It is not news to anyone that social media is becoming a huge part of our lives. As paramedic students it is only natural that we want to communicate various things that we have learned and experiences we have had on placement to our friends and family through these mediums. Whilst it is important to talk about these things, social media is a public forum and it is important that we are aware of just how easy it can be to slip up and breach patient confidentiality, or offend people not initiated into the health care world.
With this in mind the Royal College of Nursing Australia (RCNA) has released some social media guidelines for nurses, which apply equally to paramedics and paramedic students on placement. The full document can be downloaded here or at the end of this article, but i have summarised the main points:
1. Maintain confidentiality
Just because you do not mention a patient or co-worker's name when commenting online, doesn't mean that they can't be identified. Remember, serious emergencies and severe injuries aren't all that common and just mentioning a case you went to on a particular day may be enough to identify a person. The last thing you want is a family member or friend of a patient to come across a facebook post or tweet of yours talking about how awesome the cardiac arrest you went to that day was (even if it was your first) or how gross a patient's injury or illness was. We have a very privileged position in that patient's let us into their homes, and we see them at their most vulnerable. Be discrete!
2. Avoid defamation
This has come up time and time again in the media, both for health professionals and members of the public. Chances are the one time you post something derogatory, or complain online about a co-worker, boss or even a patient, someone relevant is going to see it and you are going to get into trouble. We all need to vent, and it is very healthy, particularly for health care workers, to be able to talk things through with friends after a hard day. The message here is don't take any chances - call a friend, have a coffee and a chat, don't vent online!
3. Professional online boundaries
This point is very relevant to nurses, who often spend enough time with a patient to form a relationship that may result in a facebook friend request. Whilst this situation is less common for paramedics it is important to have a plan in case this ever comes up. The RCNA emphasise that the relationship between a patient and a health care professional is a therapeutic relationship and not a social relationship, as it is primarily designed to meet the patient's needs. They recommend that in the event of a facebook request from a patient the health professional should choose to ignore the request, as the ramifications for the professional, therapeutic relationship between patient and nurse could be great.
4. Think about how you present yourself online
Now that most of us have an online presence, whether it be facebook, twitter, tumblr, flickr or even myspace, it is possible for patients, managers and potential employers to find out information about us with out being able to filter what they see. This means that it is time to take a good hard look at your profile (and some of those photos you were tagged in on the weekend...) and work out which bits you would be happy with your boss looking at. The RCNA guidelines offer a checklist for nurses to help with this process!
5. Maintain online privacy
On that note, it is important to utilise the privacy measures in your social media websites. Most will have the option to hide your profile when someone searches your name in a search engine like google, and can even go further and have your profile only visible to people you specifically allow access.
The full document can be found here:
RCNA Social Media Guidelines for Nurses
If you have any questions, problems or ideas please let us know by commenting at the end of this article or emailing us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
