The Use of Social Media by Clinical Nurse Specialists at a Tertiary Hospital: Mixed Methods Study.
Alya Al-Rumhi, Samira Al-Rasbi, Aaliyah M Momani
PMID 37616026WHAT IT FOUND
Clinical nurse specialists use social media daily for patient communication but face significant barriers including privacy concerns, legal uncertainty, and time constraints.
Most rely on personal devices and report physical or psychological discomfort from this workload.
Key findings
01All surveyed clinical nurse specialists used social media, with WhatsApp being the most frequent platform for communicating with patients and colleagues.
02The primary barriers to use were time constraints, privacy concerns, and a lack of awareness regarding legal grounds for social media use in clinical practice.
03Nearly half of the nurses reported psychological discomfort such as anxiety and stress, and most experienced physical symptoms like eye pain and insomnia linked to social media use.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used a small, convenience sample from a single hospital in Oman, limiting generalizability to other settings or larger populations. Data relied on self-reported usage and symptoms, which may be subject to recall bias. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality between social media use and reported discomfort.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high usage rates as evidence that social media is safe or efficient for clinical care without oversight. The study explicitly links this usage to significant privacy risks, legal uncertainty, and nurse well-being issues, suggesting that current informal practices may be harmful rather than helpful.