
Social media is increasingly utilized as a resource in healthcare. We sought to identify perceptions of using social media as an educational tool among healthcare practitioners. An electronic survey was distributed to healthcare administrators, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physicians, and physician assistants f hospital systems and affiliated health science schools in Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. Survey questions evaluated respondents' use and views of social media for educational purposes and workplace accessibility using a Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Nurses (75%), pharmacists (11%), and administrators (7%) were the most frequent respondents. Facebook® (27%), Pinterest® (17%), and Instagram® (17%) were the most frequently accessed social media platforms. Nearly 85% agreed or strongly agreed that social media can be an effective tool for educational purposes. Among those who had social media platforms, 43.0% use them for educational purposes. Pinterest® (30%), Facebook® (22%), LinkedIn® (16%), and Twitter® (14%) were most frequently used for education. About 50% of respondents had limited or no access to social media at work. Administrators, those with unlimited and limited work access, and respondents aged 20-29 and 30-39 years were more likely to agree that social media is an educational tool (OR: 3.41 (95% CI 1.31 to 8.84), 4.18 (95% CI 2.30 to 7.60), 1.66 (95% CI 1.22 to 2.25), 4.40 (95% CI 2.80 to 6.92), 2.14 (95% CI 1.53 to 3.01) respectively). Residents, physicians, and those with unlimited access were less likely to agree with allowing social media access at work for educational purposes only. Healthcare practitioners frequently utilize social media, and many believe it can be an effective educational tool in healthcare.
Male, Information Dissemination (methods), South Carolina, Nurse Practitioners (education, Pharmacists, Continuing (methods), Health Personnel (education, Surveys and Questionnaires, Internship and Residency (statistics & numerical data), Social Media (standards), South Carolina (epidemiology), education, Q, R, healthcare, Physician Assistants, Medicine, Female, Maryland (epidemiology), Research Article, Adult, Education, Continuing, Georgia, Physicians (psychology, 330, social media, Science, Health Personnel, psychology, Georgia (epidemiology), Young Adult, Wisconsin, Physicians, Humans, healthcare practioners, Nurse Practitioners, statistics & numerical data), Maryland, Information Dissemination, Pharmacists (psychology, Internship and Residency, Physician Assistants (education, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wisconsin (epidemiology), Perception, Social Media
Male, Information Dissemination (methods), South Carolina, Nurse Practitioners (education, Pharmacists, Continuing (methods), Health Personnel (education, Surveys and Questionnaires, Internship and Residency (statistics & numerical data), Social Media (standards), South Carolina (epidemiology), education, Q, R, healthcare, Physician Assistants, Medicine, Female, Maryland (epidemiology), Research Article, Adult, Education, Continuing, Georgia, Physicians (psychology, 330, social media, Science, Health Personnel, psychology, Georgia (epidemiology), Young Adult, Wisconsin, Physicians, Humans, healthcare practioners, Nurse Practitioners, statistics & numerical data), Maryland, Information Dissemination, Pharmacists (psychology, Internship and Residency, Physician Assistants (education, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wisconsin (epidemiology), Perception, Social Media
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 71 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 1% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 1% |
