media. Being friendly to patients or having personal conversations on the internet can result in a lack of professional objectivity and cause boundary crossings or violations (NCSBN, 2018). Such exchanges may lead to conflict of interests, favoritism and unrealistic expectations of the patients which will compromise the principles of professionalism and accountability.

The professional boundaries play a critical role in ensuring therapeutic relationships that focus on the well-being of the patient as opposed to personal connection. Posts made by nurses on the social media about their own opinions, political views, and inappropriate content can be read by patients or fellow nurses and can be regarded as having a negative impact on the perception of professionalism.

National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) states that nurses have a responsibility in their online behavior and that such actions do not imply that the behavior is not relevant to their professional role (NCSBN, 2018). Unethical use of the internet can reflect poorly on the entire nursing profession and instill less confidence in the society with regard to the health practitioners.

Finally, learning, advocacy, and professional engagement opportunities come with ethical risks that nurses should address carefully though the social media can be beneficial in learning. Patient confidentiality and professional boundaries are two issues that could cause harm to the patients, nurses, and healthcare organizations due to ethical breaches and violations. To overcome these obstacles, nurses have to comply with the existing codes of ethics, adhere to the principles of professional judgment, and remember that all activities on the Internet may have long-term professional and moral impact. Continuous education and definite institutional social media policies are crucial in the sphere of ethical and responsible use of social media in nursing practice.

References

American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. ANA Publishing.

National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2018). A nurse’s guide to the use of social media. https://www.ncsbn.org

Ventola, C. L. (2014). Social media and health care professionals: Benefits, risks, and best practices. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 39(7), 491–520.