WATCH: A nurse’s guide to using social media

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With so many gray areas that accompany the proliferation of social media for nurses, there’s great potential to connect with fellow nurses and patients like never before.

There are also great risks of instantaneously committing the biggest professional blunder of your life.

Did you know:

• Nursing schools can view your Facebook profile without your permission
• Yes, nurses have been fired for Facebooking inappropriately
• The ANA has published a set of social media principles

Recently, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) has released a Nurse’se Guide to Use Social Media  – available here.

You can download this PDF and get the lowdown on the appropriate uses of social media, the pitfalls and risks as well as debunked myths and misconceptions.

According to Market Watch, NCSBN is:

…a not-for-profit organization whose members include the boards of nursing in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and four U.S. territories — American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands. There are also nine associate members. Mission: NCSBN provides education, service and research through collaborative leadership to promote evidence-based regulatory excellence for patient safety and public protection.

The NCSBN has also released a video to dramatize the potential pitfalls of social media for nurses:

Have you seen a fellow nurse violate a patient’s trust and privacy by using social media? How big is this issue?