Social Media…..What’s the Buzz?

I think that social media is very important in today’s society. So what makes social media so attractive to the American public? To teachers and students? Parents?

1. What is your definition of social media?

I define social media simply as an outlet of information. I think that it involves multiple different forms of technology, such as the internet, that can be combined to gain insight into something that you may not understand. I think that it is also important to realize that social media is easily accessible and for that reason it can help you gain knowledge at a quicker pace, which in our society is something that can be very helpful. For example: this assignment was easily placed on the internet as a way for me to gain a knowledge base. Being able to read about how a podcast works in such a short period of time saves you time. I think that social media is very important to our society in that way because it is information that can be spread so very quickly that helps us gain knowledge and/or peaks our interest.

2. Have your thoughts on social media changed since you initially began this course? If so how?

I think that I do see a big difference in the way I view social media by taking this class, because I am able to see it for its educational values. I mostly used it to connect with people and look up things that peaked my interest, but now I find myself looking up nursing websites and checking out news for the nursing community. I think that with anything the more informed you are, the better you can understand it.

3. How can you use social media in your profession?

When giving patients discharge instructions we use Micromedix Care Notes. This gives patients quick access to information about the medications that they are going to be taking! The most important thing for me to stress to my patients is to be involved in their own healthcare! If you are more involved in taking care of yourself you are going to need the proper tools to help you address issues with your care providers! Having access to things such as MyMercy (an e-mail system set up between doctors and patients) can help keep you up to date on vaccines, lab tests, appointments which is all very important to keep you informed! I also use the online tool Up-To-Date to access information about diseases and disease processes to give patients this information at discharge! I believe that the more you know, the more you can try to help prevent health problems!

A Look at How Privacy is Kept a Priority with Electronic Health Records and the Impact of Technology on Healthcare

Today the health care field involves a lot of technology. We as nurses most commonly use the EHR, which is also known as an electronic health care record. Our computers have all of our patients information and for them I can see why that can be a little scary. I read an article on privacy with using the EHR and I was happy to discover that most hospitals have safe-guards under the HIPPA law to help us make sure that a patient’s records are kept as private as possible.  According to Leon Rodriguez, Former Director for HHS, Office of Civil Rights, “Specific to protecting the information stored in EHRs, the HIPAA Security Rule requires that health care providers set up physical, administrative, and technical safeguards to protect your electronic health information”(Rodriguez, 2011).

 In order to maintain privacy the security measures that may be included to help protect your information include passwords, audit trails, and encryption of data. I think that these are all important factors in keeping patient information safe. After all, we do need the technology because it helps us be more efficient, but we also want to protect patient information. 

                           The Impact Technology is Having on the Workplace

According to Thede and Sewell, “Information in a paper chart essentially disappears into a black hole after a patient is discharged. Because we can’t easily access it, we can’t learn from it and use it in patient care…If we are to provide evidenced-based care, the mountains of data that are hidden in medical records must be made to reveal their secrets”  (Sewell & Thede, 2013). I think that this is the most important reason to be using technology in healthcare. If we are to learn more and create advancement in patient care then we must learn to adapt and create new ways of looking at things and I believe that technology can help us achieve that. I do know that there are technical glitches, but they are less than human error and I also believe that that is another benefit to having an EHR. I hope that technology continues to grow and that we can learn more from it. 

References

Rodriguez, L. (2011, December 12). Privacy, security, and electronic health records. Retrieved from http://www.healthit.gov/buzz-blog/privacy-and-security-of-ehrs/privacy-security-electronic-health-records/

Sewell, J., & Thede, L. (2013). Informatics and nursing: Opportunities and challenges. (4th ed., pp. 4-8). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.