Social media use in nursing education

As technological advances continue to expand connectivity and communication, the number of patients and nurses engaging in social media increases. Nurses play a significant role in identification, interpretation, and transmission of knowledge and information within healthcare. Social media is a platform that can assist nursing faculty in helping students to gain greater understanding of and/or skills in professional communication; health policy; patient privacy and ethics; and writing competencies. Although there are barriers to integration of social media within nursing education, there are quality resources available to assist faculty to integrate social media as a viable pedagogical method. This article discusses the background and significance of social media tools as pedagogy, and provides a brief review of literature. To assist nurse educators who may be using or considering social media tools, the article offers selected examples of sound and pedagogically functional use in course and program applications; consideration of privacy concerns and advantages and disadvantages; and tips for success.