Social Media Nursing

@ The Use of Social Media as a Teaching Strategy in Nursing Education

Sandie Mulcrone APN / CNM, MS

Saint Xavier University Abstract

Social Media. What is it? Is it a viable teaching strategy in nursing education? Very simply, it is Internet or web based tools that allow people to create, share or exchange information, ideas and multimedia images and video. How can it be useful in nursing education? It is a communication platform where students, educators and working health care professionals can connect, share ideas, learn written communication, and have a voice. Social media allows connection, discussion, collaboration and exploration in nursing. Nurse educators are using social media as a viable pedagogical method. Application

Recent publications focus on best practice and considerations of social technology use. Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and Linked In are common places to use social media integration into nursing curriculum (Schmitt, 2012). The NLN identifies core content for using social media in nursing courses as computer literacy, information literacy, informatics, professional communication, health policy, patient privacy and ethics and writing competencies (Schmitt, 2012). Specific examples of incorporating social media that have been effective in student learning are submitting paperwork electronically, creating a blog in which they write professionally on certain topics, create a Twitter account requiring a certain number of legitimate healthcare or nursing followers, and attend online nursing chat webinars (Schmitt, 2012). According to Skirba, Twitter can be used to facilitate active, interactive, and reflective learning (2008). She identifies effective applications of Twitter in her curriculum to include providing “nuggets of knowledge” to her class such as quick notes or references they may want to talk about or websites to visit later; important changes in class plans such as cancellations; and communication with large groups of colleagues. Student response to using Twitter was positive. It allowed

Social media is appropriate to a variety of student populations and it appears as though the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of social media application in nursing education. Student response to social media is positive and allows students to reflect, discuss, interact with classmates, review, make decisions and reinforce learning (Schmitt, 2012).

Implications For Nursing Education Social media is a tool to facilitate nursing faculty in helping students gain greater ethics, improve writing competencies, think about nursing research and seek collaborative opportunities within and across nursing programs (Schmitt, 2012). Faculty may use Twitter during a class session to receive responses to questions posed in class. Social media formats facilitate information and media sharing, collaborative work and professional development (Billings, 2012).There is a need for more research on student outcomes and abilities with technology integration and social media use with in the nursing curriculum. Social media enables group learning and develops social skills which enable students to communicate together. Social media applications require technological and pedagogical skills from both teachers and students alike. Utilizing social media technology builds confidence and promotes creativity and learning for both faculty and students (Tuominen,