The Impact of Social Media on Nursing- Professional Conduct, Recruitment, and Legal Implications

With technological advances in recent years, social media platforms have been continually diversifying and are now even applicable in business and professional activities. Following this, social media users can share all kinds of information. There are various social media platforms, including Snapchat, Instagram, telegram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter. The platforms give the users the freedom to post anything and for which the information may be used to evaluate professionalism (Barnabale et al., 2018). In certain circumstances, the companies and hiring bodies may go through the applicants’ social media platforms to evaluate their values as portrayed on the social media platforms. Should someone be found to have unprofessional posts, the companies or the hiring body cannot hire the individual. For this reason, it is crucial to be cautious with what is posted on social media platforms and ensure the posts are not against the practice guidelines. For nurses and healthcare professionals, social media platforms should be as professional as required.

Assessment of Social Media Identifying Unprofessional Items

I am not a social media person. I have a Facebook page that has been dormant since I created it. I have no profile picture, personal information, or birthdate. I have never posted anything on the page or had any conversation that may be unprofessional, or that was detrimental to my profession. However, while scrolling through the Facebook posts of other users, I came across posts that appeared unprofessional. A person posted about his practice as a midwife and how he dislikes patients coming unshaven. I felt that was too much for a professional to post. That post appeared very sensitive to come from a professional.