As future professional nurses with a unique obligation and responsibility, nursing students must be cognizant of the public nature of social media and other electronic communication and the permanent nature of communicating therein. These technologies may give the impression of privacy, but postings and other data should be considered in the public realm and freely visible by many people. State and Federal regulations related to confidentiality along with HIPPA require that no patient information be made available to the public. These regulations apply to comments made on social networking sites, and violators are subject to the same disciplinary action as with other HIPAA violations.
In the interest of keeping academic boundaries, faculty will not “friend” students currently enrolled in the School of Nursing on any social media sites such as, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat or Instagram. Should the student have a "friend status" with a faculty prior to admission to the School of Nursing, the student will inform the faculty of the change of status and the faculty will “Defriend” the student for the duration of the tenure.
Policy
- IU Southeast logos may not be used on any social media without the approval of the IU Southeast School of Nursing
- Students in the Nursing Program at IU Southeast will:
- Not post content or otherwise speak on the behalf of the clinical agency or School of Nursing unless approved by the instructor and clinical agency
- Promptly report any identified breach of confidentiality or privacy to the instructor and appropriate authority within the clinical facility (NCSBN, 2011e).
- Not transmit by way on any electronic media, any patient related information or images. In addition, student nurses are restricted from transmitting any information that may be reasonable anticipated to violate patient rights to confidentiality or privacy or otherwise degrade or embarrass a patient (NCSBN, 2011e).
- Not share, post, or otherwise disseminate any information, including images, about a patient or information gained in the nurse-patient relationship with anyone unless there is a patient care related need to disclose the information or other legal obligation to do so (NCSBN, 2011e).
- Not identify patient by name or post or publish information that may lead to the identification of a patient. Limiting access to postings through privacy settings is not sufficient to ensure privacy (NCSBN, 2011e).
- Not refer to patients in a disparaging manner, even if the patient is not identified (NCSBN, 2011e).
- Not take photos or videos of patients on personal devices, including cell phones. Follow employer policies for taking photographs or video of patients for treatment of or other legitimate purposes using employer provided devices.
- Maintain professional boundaries in the use of electronic media. Online contact with patients or former patients blurs the distinction between a professional and personal relationship and is not permitted (NCSBN, 2011e).
- Refrain from accessing any personal social networking sites while in the clinical setting
- Violations of this policy may result in disciplinary action and/or dismissal from the School of Nursing