the official daily publication of the AORN Congress
Health care professionals should embrace social mediaBy Jennifer M. Brusco
AORN Journal Associate Editor
Social media is the number one activity on the web and offers a way for users, including health care professionals, to connect with each other on a virtual platform. Zach Mueller, RN, DNP, CNS, chief nursing officer, the Medical Center of Aurora, CO, who brought Congress attendees up to speed on established and emerging social media platforms during “Nurses & Social Media: There is a Connection.” Mueller emphasized the importance of understanding generational differences as a 
key measure of success, and urged attendees to embrace new technology (eg, social media) as it is transforming how we view, communicate, and identify with each other not only personally, but also professionally.
Organizations use social media to share information about new products, services, educational and employment opportunities, and more. For example, the Medical Center of Aurora uses an internal blog on which employees can share their experiences that could be used for Magnet recognition. The blog is moderated to catch any patient information that may be inadvertently included in the submission to protect the rights of the patient. This is one way that health care personnel could work together to document events that can be used for Magnet designation and recognition. Mueller added that AORN is embracing social media at Congress with the Congress Voices blog, Twitter, and RSS news feeds. Additional social media platforms mentioned during the session include Meetup™, MySpace™, Facebook®, Flickr™, Google Buzz™, LinkedIn™, Nurse Connect™, and more. These media platforms are becoming so popular that 96% of generation Yers have joined a social network, and one out of eight couples married in the United Stated met via social media.
The four main generational groups discussed were traditionalists, baby boomers, generation Xers, and generation Yers. Mueller said that individuals and organizations should focus on understanding generational differences and needs to achieve various measures of success such as better retention, improved recruitment, higher productivity, increased employee engagement, and lower medical claims. Each generation has its own set of values, characteristics and skills, ways to engage the health care system, and core values. Understanding the inherent generational differences (ie, strengths and weaknesses) can help managers interact with and understand how to best appeal to, train, and engage their employees.
With each new generation, technology is introduced at an earlier and earlier age, which is creating more tech-savvy individuals who are able to learn and use new technology with greater ease. Social media provides an interactive platform to connect people and convey information in a quicker and more readily accessible manner. Users should remember to be responsible when posting information on social media platforms because negative or irresponsible comments could ultimately affect privacy and reputation of the individual, their facility, or someone else. Mueller cautioned attendees to be careful about privacy issues, and added that “it is probably good to have a personal social media and a professional one, and never the two shall mix.”
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