When entering the medical field, it is crucial to consider critical elements such as privacy for patients and nurses, respect for proprietary information and copyrighted materials, compliance with organizational policies and procedures and compliance with ethical and legal guidelines in the health care sector, and professional engagement between workers and between patients and workers.
Patient Privacy, Proprietary Information, and Copyrighted Materials
It is vital for professionals in the medical field to protect patient privacy and confidentiality during social media interactions by complying with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) (American Nurses Association, 2011). Health care professionals have legal and ethical obligations to protect patient private information always and in all settings. Since the internet is a public domain, it is essential for health care workers to conduct themselves professionally in online interactions by ensuring that the information, images, or videos they share do not breach patient privacy (American Nurses Association, 2011). Healthcare professions can use privacy settings on social networking platforms to separate their professional and personal accounts and information, even though they have an individual responsibility to ensure patient privacy. Protecting patient privacy may also involve health care workers monitoring the posts of their colleagues and take the required action after noticing comments or posts that violate legal or ethical standards, or confidential patient data. Healthcare professionals should also safeguard proprietary information of their organization or avoid acting as the representatives of their organization during social media interactions (NS/LIJ Health System, 2012). They can do this by emphasizing in their posts that the views or comments they share are their individual opinions and not of their organization. They can also avoid using the email address of their organization to express their opinions on social networking platforms (NS/LIJ Health System, 2012). Besides, they should acquire permission before using or sharing copyrighted materials online to protect the organization and workers.
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Organizational Policies and Procedures and Ethical and Legal Guidelines
Another aspect of information and communication technology in the medical field is the creation of procedures and policies in an organization to deal with employees’ online illegal or unethical behavior. An organization can use these policies to protect the rights of both healthcare professionals and patients, enhance discipline, and educate its employees regarding compliance with privacy and confidentiality requirements and legal requirements (American Nurses Association, 2011). Healthcare professionals, on the other hand, should comply with the policies and procedures when using social networking platforms (NS/LIJ Health System, 2012). For example, professionals in the medical field should avoid using organizational resources to post material to social networking sites without approval from the management or unless it is their job function (NS/LIJ Health System, 2012). Healthcare professionals should also engage in personal social media use after work using their own devices.
Professional Engagement between Workers and between Patients and Workers
Participation in social networking allows healthcare professionals from different geographic regions and fields to engage with each other to discuss various health-related issues. Workers in the health care sector should engage with each other professionally by ensuring that they focus on essential topics related to the medical field, such as health-related education, evidence-based practice, and research. Professionals in the medical field can use social media to enhance their professional relationships, educate the public on different health topics, and develop a professional presence online (American Nurses Association, 2011). During social media interactions, professionals in the medical field should avoid inaccurate information by focusing only on facts to avoid confusing the public when discussing public health topics. Another vital element during social media interactions is the professional boundaries between patients and health care professionals (American Nurses Association, 2011). Health care workers interact with each other and with patients on social networking platforms and they should comply with the ethical guidelines regarding the extent to which they can communicate with patients online.
References
American Nurses Association. (2011, September). ANA's Principles for Social Networking and the Nurse [PDF]. Nursesbooks.org. https://lmscontent.embanet.com/AU/DSC501/documents/Principles%20for%20Social%2 0Networking%20and%20the%20Nurse.pdf
NS/LIJ Health System. (2012, February 14). Human Resources Policy and Procedure Manual [PDF]. NS/LIJ Health System.
https://lmscontent.embanet.com/AU/DSC501/documents/NS- LIJ%20Health%20System.pdf
