Patients, Families And Social Media

Last week I blogged about nurses and social media and although I stand by all I said about being very wary I realize that social media can be a great source of support and community for many nurses and as long as we respect the boundaries that it should  have all should be well in your online world.

Of course everyone has access to the Internet and that includes families and patients and this is a really really good thing and sometimes it can be really bad.  So I have separated this into the pros and cons.

PROS

• Great way for families to share news and updates without having to talk to a zillion people
• A good way to spread patient education to a wide audience very quickly
• Chat rooms and support rooms are a lifeline for many families and patients
• Patient/Family Blogs are growing and can be very therapeutic for all involved to write down what they are going through and connect with others

CONS

• There can be blurry lines when it comes to privacy, patient and families can identify other staff and patients without their consent
• There is an opportunity here for bullying of staff online if the family is not satisfied with care, it is a place for them to vent if they do not feel they can do it face to face
• When/if a staff member friends a patient or family member it can develop the relationship in a non-therapeutic way, I would strongly advise against this.
• Families who are hooked up to other blogs with patients in the same speciality/institution have an opportunity to compare treatment protocols and often bring up why they did not get this "drug" or "treatment" at a clinic visit (I have seen this happen in pediatric oncology) when there is no understanding of the need for customized care in many situations.

There is more I am sure, so much more to discuss but I do not want to make this two part blog series into series akin to War and Peace.  Its meant to get you thinking and start a conversation.  

And now.....for something completely different, here are Coco and Toby meeting a new friend (Timmy The Turtle) on our morning run.  I think they were more excited than Timmy was, he looks a little shy don't you think?