Do you "tell" Facebook where you work?

Nurses General Nursing

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  1. Do you "tell" FB where you work?

    • 63
      Yes
    • 196
      No
    • 31
      I don't have a FB

290 members have participated

Of the nurses I know, some have their place of employment on their FB page and some do not.

I am just curious to see if you post your place of employment on your FB page and your reasoning behind your decision.

I'll start:

As a new grad, on the hunt for a job, I was originally thinking that the minute I finally become employed I am going to shout it to the world (meaning put it on FB). But then I got to thinking...is this really a good idea?

I have previously worked in healthcare (non-nursing) and even then I was hesitant about posting my place of employment on FB. I mean I did, but, this time feels different. I do not plan to post my future places of employment on FB.

I previously did not realize that anyone can find you (including patients) just by typing in your place of employment!

I have seen (I believe here on AN--maybe not--not sure) a story where a patient's family member/friend has attempted to friend the nurse on FB hoping to gain information about a patient.

Just seems a little risky IMO...

But I'm curious to hear others opinions and reasoning!

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

If you look at my FB you wouldn't know I even have a job never mind the two companies I work for.

I'm not sure my siblings know that I'm a nurse. ;) (they are all hundreds if not thousands of miles away)

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Just asking for trouble. My facility actually had a giveaway for employees who liked their page. Sorry, no go. If I like that page, they can see everything I post, and no, just no. I do my best to keep my private life separate from my work life. That means not identifying where I work or friending those I work with unless we are friends outside of work (and even then, I can customize who can see what, so even they don't even see everything I post). And regularly checking and updating security settings is a must- Facebook seems to have a thing for randomly resetting them. I can't even be found unless you are friends with one of my friends (and there's a whole whopping 40 of them) or you know my personal email address, which is very seldom given out.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

To me, it depends on your intentions for having a presence in social media and how you are using any social media platform such as facebook (or LinkedIn, or twitter). If you maintain a degree of decorum and professionalism in whatever it is you share, then I don't see why having your place of employment in your profile could hurt. These social media sites also have privacy settings that you can manipulate so that only certain individuals are allowed to view parts of your profile.

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Just asking for trouble. My facility actually had a giveaway for employees who liked their page. Sorry, no go. If I like that page, they can see everything I post, and no, just no. I do my best to keep my private life separate from my work life. That means not identifying where I work or friending those I work with unless we are friends outside of work (and even then, I can customize who can see what, so even they don't even see everything I post). And regularly checking and updating security settings is a must- Facebook seems to have a thing for randomly resetting them. I can't even be found unless you are friends with one of my friends (and there's a whole whopping 40 of them) or you know my personal email address, which is very seldom given out.

I did not realize that if you 'like' a page then they can see your posts! Good to know. I agree though, it's better to keep things private. Gotta love that customize feature!

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To me, it depends on your intentions for having a presence in social media and how you are using any social media platform such as facebook (or LinkedIn, or twitter). If you maintain a degree of decorum and professionalism in whatever it is you share, then I don't see why having your place of employment in your profile could hurt. These social media sites also have privacy settings that you can manipulate so that only certain individuals are allowed to view parts of your profile.

You make a very good point!

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Specializes in Home Care.

I keep my FB locked down. I also don't use the FB app due to lack of privacy.

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I keep my FB locked down. I also don't use the FB app due to lack of privacy.

I agree, I do not use the app either.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgial, Cardiac, Pediatrics.

I do, but I also censor my FB page to include only what I would want published on a billboard, and it's NEVER public information, even where I work. So if I'm okay posting it there, I would be fine with my employer seeing or knowing about it.

I also don't have to worry quite as much about patients or family finding me, since I spell my name differently on FB versus my professional life. I did that purposely, to differentiate the two, and I've found to be VERY helpful. (Thank you to my overly paranoid psych nurse of a mother for that paranoia..)

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Oh yes I have my place of employment listed. Most of my FB friends are from work. I just don't post anything negative about work.

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I do, but I also censor my FB page to include only what I would want published on a billboard, and it's NEVER public information, even where I work. So if I'm okay posting it there, I would be fine with my employer seeing or knowing about it.

I also don't have to worry quite as much about patients or family finding me, since I spell my name differently on FB versus my professional life. I did that purposely, to differentiate the two, and I've found to be VERY helpful. (Thank you to my overly paranoid psych nurse of a mother for that paranoia..)

I think that's a great idea. I also use sort of an "alias" as my FB name. Makes me feel a little more comfortable.

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Oh yes I have my place of employment listed. Most of my FB friends are from work. I just don't post anything negative about work.

Do you post anything about work at all? While I was still in nursing school our dean told us that she never posted anything work-related on FB--even positive things. I have seen people on FB post pictures taken at work, post about how they love their job, etc. Any thoughts on that? I personally would be very hesitant to make any remarks about my job. But I tend to run on the more cautious side of things.

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