Using Social Media in

Teaching Undergraduate

Student NursesWendy Sinclair

Lecturer in Children and Young People’s Nursing

University of Salford

@wlasinclair

#jiscexperts16

Surely its all Cats and Celebrities?

“I must be the only person not using Twitter” (Wendy Sinclair, 2013)

• Student Nurse: ‘What’s

the best way to stay up

to date with current

nursing issues?’

• Me: ‘how about social

media?’

• Student Nurse: ‘blank

look’

• Me: ‘I’ll join twitter and

post interesting items’

• Student: ‘ermmm ok’

My First Tweet….

• Not brave enough to post anything personal so started with a

retweet

• Who on earth was listening? Would anybody read it? Was it worth

it? Could I follow students if they followed me?

• Nurses are bound by code of professional conduct (NMC 2015)

• Student nurses are are also bound by fitness for professional

practice university policy

• Role as a Fitness for Professional Practice investigator and panel

member - cases of misconduct using social media increasingly

common

Why was I so nervous? and

tweeting with such trepidation?

Contact with @WeNurses resulted in hosting a

‘student nurse’ twitter chat

@nursingSUni:

Partnership and Co-curation

• Following success of

twitter chat and massive

increase in followers of

personal accounts, school

nursing account

resurrected with different

focus

Blogging to reflect on the

experience of curation

Students or Staff curate the account for 1 week and then write

a blog reflecting on their experience

I’m trying to make the use of Social Media the

professional norm…

- Use social media as a communication

channel for students before they start

the programme

- Role model the use official media to

encourage safe and responsible use

- Tap in to an online community in your

field

- Create a module hashtag e.g. #icypn

and embed it on VLE

- Encourage tweeting in class to ask

questions, seek answers or different

perspectives.

- Bring the outside in, remove the

physical barriers of the classroom walls

Hints and tips for engagement • Make sure everyone can use twitter!

Factor in a masterclass. Use buddies and

champions.

• Involve the students

• Make your tweets enjoyable and relevant

to current learning (pics from class, links to

further reading etc.)

• Always have photo and bio on your

account

• Don’t just broadcast, add value with a

conversation

• Be social….’Had a good week?’

• Be positive and praise students…. ‘great

point, good to see you tweeting about this!

:-)’

• Link students with others ‘ah

@anotherstudent may be interested in

that, they tweeted something similar’

Why bother?• Students report developing a keen interest in broader perspectives and current issues

• Students report feeling more confident in the professional use of social media

• 140 character allowance develops the skill of writing succinctly

• Students may complain on social media…thats ok, its better than complaints that you

don't know about

• Students conversely show pride in their education

• Students develop ability to challenge respectfully

• Different balance of power & different mutual understanding

• Students report a faster response than email

• Assist students with networking for employability

• You may see student tweeting ‘inappropriately’ - learning opportunity

• It isn't all celebrities and cats, there is quality information, but students have filter

through it and develop their critical analysis skills

Progress…?? • PhD in progress ‘Do we need to worry about the professional conduct of nurses when

using social media?’

• Several module leaders using accounts and hashtags to support their modules #icypn

#mphal #eolcmod #svgmar13

• At least 50 curators of @nursingSUni including mainly students, but also staff.

• Lots of twitter followers and interactions

• Conference presentations in Amsterdam, Cardiff, Manchester, Sheffield, London and

many more

• 2 x social media conferences at Salford #SuSoMe #WGT16

• Development of national research in social media strategy

• Publications and citations

• #jisc50social

• VC Distinguished Teacher Award

What next?

The use of social

media and digital

technology will

become the norm and

prepare students for a

digital future in nursing

(and I don't mind if

cats and celebrities

join us!)

Thanks for listening!

any questions? any comments? any tweets?

@wlasinclair