Assignment Task
Background
The conduct of healthcare organisation employees on social media can impact both their personal reputation and that of the organisation. However, social media has blurred the lines between professional and personal communication, and what is acceptable and ethical conduct is not always clear. Furthermore, the global COVID-19 pandemic has changed how healthcare organisations and their employees approach the use of social media, expediting the need to ensure that employees communicating health-related information adhere to employee codes of conduct.
Aims
This review aims to investigate the challenges associated with healthcare organisation employees’ use of social media for sharing health-related information, identify the crucial elements for inclusion in social media codes of conduct for healthcare organisations, and examine the enablers for good codes of conduct.
Methods
A systematic review of the literature from six research database platforms on articles related to codes of conduct addressing the use of social media for healthcare organisation employees was conducted. The screening process yielded 52 articles.
Results
The key finding in this review focuses on privacy, protecting both patients and healthcare organisation employees. While maintaining separate professional and personal social media accounts is a much-discussed approach, training and education on social media codes of conduct can clarify acceptable behaviour both personally and professionally.
Conclusion
The results raise essential questions about healthcare organisation employees’ use of social media. It is evident that organisational support and a constructive culture will enable healthcare organisations to fully realise the benefits of using social media.
Introduction
Social media has become an integral part of everyday life for people worldwide, and the use of social media in the health- care landscape is here to stay (Kotsenas et al. 2018a, b).
Furthermore, COVID-19 has forced government authorities to quickly and effectively communicate healthcare informa- tion to the public, which has expedited the need for healthcare organisations to use social media to disseminate information rapidly. Not limited to the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare organisations provide a wide variety of health-related commu- nity information on social media to engage with and educate the public, such as health promotion and health education, clinic availability, experiential storytelling, employee recruit- ment and health facts. However, for health communication to be effective, the public must be willing to listen to and act on information received and accept that information from healthcare organisations on social media is truthful and hon- est. Inappropriate use of social media is a behaviour that may see healthcare organisations’ employees penalised, where the employee is identifiable, and this could damage the healthcare organisations public image (Health and Care Professionals.
