From the Editor: NPNG: Learning to Be “Social”

  I am being tasked at work to hop on the blog bandwagon and maximize my social media resources to proliferate familiarity with OWM. As I begin to prepare posts for WordPress and Blogspot, along with a blog that will be distributed to almost two dozen nurse- and physician-oriented sites (this in addition to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn activities), I am contemplating the value of these new demands and wondering how readers feel about all this hyperconnection.

  Social media utilization is growing. The Federation of State Medical Boards’ Model Policy Guidelines for the Appropriate Use of Social Media and Social Networking in Medical Practice¹ states that results of a QuantiaMD survey of 4,000 physicians published in 2011 show 87% use a social media website for personal and 67% for professional purposes. According to a white paper by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing,² more and more nurses are sharing challenging or emotionally charged workplace experiences on various forms of social media, underscoring the notion that journaling and reflection are effective tools in nursing practice. The American Nurses Association, along with many other organizations, revised its code of ethics to instruct professionals on the use of social media; numerous guidelines for clinicians caution about discretion, HIPPA, appropriateness, and potential for violations.³ Plus, for employment security, you are advised to monitor your social media friends and endorsers. Posting pictures of your grandchildren is one thing; complaining about a patient’s uncooperative attitude threatens privacy and smacks of unprofessionalism, and controversial material “liked” or retweeted into the wrong inbox can open an unpleasant kettle of cyber fish.

  Obviously, exchanging information about individual patients is fraught with concerns, but as OWM well knows, case studies offer great opportunities for learning. But are you posting/tweeting/blogging about the nastiness of diabetic foot ulcers or the latest episode of Scandal? To me, the active word in the phrase social media is “social.” Are you, like me until now, using the new media options exclusively to stay in touch with friends and family? Or are you following other clinician posts? Do they inform or strictly entertain? Do they encourage you to link to other blogs or websites in pursuit of information? Have you ever followed a post or tweet back to OWM’s website? Quite honestly, we hope that by expanding our media reach, we will entice readers to www.o-wm.com to experience the full educational impact of our articles. We will be available in “tablet” format this fall. Is this option of benefit?

  In this issue alone, you can learn about healthcare providers’ perspectives on educating dementia patients and their family caregivers about incontinence, as well as a great deal about pressure ulcers: how a synthetic silk fabric can reduce the likelihood of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, whether use of pressure-redistribution surfaces prevents surgery-related pressure ulcers, and the effect of vasopressors on pressure ulcer development. Have you ever used social media to comment on or share an OWM article?

  In short, are we conducting and/or providing each other the tools to conduct clinical business via social media? Or is social media still primarily a good way to stay connected in this frenetically paced world of professional and personal obligation, a world in which we are expected to be available 24/7/365? We encourage you to respond to this article in the comment box online, or you may stop by the HMP Communications Booths (658 and 659) at SAWC, where you will be eligible for a prize for completing a social media survey.

  In my April 2009 editorial, I wrote about the blessing/burden of all these new ways to communicate and their role in multitasking (I concluded it was actually switch-tasking). Social media has exploded to become a lucrative reality of ever-increasing potential, especially in light of all the gadgets on which media are available. Social media is (are?) moving (slowly for me) from a place to brag about my grandbabies to a place to stay current on what’s happening in the wound, ostomy, continence world. As we speak, LinkedIn just informed me of someone’s work anniversary. Surprisingly, I am annoyed. I prefer to be apprised of the status of a manufacturer’s application for reimbursement codes or the results of the latest phase II trials. However, that would require I subscribe to yet another media outlet. I’m beginning to think one can have too many “friends.”

Sessions to inform, inspire
Yearly op to share, inquire
Mile-high city — lovely setting
Posters, products, CE-getting
Of all the conferences, by far
SAWC’s the star
Invest in knowledge. Grow your mind
Uninformed are left behind
May’s a month for Mom and flowers

Make her proud and get your “hours.”

This article was not subject to the Ostomy Wound Management peer-review process.

1. Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States Inc. Model Policy Guidelines for the Appropriate Use of Social Media and Social Networking in Medical Practice. Available at: www.fsmb.org. Accessed March 20, 2013.

2. National Council of State Boards of Nursing. White Paper: A Nurses Guide to the Use of Social Media. Available at: www.ncsbn.org. Accessed March 20, 2013.

3. Cronquist R, Spector N. Nurses and social media: regulatory concerns and guidelines. J Nurs. 2011;2(3):37–40.