Main Discussion #1:

Scenario One: You have recently been promoted to charge nurse for the day shift in your department. As a result of this promotion, your former peers are now reporting directly to you. You have been working in your setting for five years and consider many of these peers to be your friends. The way that one of your friends’ posts on social media sites has always bothered you. Many times, her comments are inappropriate, discussing her negative feelings about “ignorant superiors” and “annoying patients.” You also know that she frequently accesses these sites for extended periods of time while patients are waiting to be helped. Now that she reports directly to you, how do you address this? If your workplace does not have a formal policy on social media use, how can you adapt her behaviors to align with the expectations of nursing professionalism?

Post an explanation of the possible social, ethical, and/or legal ramifications of your assigned scenario.

Advances are happening almost every time a person blinks and with these come improvements and increased availability of communicating in a socially controlled environment, such as Social media sites in this scenario. Unfortunately, the friend in this story is violating her ethical code of nursing in many means. According to Lussier and Hendon, “ethics is a set of moral principles or values which is concerned with the righteousness or wrongness of human behavior and which guides your conduct in relation to others” (2018, p. 543). To further justify an ethical dilemma, this scenario also breaches the American Nurses Association’s Code of Ethics for Nurses, which states “the nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve the integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth” (Issues & Answers, 2011). The charge nurses’ friend has lost reality with appropriate moral, distinguishing right from wrong in regards to social media. Not only has she portrayed the role of a bully to her employee superiors but patients as well, thus expressing concern in moral development (Lussier & Hendon, 2018). As a nurse leader, it is critical to remove the “friendship” hat and place the leadership hat on to provide structured guidance to address this ethical issue.

Explain the policy your current or past workplace has on the use of social technologies and how effective you believe the policy is. If your workplace does not have a policy, explain what the accepted practices or expectations are for your setting. Has lack of policy led to any problems? Support your responses by referencing authentic examples from the workplace and this week’s Learning Resources as appropriate.

Leadership is almost like becoming a detective, allowing one to see the picture from multiple views. It might be most helpful to first question, what is contributing to the bullying behavior? A work environment can trigger the aggression of a bully, often associated with increased stress, inadequate training, organizational uncertainty, pressure from superiors, and targets unreachable (Barton et al., 2011). Moreover, nursing leaders can utilize the integrated ethical problem-solving model that includes assessing the problem, identifying the problem, analyzing and selecting the best alternative, and a method for evaluation (Marquis & Huston, 2017). One source to investigate is the organizations’ current workplace policy on social technology. The health department where I work has a Social Media policy and I would rate it as extremely detailed and practical. It includes specific guidelines, outlying definitions, procedures when using social media, comments policy, etiquette, all referencing the department’s Code of Ethics Policy. Any information posted on social media networks on behalf of the organization must comply with the company’s confidentiality statement, HIPAA, and the Department’s Code of Ethics. In the event, an employee violates the Social Media Policy, the Disciplinary Measures outlined in the Employee Handbook is followed, again, which is descriptive in the types of action grounds for discipline.

In contrast, a Social Media policy only works to its ability if all staff understand the policy, know the policy exists, and then can build trust by upholding the policy. A proper introduction to new protocols positively affects communication by resolving conflict (Brinkert, 2010). Almost two years ago, our company lost its’ Human Resources Director due to budget cuts in public health. With this dissolving position, our Workforce Development, including policies and procedures, went by the wayside. Fortunately, there have been no social media issues to date. After reviewing this weeks’ literature, I vow to address the inconsistencies of employees, especially new ones to our health department, have a path to follow on guidance of where policies are located, which policies exist, and a tracking system to capture reviewing and acknowledgment of said policies; Action I would review with the nurse disobeying social media. Common myths and misunderstanding about social media usage are eliminated when all staff is aware of this policy specific occurrence (Cronquist & Spector, 2011). It would be hard to have a structured base of leadership or reprimand the friend in Scenario One if the Human Resources department fell short of their duties and had no documentation of the employee reviewing the Social Media policy.

Resources:

Barton, S. A., Alamri, M. S., Cella, D., Cherry, K. L, Curll, K., Hallman, B. D., et al. (2011). Dissolving clique behavior. Nursing Management, 42(8), 32-37. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Brinkert, R. (2010). A literature review of conflict communication causes, costs, benefits, and interventions in nursing. Journal of Nursing Management, 18(2), 145-156. Retrieved from the Walden Library Databases.

Issues & answers. Social media: Implications for nursing: Nursing Practice Statement NP 85. (2011). Ohio Nurses Review, 86(2), 6-7. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Lussier, R. N., & Hendon, J. R. (2018). Human resource management: Functions, applications, & skill development (3^rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2017). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (9^th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins