Social Media Usage Policy Analysis

While some companies are lauding the benefits of their employee’s use of social media and HMD, others have chosen to ban them. A decrease in productivity is a contributing factor in workplace bans on their use (Williams, 2016). Employers are starting to recognize this issue and believe their employees are productive only five hours a day, blaming HMD and social media (O’Leary, 2017).

Decrease in Care

While mobile devices assist employees to accomplish multiple tasks, they can be distracting. Even a truly focused employee can be disturbed by the urge to swipe between several different apps, posting to social media and frequently checking emails (O’Leary, 2017). In the healthcare setting, this raises the concern over the care being delivered.

With clear and reasonable guidelines regarding the usage, employees will more likely follow the set standard by their employer. A usage policy that is reflective of the workplace environment is a proactive method to dealing with the new advances and temptations of technology. Clearly defined expectations guide the employees use while restricting activities that could potentially cause harm to the patients that are served. Policies should reflect the current culture of the workplace, however, include progressive clauses to address the technology usage of the future (Williams,

Health related applications can be downloaded onto ones HMD. These application allow for immediate access to health information can be useful. Such uses can be interpreting lab or radiology results, medication references that offer up to date dosage, interactions and contraindications and timers with alarms for reminders. One example is the free app called Epocrates sponsored by Aetna, which is useful for looking up medications. It is like having a medication drug book readily available. Beyond application, HMD can be used to send critical value to providers immediately negating the need to telephone several parties. The information acquired instantly can be used to boost patient safety. Safety concerns could be addressed by enhanced communication speed. Ultimately allowing the nurse to apply this information to give faster more effective interventions. Outside patient care, social media and HMD can be used for staffing communication, job postings, blogs and bulletin boards to foster unit communication (Piscotty, Martindell, & Karim,