Change comes from individuals - strength comes from community

I think that we are all still reeling from the BBC Panorama programme showing the abuse of an elderly lady at Ash Court Care Home.  This was abuse in the first degree and it is clear that this is not acceptable on any level. This poisonous culture of not caring and treating a fellow human being so inhumanely is not the norm in nursing, but suffice to say that even just one case is always one case too many.  However the abuse that took place at Ash Court is not what I want to talk about – I want to talk about how we can stop this from happening again through a united nursing community.

What surprised me most last night was the way in which the nursing community picked up on these abhorrent scenes on Panorama and presented a united front in condoning this “care” Through multi channel engagement the nursing community was able to converse whilst this programme was aired sharing their gut reactions with fellow nurses and the wider community.  This media stacking proved a vital resource to allow nurses to shout out that we too condone this abuse and want to stamp it out.  My own twitter stream was inundated with comments from fellow nurses outraged by the actions of the healthcare assistants shown on the programme – but not only were the nurses united in condemnation but also they were united in a resolution to rid our care environments of this abuse.

In my humble opinion online communities in nursing now seem so much more vital than they ever have been. The engagement and bringing together of nurses throughout the Panorama programme really does show what a good and powerful force we can be.  I very much feel that through online support and engagement nursing can find the strength and the voice to say “this is not acceptable” The nursing community has never been stronger we can rid our healthcare environments of this abuse if we draw strength from each other in the virtual world and the take the lead within the real world.

The small things matter, the “hellos” when you enter a patients room, the smiles and chatting to our patients and there is no doubt in my mind that change comes from each and every nurse and that we should all lead by example – but nurses can and do find strength in the fact that there are others out there who are leading the way too and through social media we are finding each other and uniting.  I have often heard people say that a problem shared is a problem halved – sharing is now so much easier, nursing has strength in social networking lets use it !

Five minutes at the NMC...

There has been a lot of noise recently about talking with patients on social media, there was a very insightful blog post on Wishful Thinking In Medical Education by Dr AM Cunningham about encountering patients online "Would you block your patient on twitter?" and it was this blog that inspired me at a recent NMC event. 

I was very privileged to be invited to the NMC, as part of Social Media Week, to be on a panel discussing how nurses and midwives can communicate effectively with patients online.  When I first saw the discussion title I thought that the 5 minutes that I had been allocated wouldn't nearly be enough to talk about a subject that was so broad and  did not have a "one size fits all" 5 minute answer!  However when writing notes on what must have been my one hundredth draft of what I was going to say I remembered Dr Cunninghams  blog.  The blog discussed the hypothetical scenario of "accidentally" (by accidentally I mean an encounter that the health care professional is unprepared for via their non work place account) encountering a patient online. I am sure it will very soon become a reality that patients seek out healthcare professionals online and ask advice and  it is certainly something that all healthcare professionals using social media need to be prepared for. However it was not  these "accidental" encounters that I decided to use my 5 minutes to talk about!

As a nurse I do not want a snatched encounter with a patient.  I am a nurse who spends time developing and nurturing relationships with my patients so that I can know what their needs are and how best to help them,to care for them and empower them.  Nursing is not an accidental encounter but an art and it is the art of nursing that we need to bring to social media. 

Part of a nurses day to day to day work is to signpost information to patients, show them where they can get support, introduce them to helpful communities and impart knowledge to them and nurses are very skillful at doing this. - and  the question that I asked at the NMC was can we do this via social media?

I write a lot on this blog about community and how communities can offer support through the exchanging of knowledge and  sharing of experiences and expertise.  Something that my journey from isolated agency nurse to a community empowered and connected nurse has taught me is that communities within social media  are extremely powerful and effective.  The type of social media nurse patient relationship I want to have is nurturing and supportive and most importantly one that helps and empowers my patient and I think that online communities could be a pivotal way of doing this. My patients deserve more than an "accidental" encounter and whilst I am happy to help anyone I bump into (within the remits of my professional regulation) I want to ensure that my patients get the best possible care.

So my five minutes at the NMC were very much considered and spent wisely - I am a nurse, I want to nurse in a meaningful way, I want to practise the art of nursing with  my patients both offline and online.