Bridging the Digital and Clinical: Opportunities and Ethical Dilemmas of Social Media Use Among Hospital Nurses

This study specifically assessed the opportunities for social media use among hospital nurses. Specifically, it included the opportunities for social media use among hospital nurses, along with professional networking, patient education, and professional adjustment. It also considered the ethical dilemmas of social media use among hospital nurses. Further, the results of this study served as a basis for the proposed plan of activities or innovative program proposal. The study employed the descriptive method of research with the questionnaire as a data gathering tool to determine the opportunities and ethical dilemmas on social media use among hospital nurses in Eastern Pangasinan. The study was conducted among eighty hospital nurses in Eastern Pangasinan. The questionnaire was distributed and retrieved personally, through a colleague, and through Google Forms. The study used frequency counts, weighted mean, t-test, and Pearson's r Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient. The respondents were predominantly females (45 or 56.3%) with (67.5%) were within the 31-40 age bracket. A slight majority (52.5%) of the respondents were married, (60%) held a bachelor’s degree, and a large majority (80%) of the nurses had been in service for more than four years. All respondents reported using Facebook and Messenger, while more than half (56.3%) used Instagram, and a smaller portion engaged with TikTok (31.3%) and X/Twitter (18.8%). The majority of the respondents (75%) were identified as Roman Catholic, 34 or 42.5% have attended district trainings, and 65% worked in public hospitals. The nurses find it seldom and slightly agree on the opportunities for social media use among hospital nurses with respect to professional networking, patient education, and professional adjustment. Likewise, the nurses find it seldom and slightly agree on the ethical dilemmas of social media use among the hospital nurses. However, it was found that there is a significant difference in the opportunities for social media use among hospital nurses across the profile variables, civil status, and social media application used by the nurses. Further, there are significant relationships between the opportunities for social media use among hospital nurses and their profile variables, civil status, and the social media application used.