Posted: September 1st, 2022

Impacts of Social Media in Nursing Education

Impacts of Social Media in Nursing Education
In the past decade, social media has been growing at such a rapid rate. Currently, social media is considered the mainstream communication method for many people across the globe. Technological advancements in the internet have become more available than it was several years ago. Today, social media has infiltrated almost every profession, impacting nursing education in various ways.
Nursing students use blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms to connect with other nursing students across the globe at personal and professional levels. Technology avails dozens of tools for students to share academic documents, and also interact in groups. Recent research showed that more than 50% of nursing students admitted to using various social media platforms, Twitter, Facebook, and blogs being the most used applications. Social media has made sharing and dissemination of scholarly information faster and more accessible. Through social media groups and forums, nursing students can now share knowledge and study materials among each other. The flexibility and efficacy in learning enabled by social media has been reported to be both cost and time effective.
One very remarkable social media platform for nursing students is YouTube. The visual and audio aspects of YouTube videos have such a profound impact on a student’s understanding of healthcare, particularly surgical procedures. Through the videos, a student learns how to perform these procedures and other essential skills in real practice.
Nursing educators also use social media to stay in touch with their students. Students can create public discussions outside the classroom where they can ask questions concerning class assignments, an upcoming exam, or other questions that they may find hard asking in the classroom environment.
Social media also plays an essential role in developing communication skills among nursing students and also between them and the faculty. As students interact in group discussions, they gradually develop social skills that are pertinent during practice. Students can freely communicate with others share personal ideas and concerns regardless of their location and time.
Despite the above benefits, social media is also not without limitations. The use of social media as a medium of learning has been heavily criticized. Some people consider old teaching methods to be more effective in terms of motivation. Social media can be highly beneficial In nursing education. However, there can be negative implications when used inappropriately both for personal and academic purposes. Therefore, student, instructors, and faculty should be able to develop best practice approaches to ensure that social media is only used beneficially in promoting nursing education.

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