Hi! My name is Sarah Saunders, and I am a Registered Nurse practicing in Ottawa, Ontario. I am currently attending Athabasca University enrolled in the Master of Health Studies program. Recently, we have been discussing social media and professionalism. I was challenged to do a social media audit and a professional audit. I was faced with some interesting findings. I realized I am not as active on social media as I thought I was. Sure, I post some family pictures for friends and family to see, but how does that help me become professionally recognizable on social media? Since beginning my program I have started using social media more to connect with other healthcare professionals within my program and have opened up to peers and colleagues on social media platforms. Typically, I am a very private social media user, making my accounts private and unsearchable. I tend to avoid engaging in social media debates to avoid situations that could jeopardize me in the workplace or within my professional associations. With the increased use of social media, the boundaries between personal and professional social media presence are blurring together more and more (Queen University of Charlotte 2021). Employers are using social media audits on prospective staff to investigate, not only professional qualifications, but personal hobbies and identities as well (Queen University of Charlotte 2021). The presence I wish to build on social media involves highlighting my professional qualifications with an interesting personal life that demonstrates my key attributes, knowledge, and personality.

Honest, trusting, caring, knowledgeable and professional. These are the professional values I live and work by and these are the values I want others to see on my social media accounts. I demonstrate these by upholding my governing bodies standards of professional practice, which includes appropriate social media use. I always maintain confidentiality of my clients by never posting work related information and I only share articles that are evidence based and educational to others. Within the workplace, I ensure that I follow facility policy when posting on personal sites. I demonstrate this by using disclaimers when posting personal opinions. Social media in the workplace can have many benefits including professional connections, timely access to information and effective communication with colleagues and families (National Counsel in State Board of Nursing 2018). As a Registered Nurse practicing in Ottawa, Ontario, I am regulated by the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO). Each nurse practicing within Ontario belongs within the provincial healthcare system. There are no federal governing bodies for nurses nor is there a board that covers nurses to work Canada wide. Each province sets guidelines and regulations for nurses to work within.

The CNO has placed a position statement for nurses to follow on appropriate social media use. The College supports the use of social media for nurses, noting they should always ensure they are following confidentiality of their patients and demonstrating professional integrity (College of Nurses of Ontario 2016). Nurses that do not follow appropriate use of social media could face consequences if linked to your professional standards. In 2012, a nursing student was expelled from his program after posting a derogatory statement about a classmate on his personal Facebook account. The expulsion was backed by University policy, including students being held to their intended professional standards (Kelham-hohler 2017).

In the BMC Research Notes, Social Media Use Among Health Care Providers shows that equal amounts of nurses and doctors are active on social media. Although the percentage of use is equal, there is a significant different between the amount of doctors contributing to medical forums versus nurses. Within large healthcare facilities there are often social media use policies in place to help guide employees in appropriate use of social media. According to the statistics data, more nurses are aware of their facility policy versus doctors (Surani, Hirani, Elias, Quisenberry, Varon, Surani, & Surani 2017).