Professionalism, Communication, and Collaboration: Use of Social Media in Nursing Curriculum for Student Self-Enhancement

While there are many barriers to integration of social media in nursing curriculum, including the rapid pace of technology changes, fear of the unknown, and fear of privacy violation, social media provides excellent avenues for learning professional communication and networking.  Social media offers multifaceted platforms with which to reach nurses and nursing students and to connect them for collaborative projects and learning.  Social media likewise engages students in practice for professional writing, networking, knowledge sharing, and mentoring by other nurses. These benefits assist nursing students in building their own professional identity. This presentation will inform nurses and nurse educators about innovative methods for including social media in the classroom, highlight specific projects such as the blogging collaboration between the INQRI and a class of nursing informatics students from the Midwest, review teaching tips for navigating the internet, and present advice for creating professional social media users.