This document provides social media guidelines for health care professionals. It reminds them that professional standards still apply online and that anything posted can remain public indefinitely. It offers practical guidance like not discussing patients, maintaining privacy settings, and establishing boundaries with patients online. The document also provides 10 guiding principles for using social media while upholding professional obligations and patient privacy, such as engaging the public cautiously, showing personality while maintaining boundaries, and learning from mistakes.

1. Social Media Guidelines For
Health Care Professionals

2. The professional standards
expected of health care
professionals do not change
because you are
communicating through
social media.
However, social media does
raise new circumstances to
which the established
principles apply.

3. Reminds doctors
and students of their
digital footprint:
“Anything that has
once been typed or
posted and
immortalized on the
internet can always
resurface.”

6. http://www.imo.ie/news-media/publications/91270-Social-Media-Position-Paper.pdf

8. NMC
Practical guidance
for students, nurses
and midwives using
social media.
 If you identify yourself as a nurse or midwife
on Facebook, you should act responsibly at all
times and uphold the reputation of your
profession.
 Even if you do not identify yourself as a nurse
or midwife, be aware that your conduct online
could still jeopardise your registration if it
calls your fitness to practise into question.
 If you receive a friendship request from a
current or former patient, Facebook allows
you to ignore this request without the person
being informed, avoiding the need to give
unnecessary offence.
 Do not discuss work-related issues online,
including conversations about patients or
complaints about colleagues. Even when
anonymised, these are likely to be
inappropriate.

9. NMC
Additional
guidelines
 Never post pictures of patients or service
users, even if they ask you to do this. Our
guidance on record keeping states clearly,
"you should not take or keep photographs of
any person, or their family, that are not
clinically relevant" (NMC 2009b). If your
mobile phone has a camera, you should not
use it in the workplace.
 Protect your own privacy. On Facebook, you
can adjust your privacy settings at group level
to share different levels of information with
different kinds of friends.
 Remember that everything you post online is
public, even with the strictest privacy settings.
Once something is online, it can be copied
and redistributed, and it is easy to lose
control of it. Presume that everything you
post online will be permanent and will be
shared.

12. Guiding
Principles
10 guiding principles to
encourage HCPs to
make greater use of
social media, while at
the same time ensuring
they meet their
professional obligations
and protect their
patients.
1. Be aware of the image you present online and
manage this proactively.
2. Recognise that the personal and professional can‟t
always be separated.
3. Engage with the public but be cautious of giving
personal advice.
4. Respect the privacy of all patients, especially the
vulnerable.
5. Show your human side, but maintain professional
boundaries.
6. Contribute your expertise, insights and
experience.
7. Treat others with consideration, politeness and
respect.
8. Remember that other people may be watching
you.
9. Support your colleagues and intervene when
necessary.
10. Test out innovative ideas, learn from your
mistakes – and have fun!

13. Guiding
Principle
Be aware of the image
you present online and
manage this proactively
 Act as though any information and
images you post online will remain
there forever and might be
distributed, shared, commented
upon and accessed by anyone,
including your patients, family,
colleagues or employers (even many
years later).
 Learn how to promptly delete posts
and other information you have
uploaded in error, as this may
reduce their distribution – but
understand that even deleted
material may be recovered or remain
publicly available in some
circumstances.

14. Guiding
Principle
Recognise that the
personal and
professional can‟t
always be separated
• Consider how the total body of information
and images you post online contribute to the
impression that others might form of you,
both professionally and personally, and how
this in turn can influence how your future
online and offline behaviour will be
interpreted.
• Clarify when you are commenting
professionally or personally about an issue –
although commenting personally does not
excuse you from your professional
obligations.
• Maintaining an appropriate balance between
your life as a private individual and your
responsibilities as a professional will require
the application of judgement and experience.

15. Guiding
Principle
Engage with the public
but be cautious of
giving personal advice
 General comments and signposting to
authoritative and appropriate sources of
information sources of information are
generally fine, but do not be tempted into
giving online consultations.
 If a request for advice comes from one of your
patients, direct them to your practice/hospital
website, telephone, email or appointment
system as appropriate.
 Occasionally you may receive an urgent
request for help from a patient that requires
an immediate response. As with all „Good
Samaritan‟ acts, you must act in the best
interests of the patient and follow your
professional obligations.

16. Guiding
Principle
Respect the privacy of
all patients, especially
the vulnerable
 Do not discuss real patients, their illnesses,
conditions or any of their personal
information in public, except with explicit and
informed consent of those concerned –
otherwise you are at risk of breaching their
privacy.
 Be aware that even if you change one or two
details in a case, such as the age or sex of the
patient, the patient or their family may still be
identifiable from other details.
 Remember that even though revealing an
isolated piece of information may not in itself
breach confidentiality, when put together
with other items of information it might do
so.

17. Guiding
Principle
Show your human side,
but maintain
professional boundaries
 Try to maintain a separation between
your personal and professional online
profiles – direct your friends and
family to the former and your patients
and colleagues to the latter.
 Should you receive an inappropriate
social media contact from a
patient, politely re-establish
professional boundaries and explain
your reasons. Remember that friend
requests are usually well-meaning and
patients might not understand why
you can‟t accept them.

18. Guiding
Principle
Contribute your
expertise, insights and
experience
 Use your position as a healthcare
professional responsibly to challenge
and inform as appropriate, justifying
your views with evidence.
 Discuss the use of social media in your
wider healthcare teams and
organisations as a means for
communicating more effectively with
specific sections of your local
community, such as younger people,
who may be hard to reach through
more traditional means.

19. Guiding
Principle #7
Remember that other
people may be watching
you
 Social media is a public space. Any comments you
post in social media sites may be regarded as
public property and may be quoted in other media,
including the national press.
 Assume that online dialog on any platform has the
potential to be seen by everyone‟s eyes.
 Professional bodies can sanction you if they deem
your behaviour to be a risk to their reputation or
to the reputation of the profession as a whole; even
if your original posting was made in a private
network or in a non-professional context.
 Be aware that journalists may routinely monitor
activity in social media sites for potential stories.
All conversations should be regarded as „on the
record‟.

20. Guiding
Principle
Support your colleagues
and intervene when
necessary
 Looking after colleagues is an integral
element of professional conduct, so if you feel
that a friend or workmate has posted
information online that could be damaging
for them, consider letting them know in a
discreet way (such as a personal email, text
message, or phone call).
 If the colleague doesn‟t make amends and you
believe the breach is serious, report it to the
appropriate bodies.
 If you are responsible for leading or educating
a healthcare team, consider arranging a
training session on the use of social media.

21. Guiding
Principle
Test 0ut innovative
ideas, learn from
mistakes – and have
fun!
 Remaining professional does not
mean you can‟t allow your
personality, passion or sense of
humour to show through.
 Using social media should be a
fun and enjoyable experience!

22. http://hcsmmonitor.com