<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Introduction.</bold> Nowadays, a professional image is an important element of the identity of individual professions. Its formation is a difficult process, dependent on many factors, including the use of new communication channels, such as social media, which in recent years have become a space for expressing social opinion, including those concerning individual professions.<bold>Aim.</bold> The analysis of the possibilities of using social media in shaping the image of nurses on the Internet.<bold>Material and methods.</bold> The study was carried out using the comparative method. The subject of the research were websites (fanpages) related to the professional environment of nurses on the social networking site Facebook.com, chosen deliberately according to the adopted criteria.<bold>Findings.</bold> During the research, differences in the strategy of administering the analyzed websites were identified, depending mainly on the subject matter and purpose of publishing the content. The topicality, visual attractiveness and cohesion were characterized by a high level. The posts appearing on individual websites were written in the language of the recipients, with different publication frequency. The websites created a long-term group of recipients and tried to influence the image of nursing in Poland in a positive way.<bold>Conclusions.</bold> Content published on social media can affect both the positive and negative image of the nurse in the public opinion. Among the factors that do not affect the image of nurses can be indicated, among others, offensive language of comments and displaying negative traits of nurses. Positive reception guarantees current knowledge in the field of nursing and emphasizing professional competences.</abstract>

Introduction. Nowadays, a professional image is an important element of the identity of individual professions. Its formation is a difficult process, dependent on many factors, including the use of new communication channels, such as social media, which in recent years have become a space for expressing social opinion, including those concerning individual professions.Aim. The analysis of the possibilities of using social media in shaping the image of nurses on the Internet.Material and methods. The study was carried out using the comparative method. The subject of the research were websites (fanpages) related to the professional environment of nurses on the social networking site Facebook.com, chosen deliberately according to the adopted criteria.Findings. During the research, differences in the strategy of administering the analyzed websites were identified, depending mainly on the subject matter and purpose of publishing the content. The topicality, visual attractiveness and cohesion were characterized by a high level. The posts appearing on individual websites were written in the language of the recipients, with different publication frequency. The websites created a long-term group of recipients and tried to influence the image of nursing in Poland in a positive way.Conclusions. Content published on social media can affect both the positive and negative image of the nurse in the public opinion. Among the factors that do not affect the image of nurses can be indicated, among others, offensive language of comments and displaying negative traits of nurses. Positive reception guarantees current knowledge in the field of nursing and emphasizing professional competences.

Possible influence of social media on shaping the image of nurses on the Internet

Department of Nursing Development, Faculty of Health Sciences

Pielegniarstwo  XXI wieku / Nursing in the 21st Century

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Introduction. Nowadays, a professional image is an important element of the identity of individual professions. Its formation is a difficult process, dependent...

Possible influence of social media on shaping the image of nurses on the Internet

Published Online: Nov 12, 2019

Page range: 75 - 83

Received: Mar 25, 2019

Accepted: May 20, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pielxxiw-2019-0010

Keywords
professional image, nurses, Social Media, Facebook.com

© 2019 Piotr Pawłowski et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Possible influence of social media on shaping the image of nurses on the Internet

Published Online: Nov 12, 2019

Page range: 75 - 83

Received: Mar 25, 2019

Accepted: May 20, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pielxxiw-2019-0010

Keywordsprofessional image, nurses, Social Media, Facebook.com

© 2019 Piotr Pawłowski et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
professional image, nurses, Social Media, Facebook.com