Do nurses have a responsibility to keep their Facebook professional?

[Bortaz]

I am "Facebook friends" with a large number of my nursing peers. I am often quite surprised at the behavior I see exhibited by them in so public a place.

I see:

1. Lots and lots of foul language/inappropriate pics, etc.

2. Lots and lots of "oh, man, I'm so wasted right now...bout to go to the next bar!!!"

3. Lots and lots of TMI about relationships, affairs, drunkeness, fights, whatever.

On their FB profile, they have it proudly posted that they are "Registered Nurse at So-and-so Hospital", or "Proud PEDI Nurse!" or "School nurse at Ur Dum Akadimy".

I cringe sometimes when I see some of this stuff, and think to myself "what would their employer think?" or, "Hope they're not interviewing soon with a computer-adept manager".

I try to keep my social media as clean as I can, and don't flaunt any of my bad habits for the world to see.

But, what do you think? Do nurses have a responsibility to maintain a professional demeanor on their (supposedly) private social media sites?

Another possibility: Am I an old fart?

[kdhooksrn]

To me it comes down to self respect. We should always conduct ourselves in a way that shows we have a respect for ourselves. That being said, if I want to post that I am out having drinks with a friend, I don't see anything wrong with that. I'm not at work having a couple of drinks, so what is the problem. I try to keep my FB drama free and have been known to unfriend people that prove themselves to be drama queens. My FB only shows that I am a nurse, not where I work. My hospital has updated it social networking policy and I play it safe and don't post my workplace. That way nothing can be tied to them.

[giveface]

Yes, I agree! No affiliations with work or your school.

Unless you are using your FB page as a professional page, it's personal, and should exclude those places that might judge you professionally.

Excuse me but aren't we trained to be wholistic? I am not a nurse only during my waking hours at the hospital am I? If I were driving in my car and saw a train derailment, would I get out to help the victims or just say, "Well, I'm in 'personal mode' right now, not my problem.". It isn't so clear cut/black or white.

[kimsey]

I feel like you should be able to post whatever you want on your facebook page, however, with that said you shouldn't break any laws or break HIPAA by doing so, there is a limit to "whatever you want". I make heavy use of privacy settings, my profile cannot be seen by the public, and I have strict lists of who can see what post. Prior to being laid off, I listed myself as an LPN @ company but I used the "umbrella" company name, not specifically where I worked, and I never posted about work related things other than the occasional "bad day at work" without any details. I try to refrain from friending co-workers too often on facebook and in real life - I'm there to work, not make friends or pick up boyfriends (can of worms!).

I am a big support of "free speech", but if you make good use of privacy settings, then only those trusted people will see those things, I also feel that you shouldn't have thousands of "friends" you don't know on facebook, you never know what kind of people they might be.

/steps down off soapbox.

To be honest, I rarely post anything on facebook, but I feel like it's peoples right to post what they want to (within the law) and if someone posts something I don't like (which is pretty much never) I simplly unfriend them or tell them that I don't appreciate their post.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Excuse me but aren't we trained to be wholistic? I am not a nurse only during my waking hours at the hospital am I? If I were driving in my car and saw a train derailment, would I get out to help the victims or just say, "Well, I'm in 'personal mode' right now, not my problem.". It isn't so clear cut/black or white.

What exactly does that have to do with Facebook? Holistic nursing is about caring for all aspects of the patient, not that a nurse is a nurse 24/7. Of course, unless there was a valid reason, most nurses would stop and help at a train derailment. Besides, it's healthy to have downtime.

As for my Facebook, I have my privacy settings set to only allow those I'm friends with see anything. Friend of friend? Nope, not seeing anything but my name. Not even friend of friend? You won't find me because I'm set to not even be found in a search. Still don't post anything questionable. I am friends with people from work, but I actually hang out with them outside of work.

[giveface]

M point is only that why should you have to make and maintain two separate facebook accounts (second one under a pseudonym), simply to enable this misguided concept that employers have the right to spy on us in our personal lives, they don't have that right IMO. What I meant by the train derailment analogy, is that we don't have an "on nurse/off nurse" button when we go from a professional environment to a personal one; we are always a nurse.

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

Employers check Facebook to see what potential employees post. It's a common practice.

Multiple accounts on Facebook are somewhat linked to each other, and the system isn't flawless, so if you have more than one, one could directly lead to the other. For instance, I have an account I intended to use for some virtual learning for my students. I found it went directly to my other friends and family site. I don't know what others can see on it, but I can see everything no matter which account I use.

Someone who knows how can bypass the privacy settings on Facebook. Also, there are people "out there" who like to cause trouble, and who knows what lengths they might go to...

So, don't post things you don't want someone else to read because you never know what will be read.

Also, don't look like a twit by posting things that can make you look like one!

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

M point is only that why should you have to make and maintain two separate facebook accounts (second one under a pseudonym), simply to enable this misguided concept that employers have the right to spy on us in our personal lives, they don't have that right IMO. What I meant by the train derailment analogy, is that we don't have an "on nurse/off nurse" button when we go from a professional environment to a personal one; we are always a nurse.

If it's on the web, it's public, not private and therefore not spying. Even here on allnurses, without my real name or identifying picture, I'm still careful about changing anything potentially identifying.

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

Regardless of your privacy settings, all it takes is one friend to "share" or screenshot your post for it to become quite public.

[giveface]

I disagree and feel that it is being nosy, stirring up trouble and spying. As I stated earlier, unless I am posting privleged info (which I never do), than what photos I choose to put up, or what political or ideological whatevers on my profile are my business. That's just how I see it. Another analogy is peeping toms. Is it the fault of the person being peeped on because she left her curtains open ( of course not!), or the fault of the gross peeping, spying tom. Same principle applies IMO.

[veggie530]

Although facebook can be made private, I have been (at times) what information was shared through friends of mine on facebook that were friends with people that I was not.

[sauconyrunner]

You of course, have the right to represent yourself in ANY way on Facebook. However, certain representations may make you much less attractive to employers, and may hinder your goals to stay employed.

I do wonder if it would embarrass you if your boss saw it...why on earth would you be ok with your friends or family looking at it!

But I do lead a pretty pedantic life. So maybe thats my issue. Secondly, I have learned to post on FB in a deliberately vague way...so that those in the know "know" and those out of the "know" will have to speculate...

[IowaKaren]

If future employers are now checking into your credit report and using that against you, you can bet they will use facebook also. Once it's out there, there's no taking it back.