Social Media and the Modern Impact of Informatics
Write an essay addressing each of the following points/questions. Be sure to completely answer all the questions for each number item. There should be three sections, one for each item number below, as well the introduction (heading is the title of the essay) and conclusion paragraphs. Separate each section in your paper with a clear heading that allows your professor to know which bullet you are addressing in that section of your paper. Support your ideas with at least three (3) scholarly citations using APA citations in your essay. Make sure to reference the citations using the APA writing style for the essay. The cover page and reference page do not count towards the minimum word amount. Review the rubric criteria for this assignment. As most Americans have smart phones, tablets, and computers the utilization of social media is common place.
NCSBN has developed guidelines for nurses and nursing students for using social media responsibly. View the video. If you were writing a hospital policy on smart phone and social media usage, what should be included in the policy? How can you help both new and experienced nurses understand how social media can be properly used in the profession without breaking patient? What potential ethical and legal liabilities are there for the hospital and employees? In 2007, Harvard University rescinded admission to 10 students after reviewing their social media post. Do you feel potential employers, current employers, and colleges have the right to access your social media post? Do you feel employers and universities should make decisions based on your post? Discuss the relationship between accreditation decisions, reimbursement, quality of care, informatics.
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Social Media and the Modern Impact of Informatics
The use of social media continues to expand and have a significant impact on today’s life and how different people communicate; right from professionals like healthcare providers. Social media can also have effect; both positive and negative, on one’s career progression. Organizations now use social media accounts to make recruitment and hiring decisions (Bartholomew, 2018). Imperatively, social media users should critically analyze any information that they post using any platform to avoid negative consequences. Informatics are crucial to organizations as they allow it to enhance the quality of services. The purpose of this paper is to explore different aspects of social media usage by healthcare providers and other aspects of informatics and their effects.
Hospital Policy on Smartphone and Social Media Usage
A hospital policy on smartphone and social media usage is a framework that offers rules and guidelines on how staff and even patients in such a facility should use both components. According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) set guidelines on how nurses and nursing students should use social media while in hospitals or in their clinical practice settings (Bell, 2018). Nurses and other professionals in the healthcare sector are increasingly using social media to communication effectively with patients and families, foster professional connections and for personal use.
Setting up a policy on smartphone and social media usage in a facility requires a consideration of the above factors as well as the legal provisions that exist on privacy and confidentiality. The implication is that the policy should priority compliance to existing federal frameworks on privacy and protected patient information under the HIPAA rules. The policy will set parameters on when to use smartphones and social media. These include not posting images of patients, even when you have good moments with them top protect their privacy and confidentiality (Bartholomew, 2018). The policy must be categorical that no patient data, information or privacy should be breached by sharing these on social media platform. The policy would prohibit the use of smartphones unless it is necessary since they can pose increased risk of usage by nurses and patients. The policy must ensure that any conflicts and discussions that require managerial actions and decisions do not spill to social media. Any online information about interactions with patients, irrespective of the socioeconomic status will be prohibited.
Helping Nurses Understand Proper use of Social Media
Nurses; both new and experienced, must know that effective use of social media can happen without breaking patients in several ways. Firstly, they need to know existing legal frameworks that require compliance. For instance, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) are fundamental federal legal provisions that all nurses must comply with in their practice. These laws protect patient data and information, offer guidelines on sharing of the information, and ensure that there is confidentiality of all data (Bell, 2018). Secondly, nurses need to understand regulatory guidelines set by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and the organization’s policy on use of social media. Thirdly, they must understand that violation of these rules and legal mandates lead to ethical and legal liabilities for them and the organization.
Potential Ethical and Legal Liabilities for Hospitals and Employees
Hospitals and employees face a host of ethical and legal liabilities due breaches caused by ineffective use of social media that may entail sharing of patient information online. Ethical liabilities for both employees and hospitals include lack of privacy, reduced trust and reputational damage as patients will no longer believe in the facility and its employees. Further, both staff and the facility could face legal suits and because breaching the legal and ethical provisions (Berry & Thomson, 2018). The staff involved may have their license revoked leading to lack of employment. The implication is that smartphones and the social media have immeasurable benefits for providers and facilities buts should be deployed in the most effective manner to avoid any legal and ethical challenge to the users.
