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Social Media in Healthcare: Educational Policy Implications
CONSIDER THIS…
Social Media in Healthcare: Educational Policy Implications
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ocial media are redefining healthcare education, but come with significant policy implications. Federal court rulings on social media posts of nursing students posing with placentas, medical students posing with cadavers and mortuary students' thoughts on anatomy labs, raise concerns about how professionalism, privacy-security, intellectual property and mobile devices are addressed in educational policies. Professionalism: Court rulings place responsibility on educational institutions to teach professional behavior and conduct of students’ use of social media. Rulings suggest students cannot be held accountable for posts on social media if training policies are not in place. While free speech cannot be constrained, education on professional use of social media is a program responsibility. Privacy (FERPA)/security: Privacy related to HIPAA, Family Educational Rights and Privacy ACT (FERPA) regulations and Federal Information Processing (FIP) 140-2 rules on transmission of sensitive information are applicable to using social media. HIPAA standards require identity authentication and password protection on all electronic devices. Use of public social media featuring student information without their consent violates FERPA. FIP 140-2 regulations, adopted by Medicare, mandate transmission of any sensitive information using a mathematically encrypted protocol. Transmitting student and or patient information using social media and e-mail tools often violates these standards. In addition, an additional consideration for students and faculty is understanding
the social media site “terms of agreement” outlining what can be done with user information. Frequently information can be shared with “business associates” anywhere on the Internet. Educational institutions should have policies in place and orient all personnel on security with social media. Ownership–intellectual property: Social media use also raises concerns about the ownership and intellectual property of scientific and educational content. Most universities have clear policies about the ownership of intellectual property and scientific discoveries. However, students enthusiastically downloading content using social media are often violating these policies and may inadvertently share these materials across a range of social media platforms. A second area of intellectual property concern is the ownership of copyrighted materials and plagiarism during course work. Students must be taught that access to material on the Internet does automatically equate with a right to use that material or present it as their work. Mobile devices: A final social media concern is mobile phones and tablets, ability to capture, store and transmit information. Capture and storage of information on mobile devices or saved on unsecured cloud servers breaches all aforementioned policy areas. Mobile devices operating outside of secured wireless systems can be easily captured. Four of every five Internet users use social media and 60 to 80% of all students access content using mobile devices. Training and clear
Kris A. McLoughlin, DNP, APRN, BC, CSAC, and Catherine Kane, PhD, RN, FAAN, are the editors of the “Consider This…” column, a forum for addressing current topics affecting psychiatric nursing. We encourage your commentaries, opinions, and ideas on professional, policy, and practice issues. Responses to this column in the form of letters to the editor are welcomed and encouraged. The opinions presented in this column are solely the views of the author(s). Submissions to “Consider This…” are welcome and should be no longer than 450 words. If references are used, there should be no more than three and will be included in the 450 word limit. Please refer to “Information for Authors” for submission address. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, Vol. 27, No. 1 (February), 2013: pp 61–62
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educational policies ensure professional behavior and positive outcomes. Michael J. Rice PhD, APRN NP, Professor of Psychiatric Nursing, Project Director of PIPN Project, Associate Clinical Director
EDITORIAL
of Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska, and Fellow of American Academy of Nursing UNMC, College of Nursing 985330 Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, NE 68198-5330, [email protected].
Social Media in Healthcare: Educational Policy Implications
S
ocial media are redefining healthcare education, but come with significant policy implications. Federal court rulings on social media posts of nursing students posing with placentas, medical students posing with cadavers and mortuary students' thoughts on anatomy labs, raise concerns about how professionalism, privacy-security, intellectual property and mobile devices are addressed in educational policies. Professionalism: Court rulings place responsibility on educational institutions to teach professional behavior and conduct of students’ use of social media. Rulings suggest students cannot be held accountable for posts on social media if training policies are not in place. While free speech cannot be constrained, education on professional use of social media is a program responsibility. Privacy (FERPA)/security: Privacy related to HIPAA, Family Educational Rights and Privacy ACT (FERPA) regulations and Federal Information Processing (FIP) 140-2 rules on transmission of sensitive information are applicable to using social media. HIPAA standards require identity authentication and password protection on all electronic devices. Use of public social media featuring student information without their consent violates FERPA. FIP 140-2 regulations, adopted by Medicare, mandate transmission of any sensitive information using a mathematically encrypted protocol. Transmitting student and or patient information using social media and e-mail tools often violates these standards. In addition, an additional consideration for students and faculty is understanding
the social media site “terms of agreement” outlining what can be done with user information. Frequently information can be shared with “business associates” anywhere on the Internet. Educational institutions should have policies in place and orient all personnel on security with social media. Ownership–intellectual property: Social media use also raises concerns about the ownership and intellectual property of scientific and educational content. Most universities have clear policies about the ownership of intellectual property and scientific discoveries. However, students enthusiastically downloading content using social media are often violating these policies and may inadvertently share these materials across a range of social media platforms. A second area of intellectual property concern is the ownership of copyrighted materials and plagiarism during course work. Students must be taught that access to material on the Internet does automatically equate with a right to use that material or present it as their work. Mobile devices: A final social media concern is mobile phones and tablets, ability to capture, store and transmit information. Capture and storage of information on mobile devices or saved on unsecured cloud servers breaches all aforementioned policy areas. Mobile devices operating outside of secured wireless systems can be easily captured. Four of every five Internet users use social media and 60 to 80% of all students access content using mobile devices. Training and clear
Kris A. McLoughlin, DNP, APRN, BC, CSAC, and Catherine Kane, PhD, RN, FAAN, are the editors of the “Consider This…” column, a forum for addressing current topics affecting psychiatric nursing. We encourage your commentaries, opinions, and ideas on professional, policy, and practice issues. Responses to this column in the form of letters to the editor are welcomed and encouraged. The opinions presented in this column are solely the views of the author(s). Submissions to “Consider This…” are welcome and should be no longer than 450 words. If references are used, there should be no more than three and will be included in the 450 word limit. Please refer to “Information for Authors” for submission address. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, Vol. 27, No. 1 (February), 2013: pp 61–62
61
62
educational policies ensure professional behavior and positive outcomes. Michael J. Rice PhD, APRN NP, Professor of Psychiatric Nursing, Project Director of PIPN Project, Associate Clinical Director
EDITORIAL
of Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska, and Fellow of American Academy of Nursing UNMC, College of Nursing 985330 Nebraska Medical Center Omaha, NE 68198-5330, [email protected].