Social media undoubtedly plays an irreplaceable part in people’s lives. It gives them the ability to get new information, discuss, and share posts and state their opinions on various topics. Such a vast usage of the internet leads to a substantial change in the professional field as well. Proper and careful social media usage allows advancing professionally, enabling more reliable connections with colleagues and patients, and publicly sharing one’s knowledge or opinion.
Social Media at the Workplace
Today social media pages become one of the most critical factors in choosing a specialist or candidate for a job. A strong profile on social media and an extensive network of professional connections create a better chance of future employment. It is also essential to continually enhance one’s nursing practice by finding development resources and up-to-date information about nursing trends (Reinbeck & Antonacci, 2019). Even after getting the job, it is crucial to stay updated on the latest issues to keep a professional qualification and provide the best care for patients. Social media, as a collection of various opportunities, gives a perfect chance to do it.
Professional Image Online
All the posts and comments that a person ever left online create their reputation that others will refer to when looking for a candidate for a job or a nurse practitioner. Employers nowadays look for online presence on the most popular social media platforms and online resources before hiring candidates (Reinbeck & Antonacci, 2019). They examine social media accounts thoroughly because it can potentially affect their brand.
Being aware of the public picture and actively editing it for one’s advantage is crucial in creating a presentation and influence in public. Managing online presence allows a person to control what a potential patient or recruiter can find when searching one’s name (Reinbeck & Antonacci, 2019). One of the best platforms for creating an influential professional and academic profile is LinkedIn. People can share their educational and work history and academic publications or accomplishments on a LinkedIn profile. The same website gives an opportunity to find work in any field as it connects applicants with potential employees based on the information in their profiles (Reinbeck & Antonacci, 2019). It allows professionals to stay connected, advance their careers, and stay tuned with the latest trends.
Social media makes it possible not only to create one’s image to develop professionally but also to interact with other professionals in the medical field and potential patients locally and internationally. Various individuals, groups, and organizations have social media pages that allow them to go public and share the latest trends (Reinbeck & Antonacci, 2019). Social media connects nurses with their colleagues and an array of development sources (Reinbeck & Antonacci, 2019). Keeping other nurses and medical professionals as friends enables them to form a network of professionals to exchange their experiences. Facebook gives the most convenient tool for this – different public pages and user-created groups. They serve as a platform for discussion and sharing opinions on a number of topics.
Creating a Brand
Social media’s immense popularity and various tools bring a new era of influencers raised from social media. To become a public leader and have a valuable voice, one needs to work hard and regularly on their reputation and public image. Many leaders in the academic field choose such platforms as blogging sites, Twitter, and Youtube to promote their opinions and share educational information with the audience. Blogging sites can be used to keep the audience informed, support, and inspire others. A personal blog builds a professional presence online that can be used to share perspectives and points of view (Reinbeck & Antonacci, 2019). It can establish a nursing community and bring to light various achievements and challenges that nurses face.
Twitter as a platform for quick and timely notifications is also widely used in various fields. Medical professionals use it to educate their patients and find new ones. Educating the clients can be done by posts about the developments in the industry or a particular community (Khokhar, 2017). Twitter gives an opportunity for everyone to get their voices heard through hashtags. Each of them presents a unique collection of material for a particular topic or event. Today many scientific conferences use personalized hashtags to help attendees connect, share the information, and express their opinions (Reinbeck & Antonacci, 2019). It allows nurses to generate new medical ideas or contribute to an already existing one.
As technology advances, more and more ways to share information with the audience appear. Youtube presents a modern platform for savvy nurses to develop their brands. Sharing videos on various nursing topics allows one to connect on a deeper level with potential clients. The videos can be of any genre, entertaining or educational, but the Youtube channel’s mere existence already boosts the chance of making the brand a success (Reinbeck & Antonacci, 2019). A person can become an influencer after creating a credible online reputation and a public page, where one shares the insights on medical news and developments in the field (Khokhar, 2017). Finding new patients becomes much more comfortable when a medical specialist presents himself as a professional.
All in all, social media presents many unique tools that allow nurse practitioners to develop personally and professionally when used wisely. They need to find a balance of etiquette, professional standards, and free speech online. Social media and developing technologies provide different services and resources to unite the nurses internationally and focus on the best modern practices and research. Taking advantage of these opportunities allows them to learn, share, connect, and enhance professionally.
Green, J. (2017). Nurses’ online behavior: Lessons for the nursing profession. Contemporary Nurse, 53(3), 355-367. Web.
Khokhar, A. (2017). Social networking for healthcare professionals. Indian Journal of Medical Sciences, 69(1), 63-66. Web.
Reinbeck, D., & Antonacci, J. (2019). How nurses can use social media to their advantage. Nursing2019, 49(5), 61-63. Web.