Unit Policy
Title
School of Nursing: Social Media Policy
Introduction
Purpose
Provide guidance on the use of social media.
Scope
All faculty, staff and students of the School of Nursing.
Policy
While social media allow the University to reach many audiences including faculty, staff and students, use of social media by School of Nursing faculty, staff and students presents special concerns for privacy and confidentiality. The general use of social media by SON faculty, staff and students is not affected by the following policy; rather its use related to confidential information about the School (including the faculty, staff and students), patients or SON-clinical affiliates (agencies with which the SON has entered a contractual relationship to provide clinical experience opportunities for students) is notably restricted.
School of Nursing community (staff, faculty and students) should adhere to the UNC-CH social media policy and the SON policy listed below.
While social media allows the University to reach many audiences, use by School of Nursing (SON) employees and students presents special concerns for privacy and confidentiality. Thus, this policy specifically restricts SON employees and students from using social media to share confidential information about other employees and students, or about patients at SON-clinical affiliates (agencies the SON has contracted with for clinical experiences). This policy does not affect general use of social media by SON employees and students.
Social media are defined as, but not limited to web-based or mobile technologies used for interactive communication including: websites and applications for sharing information, providing input, and social networking. Examples include wikis, blogs and microblogs (e.g.,Twitter (X), video- and photo sharing platforms (e.g., Instagram, YouTube, Tik Tok), vlogs, wall postings, e-mail, instant messaging, music sharing and social networking sites (e.g., Facebook and LinkedIn), audio-sharing (podcasts), social bookmarking (Digg and Reddit). Regardless of how social media are used, employees and students are responsible for the content they post or promote whether used during work or personal time, on personal computers and devices, or on UNC SON-owned computers and devices. Content contributed on social media is immediately searchable and shareable, regardless of whether that is the intention of the contributor. Once posted, the content leaves the contributor’s control and can be found and linked to them in perpetuity.
Communication
Official SON electronic communication regarding academic classes or academic schedules will occur through School-sanctioned channels, e.g., UNC Chapel Hill email, listservs, LMS, and UNC websites. Electronic communications outside these channels are not endorsed for academic courses.
Social Media
SON students and employees are prohibited from disclosing through social media the following:
- Protected Health Information, as defined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) – For example, individuals may not disclose patient names or otherwise refer to patients in any way that identifies them individually, including by their initials or by their location (e.g., hospital name or unit).
- Education Record Information, as defined by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) – Employees may not disclose FERPA- protected information regarding students.
- Confidential Personnel Information, as defined by the State Personnel Act – Employees may not disclose confidential personnel information regarding other employees.
- Confidential, non-public or proprietary information about
- families, clinical facility staff or clinical institutions and
- the School, its employees and students.
- Copyrighted or intellectual property belonging to the University.
- Comments that express or imply sponsorship or endorsement by the School or the University, unless you are officially authorized to act in this capacity for this purpose on behalf of the University or the School.
Accordingly, the use of social media for clinical discussions that include any identifiable information related to patients or SON-affiliated clinical facilities is prohibited.
If a faculty member or student identifies themselves as such online (e.g., list affiliation with the School in their Facebook profile), a disclaimer should be added that any opinions or views expressed do not represent the opinions of the School of Nursing or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Students in violation of this policy may be considered as having violated the UNC-CH Honor Code. Consequently, like faculty and staff who violate this policy, students may face disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Related References
Exceptions
None
Footnotes
- Other than any issues related to HIPAA, FERPA and other sensitive information as noted at http://help.unc.edu/647 all of which remain prohibited disclosures, even in personal (social media or otherwise) communications.
Contact Information
Policy Contact
Cheryl Woods-Giscombe, Interim Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Other Contacts
N/A
Important Dates
- Effective Date and title of Approver: Approved 4/9/2012 by the faculty
Approved by:
Cheryl Woods-Giscombe
Contact Information
Policy Contact
Cheryl Woods-Giscombe
Important Dates
- Effective Date and title of Approver: Approved 4/9/2012 by the faculty