Using Social Media to Support Clinical Education

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• Social media use is growing in nursing education.
• Nurse educators seek innovative methods to support clinical teaching.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the use of social media as an adjunct to clinical teaching in nursing.
• To assess the feasibility of social media integration in a large, multisite teaching hospital setting.

Main Methods:

• Nurse educators created and shared a series of educational images.
• Social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) were utilized for dissemination.
• The social media campaign ran concurrently with in-unit clinical education.

Main Results:

• Social media served as a supplementary tool for clinical teaching.
• The educational image campaign was implemented across multiple sites.
• The initiative aligned with ongoing in-unit clinical education.

Conclusions:

• Social media can be effectively integrated as an adjunct to nursing clinical teaching.
• This approach is particularly beneficial in large, complex hospital settings.
• Nurse educators should consider leveraging social media for enhanced educational support.