Ethical Issues Related to Social Media

Ethical Issues Related to Social Media

With the growing popularity of social media, it is of the utmost importance that attention be brought to the potential repercussions of carelessness with this concept. While advancements in this technology have allowed for connections to be made with a growing population, this can be at the detriment of a patient’s privacy and right to refuse. In this paper I will be examining the potential ethical issues that could arise from misuse of social media.

Patient Health Information

Irresponsibility can have dire consequences in the realm of nursing, these are cases where the nurse is not using tools and knowledge in a reasonable or correct manner. Social media is not a bad concept when used in a responsible manner that does not disrupt the autonomy of another. However, there is the potential for ethical issues to arise and these “Ethical concerns still need to be addressed.” (River-Romero et al, 2020) When attempting to post a picture or video online within the hospital building there is an inherent risk that a patient’s private health information could be exposed to a wide number of individuals. This would be ethically wrong and could have legal implications as well. A patient should not have their information be made public without their consent. The patient may have a condition that they do not want anyone but their healthcare team knowing and will be compromised using social media.

Consent

A nurse could also pose the risk of committing an ethically wrong act by posting a picture/video of the patient themselves. Perhaps the patient does not want anyone knowing that they are in the hospital, the nurse would be violating the patient’s wishes by posting them on their social media account. The patient should have a right to decide whether they allow this sort of action and doing so without their permission would be unethical. The research I found has stated that “Unauthorized postings of patient health information, pictures, patient-doctor communication blogs, and images with clear patient identification are commonly witnessed unprofessional behaviors.” (Guraya et al, 2021)

Conclusion

In conclusion social media can have many benefits in providing multiple users an avenue to exchange thoughts and ideas to a wide population. This also leads to an increase in risk to potential ethical misconduct within the nursing workplace. Patient’s private information could be left exposed to varying levels of individuals without their consent. As well as potentially showing individuals on film without their knowing or permission. This is imperative to how nurses are viewed as professionals and keeping patient’s information safe.

References

Guraya, S. S., Guraya, S. Y., & Yusoff, M. (2021). Preserving professional identities, behaviors, and values in digital professionalism using social networking sites; a systematic review. BMC Medical Education, 21(1), 381. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02802-9 (Links to an external site.)

Rivera-Romero, O., Konstantinidis, S., Denecke, K., Gabarrón, E., Petersen, C., Househ, M., Merolli, M., & Mayer, M. Á. (2020). Ethical Considerations for Participatory Health through Social Media: Healthcare Workforce and Policy Maker Perspectives. Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 29(1), 71–76. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-170198