Social Media and Employment
Social media plays a critical role for individuals in modern days as it is a sources of information, a communication channel and dissemination of new information. Further, social media posts may reflect one’s character and their emotions at certain times, preferences and attitudes. Potential and current employers can access their employees’ social media accounts to ensure that their online activities do not damage their organization’s reputation in the marketplace and industry.
It is essential for employers; both potential and current, and colleges to access one’s social media post to understand their character, opinions and possible dispositions on a host of issues in society and their working attitude. These posts are already in public platforms and should not be considered as a breach of privacy (Bell, 2018). Employers and colleges can gather more information about the potential or current employees and students their posts to understand their interests and hobbies. People are likely to behave better when they turn up for interviews. However, their posts and information on social media can reveal their true nature.
Employers and universities should not make decisions solely on one’s posts on social media since some of the information is posted based on an individual’s present situation. Individuals may engage in activities considered as undesirable and unattractive by universities and employers yet they are critical to the person. Individuals understand keeping boundaries between personal and professional life. Some fun activities individuals engage in are aimed at providing relieve from stress and one is at liberty to enjoy their free time as they will as long as they do not violate existing laws. It is essential for these institutions and corporations to view the social media accounts but should not be the sole parameter they use to make decisions (Berry & Thomson, 2018). While many organizations are opting to use social media as a critical factor in their hiring decision, it may prejudice potential employees who may never meet the desirable habits yet they have the right skills.
Accreditation Decisions, Reimbursement, Quality of Care, & Informatics
Accreditation entails the process of an authoritative or professional organization recognizing a health facility’s ability to provide competent and high quality care to patients. Accreditation shows that a healthcare organization meets regulatory and quality standards’ requirements stated or mandates by these bodies like The Joint Commission. The main purpose of accreditation is to ensure patient safety and quality of care (Sharrock et al., 2021). Accreditation organizations consider quality management systems and principles when accrediting any organization. A core aspect of accreditation is the use of data and informatics as standards to help an organization align with best practices.
Hospitals can only attain reimbursement when they are accredited. Reimbursement entails funding a hospital’s operations by paying back the cost it used in offering quality care to patients. Under models like value-based care, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid can only reimburse accredited facilities that provide quality care to patients (Berry & Thomson, 2018). Imperatively, the quality and availability of medical services are at the highest level for patients if a facility has a reimbursement system.
Provision of quality care is critical to attain better patient outcomes. Quality health care allows patients to recover from illnesses. As stated, hospitals require resources to offer quality care. Informatics assists providers to offer quality services by leveraging technologies and patient data. Through informatics, they can interpret patient data effectively and access their information to make better care plans and decisions. Health informatics enhances collaboration and sharing id patient information for effective care provision (Bell, 2018). Therefore, these concepts are related because they all implore stakeholders to focus on the delivery of quality care to patient. Health informatics and accreditation have played a critical role in improvement of quality care while reimbursement has helped increases access to better care without suffering from financial hardships.
Conclusion
The use of social media in healthcare remains critical as it helps providers share information and communicate effectively. Social media affects professional working despite the platforms being a source of information and even entertainment. The use of social media in hiring is essential as well as in healthcare settings to improve care delivery. The implication is that both social media and informatics are essential for nurses and other healthcare providers because of the role that they play in information sharing.
References
Bartholomew, K. (2018). Not so smart: Cell phone use hurts our patients and profession.
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Bell, K. (2018). Public Policy and Health Informatics. Seminars in oncology nursing, 34(2):184-
- DOI: 10.1016/j.soncn.2018.03.010.
Berry, M. D. & Thomson, R. (2018). Medical Reimbursement. Issue brief (Health Policy
Tracking Service) 2018:1-21.
Sharrock, M., Nugur, A. & Hossain, S. (2021). Hospital Accreditation and patient care, a
dilemma? Acta Orthopaedica Belgica, 87(3):385-391
Wang, Z., Wang, S., Zhang, Y., & Jiang, X. (2019). Social media usage and online
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