Social Media Use Among Nurses: Literature Review

The scope of the research was to increase the understanding of social media's influence among nurses while highlighting gaps in the literature and areas for further research.

The search of PubMed database was performed in November 2015, using terms to identify peer-reviewed articles that describe the use of social media for nursing students or nurse practitioners. A systematic approach was used to retrieve papers and extract relevant data.

There were identified 23 full text articles involving social media and nurse-related terminology. The majority of the studies were interventional (n = 20) that assessed social media as a teaching tool. Podcasts, Multiplayer virtual worlds and mixed social media platforms has also been assessed.

Social media is used as a tool of information for nurses mainly as the means for engaging and communicating.