New social media policy for health professionals
Nurses and allied health professionals are among those who will be banned from discussing patients or posting images of procedures or case studies via social media.
The National Boards recently released the social media policy, as well as revised guidelines and codes of conduct for all registered health practitioners. The guidelines come into effect from 17 March 2014.
The documents are the result of a scheduled review three years into the National Scheme and are the first set of revised documents to be released this year, with more to come later in 2014.
The social media policy applies across Facebook, LinkedIn Twitter, True Local, YouTube and Instagram, to name a few.
Dr Mary Russell, chair of the Forum of National Board Chairs, said National Boards consulted widely late last year on the draft versions of the new guidelines, social media policy and code of conduct.
“The experiences from the first three years of the National Scheme were applied when these documents were being reviewed to make sure that they are clear and make it easier for practitioners to understand their obligations, and for members of the community to understand what is expected of health practitioners,” Dr Russell said.
Martin Fletcher, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) chief executive, added: “It’s important that practitioners know and understand their obligations. By publishing these documents weeks before they come into effect, practitioners, in particular, can start to be ready for when they come into effect in mid-March.”
