Developing a social media platform for nurses.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Informatics
• Healthcare Communication Technology
• Digital Health

Background:

• Social media offers nurses opportunities for professional and personal advancement.
• Large, multi-centre hospitals face communication barriers due to size, staff numbers, and shift work.
• Existing communication channels may not adequately support the needs of a large nursing workforce.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development of an innovative social media platform, TOH Nurses, at The Ottawa Hospital.
• To address communication barriers among a large, geographically dispersed nursing staff.
• To explore the benefits of social media for nurses' professional development and information sharing.

Main Methods:

• Development followed a nursing process approach: assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation.
• The platform was designed to overcome challenges of hospital size, nurse numbers, and shift work.
• Consideration was given to privacy and confidentiality implications in a healthcare setting.

Main Results:

• The TOH Nurses platform facilitated educational material distribution to clinical nurses.
• It enabled the sharing of information pertinent to professional nursing practice.
• The initiative provided a novel communication channel within the hospital setting.

Conclusions:

• Social media platforms can be effectively developed and implemented in large healthcare organizations.
• TOH Nurses demonstrated potential for enhancing nurse communication, education, and professional practice.
• Careful consideration of privacy and confidentiality is crucial for healthcare social media initiatives.