Social Media Awareness and Implications in Nursing Leadership

Policy Polit Nurs Pract. 2016 Nov;17(4):187-197. doi: 10.1177/1527154417698143. Epub 2017 Mar 13.

Abstract

Many nursing professionals-may be reluctant to engage in or are confused about appropriate use of social media in a clinical, research, or policy context. To address this issue, we developed a study to enhance nurse leaders' facility with social media in the context of a national professional meeting. This study examined a social media campaign at the 2015 American Academy of Nursing conference. The campaign was intended to bridge the gap between active social media users and nonusers attending the conference. Following a targeted social media campaign at the American Academy of Nursing 2015 Transforming Health, Driving Policy Conference, responses to the conference evaluation questions about social media were reviewed and analyzed. Overall, evaluations were positive about the campaign; however, some conference attendees were not aware of its various components. Despite perceived barriers to its use, there is significant curiosity about social media use among nurse leaders. With the engagement of these leaders, there may be opportunities to enhance social media use at professional meetings and to make broader use of this valuable tool throughout the nursing profession.

Keywords: dissemination; nursing workforce; social media.

MeSH terms

  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
  • Humans
  • Information Dissemination*
  • Leadership*
  • Nurse Administrators*
  • Nurse's Role
  • Public Opinion
  • Social Media*
  • United States