E-professionalism in nursing: the public perspective

Ryan, Gemma Sinead; Jackson, Jessica and Cornock, Marc (2019). E-professionalism in nursing: the public perspective. Nursing Management (In Press).

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Abstract

E-professionalism is a common term used to describe the behaviours of nurses and healthcare professionals in the online environment. There are a range of professional guidance documents that describe being professional online but there is little research into the perspectives of patients and the public.

This mixed-method critical realist study aimed to explain how the public make decisions about what is e-professional. It used five ‘real life’ vignettes for the purposes of discussion in focus groups (n=8) and a survey (n=53).

Participants felt that a nurse was entitled to a personal life, freedom of speech and promotion of causes the nurse believes to be important even if this was not aligned to their own attitudes. Profanities against anyone were unanimously rejected as acceptable.

The public make decisions based on a range of complex factors: social/individual values, attitudes and beliefs and an ethical component about the ‘intent’ of behaviours that influences the public perspective. An evidence-based approach to e-professionalism is discussed.

This study concludes with 'Media8', eight top tips drawn from a theoretical evidence-base for nurses and the nursing profession about how to ‘be’ and e-professional and manage their social media profiles.

Item Type:

Journal Item

ISSN:

1354-5760

Project Funding Details:

Funded Project Name	Project ID	Funding Body
Validation & evaluation of a decision-making tool for assessing behaviours and incidents involving nurses on social media	Not Set	Burdett Trust Burdett Trust for Nursing

Keywords:

E-professionalism; social media; critical realism; mixed methods; patients; public; Facebook; Twitter

Academic Unit/School:

Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) > Health, Wellbeing and Social Care > Nursing
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) > Health, Wellbeing and Social Care
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS)

Research Group:

Health and Wellbeing PRA (Priority Research Area)

Item ID:

66194

Depositing User:

Gemma S Ryan

Date Deposited:

14 Aug 2019 09:53