Dennis Doherty, MSN, RN is a Staff Development Specialist in the department of Clinical Education and Informatics at Boston Children's Hospital. You can follow him on Twitter at: @HWE_Nurse.
A
little less than four years ago I joined a new Crossfit gym that opened up in my
town. For the uninitiated, Crossfit
involves doing a different daily workout in a bare-bones gym that includes
weightlifting, gymnastics, running, and bodyweight exercises. One of my favorite aspects of belonging to
this gym is the community. It is filled
with people of different backgrounds and athletic abilities. Everyone supports each other.
This community
continues outside of the walls of the gym through its private group
Facebook page, where members log in to share accomplishments, articles,
invitations to social outings, and a little light-hearted ribbing (okay, maybe
a lot of light-hearted ribbing). Only
members are invited to join the group. Coaches
post videos of the daily workouts and highlight members’ personal and athletic accomplishments. Members can reach out for non-gym related questions
like recommendations for a plumber or where to get the best haircut. Most importantly, when someone achieves a
personal best, it is celebrated on this forum. The
private group page keeps members engaged and motivated when they are away from
the gym.
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| Joseph Kelly Photography |
In July, I
attended the Nursing Professional Development Certification Preparation course,
a part of the pre-conference for the ANPD annual convention. I spent the better part of two days with
close to 100 NPD colleagues in a ballroom tucked deep in the bowels of the
Mirage Events Center in Las Vegas. Going
into the course I was concerned that I would not be able to focus on nursing
professional development with craps tables, tropical themed pools, and outdoor bars
mere yards away (I can do damage in Vegas).
It turned out that this was not the case.
As
the course progressed, I saw a camaraderie that developed among the group. People shared stories of their work,
motivators to become certified, and fears of taking the exam. Here was a group of NPD specialists with a
common goal and at the end of the convention we would all go our separate
ways. Thinking of ways to try to keep
this momentum going, I thought of my gym’s private group page. If we can celebrate my personal best back squat
(405 lbs.), then we certainly should celebrate this journey to
certification.
By
the end of the break I had published the ANPD Cert
Prep 2015 group page on Facebook.
Within minutes we had forty members join by using their smart phones or
computers. Over the rest of the
conference week, members shared pictures from the course; Lauren posted the Wall of Terms & Important Stuff and
Kathy captured the Play-Doh model interpretations of Change Theory. Several days
after returning home Ashley shared flash cards, which members can download and
use to study. In August several dates
were posted by members brave enough to make their test date Facebook official. Personally, being engaged with colleagues from
the certification prep course has motivated me to send in my registration,
transcripts, and exam fee. In the last
several weeks we have had members post that they passed the certification exam.
Congratulations to Joni RN-BC and Gloria RN-BC—we will be coming your way for
exam advice.
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| Certification has a way of "popping up" in Facebook |
In my professional
experience, social media has felt like a four letter word. There are ethical and professional concerns when
anyone shares what happens to our patients or in our places of employment. I see posts by nurses sharing the
difficulties of their shift or sadness over another angel in heaven. I have heard of a student expelled from a
nursing program for posting a picture of a patient. I hear clinicians worry that social media
enables families to get the wrong information about diseases.
While I admit there are potential misuses when
we mix social media with professional practice I wonder if we are short-changing
ourselves by not exploring uses for applications such as Facebook and Twitter
to our advantage. Social media has made
the world much smaller. Using social
media to connect professionally can break down the geographical barriers we
face as professionals. My example from
the NPD certification preparation course this summer illustrates how
connections, bonds, and support can be maintained despite the miles that
separate us.
74%
of Americans online report using social
media. I am connected to over 845 people from my childhood, college, and
professional years by a click of a mouse. I know when my favorite bands have gigs,
learn of hockey trade rumors, and read the latest news via Twitter. Through Facebook I have been able to help
plan my 20th high school reunion and learn that most of my town prefers Pizza
Palace over Broadway Pizza. Why shouldn’t
we connect with our professional colleagues as we do so readily with our
acquaintances from other aspects of our lives? Why not seek uses that will move us forward
professionally? Why not engage our
clients by meeting them where they are?
I will share two
ways I am attempting to use social media to our advantage. Recently the chairperson of a unit-based
council approached me for advice on ways to engage the membership. They meet every two months and she felt that
each meeting was spent doing work that should have been completed between
meetings. She said that people are too
busy when they are at work. Nurse’s
work schedules are irregular so it is difficult for members to connect between meetings. I challenged her to use a Facebook private
group to connect between meetings. Work
groups provide updates on action items and discussions can be on-going. Will members respond positively to this
approach? I am not sure, but I think we
can accomplish more by taking a chance than the current non-productivity the
chairperson reports.
One of my roles as
NPD specialist is co-coordinating new graduate nurse orientation. My colleague and I have been thinking of ways
to support our nurses in their transition to practice. We would like to connect our new grads with
experienced nurses who have gone through the program. Our hope is that connecting with someone who
has more recently walked in their shoes will benefit our orientees. Again, busy assignments and varying schedules
can make it difficult to maintain these connections. This fall we will pilot using social media as
a forum for our new grads and former new grads to meet virtually.
My institution
offers shuttle buses to take employees to satellite parking lots and public
transportation. Over the last couple of
weeks I have observed that at least half of the passengers on these trips have
their eyes glued to their smart phones.
Many are looking at Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. Is it possible that we are missing out on
captive audiences by not bringing nursing professional development to these
platforms? I encourage us all to think
outside the box for ways that we can connect, engage, and motivate through
social media and share ideas with our colleagues on the ANPD Facebook Page.
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| Are we missing our captive audience? |
