This year marks the 10th anniversary year for WeNurses ….10 years … yes I know …wow ! Looking back and reflecting there have been many changes over those 10 years. Over the last two years in particular the pandemic has caused a rapid acceleration in the uptake and use of social media and this has led to the use of social media by nurses changing. In a recent #WeNurses tweetchat a poll that asked nurses about how much time they are spending on social media it was clear to see the increase in social media use:
The fact is that nurses time spent on social media has changed significantly however I am sure I am not the only one who has noticed that the way nurses are using social media has also changed. Nurses seem so much more polarised in their approach to social media than they ever have been – on one hand we are more guarded in what we say, post and share and reluctant to engage in conversation and at other times there seems to be an underlying exasperation and an eagerness to vent. My thoughts are that this is down to the pandemic and the times we find ourselves in. Clinical practice is tough, day after day nurses are turning up for work to find that they are short staffed, or that guidance has changed for the 5th time that week, or that the increased need means that they are simply rushed off their feet. All of these pressures coupled with the stress and anxiety of living during a pandemic are bound to have an effect so social media either becomes a place to switch off and have some downtime or it becomes a place to vent that stress.
It also seems like the type of content that nurses are engaging with in social media is shifting. Over the past 18 months WeNurses has seen a fundamental shift away from long form content, Nurses are much more likely to engage in short form content. The WeNurses Twitter account is more likely in the current climate to see engagement in Twitter polls and short discussion rather than hour long tweetchats. Again this could be because of a number of things but the pressure in clinical practice and the need to ‘switch off’ surely has to be high up there. Nurses have less time (not that we ever had very much time!) and that time increasingly needs to be used to power down, relax and re-energise … so the time that we do spend on social media in a professional capacity needs to be purposeful and useful.
The fact still remains that social media is a brilliant tool for Nurses and with 82% of nurses polled saying that they would recommend the use of social media the challenge to unlock the potential of social media in nursing has not gone away. Social media can offer networking, support, access to and sharing of knowledge and resources, professional discussion and continuing professional development and so much more. In order to continue to realise this potential WeNurses needs to adapt and grow as the nursing community changes. As Nurses we need to understand social media spaces, the potential and the limitations, in order to use social media in a way that is safe for us, our mental health and the people we care for. Moving forward as “We” starts to think about the next 10 years of WeNurses this is what we will have in the forefront of our minds. We, at “We” are looking ahead and are making plans, we will be focussing on how nurses can use social media safely (all aspects of safety) and purposefully and shifting our attention to short form content, starting with trialling a new way to tweetchat ….. And this is just the start! In order to build and maintain a social media space and community for Nurses we need to innovate, create and lead and in our 10th anniversary year this is exactly what “We” will be aiming to do.
Happy anniversary WeNurses !
