Twitter for Healthcare Professionals - Aslan Virtual Admin

Twitter for Healthcare Professionals

Twitter for (fledgling) Healthcare Professionals This document is for Healthcare Professionals who have heard about Twitter, but who have not yet set up a Twitter account. It is a step by step guide to help you get started, with some suggestions on who to follow so that you can start benefiting from all the educational and networking opportunities that Twitter offers to healthcare professionals. Don’t forget to Tweet me to say hello once you get started – I’d love to hear from you!

Lisa Nolan t/a Aslan Virtual Admin Twitter: @AslanVA The small print… This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). The details of this licence can be viewed at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncnd/3.0/ In plain English… This means that you cannot change it in any way or use it for commercial purposes (e.g. sell it) but you are welcome to share it with your friends or colleagues by e-mail or social media as long as you attribute me as the author. Stock Images on the cover are licensed from CanStockPhoto.com An edited version of this guide was serialized in consecutive issues of the “Nursing in General Practice” Journal, July-October 2012.


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How Twitter can benefit HCPs Unless you’ve been on a career break in a galaxy far, far away - or have been trapped under something heavy in a place with no internet access (in which cases, welcome back!) you will be aware of the phenomenon that is Twitter. What started out in 2006 as an SMS service to deliver ‘short bursts of inconsequential information’1, has become a global instant communications tool. It has half a billion registered users, 100 million of whom are active every month. 1 in 5 people (22% of the population) in Ireland now have a Twitter account and 40% of these use it every day.2 So far, it seems that people can be divided into 2 distinct groups: fully-fledged Tweeps (Twitter users) or those who drop their shoulders and arms in bored disinterest whenever it is mentioned. If you are one of those from the village of orangutan arms, it may be because you think Twitter is just an unnecessary, gossipy forum of fluff, only relevant for teenagers and people with too much time on their hands. But Twitter is not just about who is getting divorced today. It has evolved and morphed in ways that would transfix a social anthropologist. It has been argued that it was the catalyst for great change when, by its nature (uncensored global instant messaging), it facilitated free speech in places where this may be curtailed, e.g. Arab Spring 2011-20123. On the flip side, it is also a very effective vehicle for cyber-bullying (football players after Euro 2012, TV presenters), allowing uncorroborated information to grow legs (Irish Presidential election 2011…) and, rightly or wrongly, a method of circumventing legal process (have you tried to enforce a super-injunction recently?). So, why should healthcare professionals use Twitter? It may surprise you to learn that there is a lot of great information in the Twittersphere for healthcare professionals - it's just a matter of creating the right community of followers and people to follow. It’s a great forum to interact with (and learn from) your peers, educators and influencers around the world. There are virtual chat rooms (searchable by #hashtags) where you can watch online Twitter for Healthcare Professionals

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conversations about specific healthcare topics. For example, #NurChat is a fortnightly Twitter chat in the UK that is worth 1 hour of CPD activity. #CMEchat is a “CME-focused weekly Twitter chat every Wednesday @ 11AM EST. The goal of this chat is to support the educational excellence and competencies of the CME profession - the science of CME”. A list of hashtags for healthcare chats, conferences, patient groups etc is available on http://www.symplur.com/ . There is also a very handy calendar on that site that shows scheduled tweet chats. You can follow tweet chats via Twitter.com but usually a tweet chat moderator will circulate information about how to join the chat via another forum so that you can see each comment in chronological order and so that if you participate, the hashtag is automatically added to your tweet allowing others to see it. Often there will also be a transcript of the chat available afterwards so that you can access it if you weren’t able to join the chat at the time. You can manage your Twitter feed so that it only shows what’s relevant to you at that moment. You can follow live feeds of speakers’ presentations at healthcare conferences worldwide. Healthcare professionals are using it to chat informally about best practices and discuss latest research or news. Some even use it to crowdsource new and innovative treatment ideas from around the world – although of course this brings with it a whole new raft of ethical and privacy considerations. Patients are on Twitter, chatting to each other about their treatments and creating virtual support groups that anyone with a smartphone can access. These online supportive communities override obstacles like cost, privacy, geography and time constraints, as well as other factors such as hearing difficulties, agoraphobia, claustrophobia and language barriers. It is therefore a potentially valuable tool in efforts to enhance health literacy. Many healthcare agencies and groups are on Twitter now, streaming news, announcements and disease alerts in real time. Some healthcare Twitter accounts are purely informative; others are interactive, actively engaging in conversations and replying directly to messages from followers. One of my favourite examples of Twitter having a positive effect on a patient is from the U.S. A patient tweeted from an outpatient clinic, complaining about the long


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waiting time. The hospital’s social media manager spotted the tweet and went straight to the clinic to find the patient. It turned out that the patient had forgotten to announce her arrival at the reception desk. This was immediately rectified and the patient was seen very soon after that. How’s that for ‘customer service’?!

Twitter in a Nutshell Benefits of Twitter: 1) Global Networking. You can connect with people who you otherwise might never have met. By carefully following the right people, you can create your own online community of like-minded people. And you get to ask questions. In fact, you are encouraged to engage with other users – that’s what it’s for! 2) It is often the place to hear breaking news. About anything. 3) It’s free! Potential Pitfalls: 1) Every tweet is visible to the entire planet, forever. The term for this is ‘evergreen' and Twitter users are often reminded that ‘what happens in Vegas, stays on Twitter’. The rules, manners and common courtesy that apply in everyday life are especially important when comments are evergreen. Obviously, the usual rules of patient confidentiality and data protection apply. The negative fallout that follows any breach of privacy is magnified on social media and it cannot be contained or reversed. 2) On a less serious note, it’s a little bit addictive!  If you are shy about being visible on the internet, don’t worry. You don’t have to use your own name or photo on your profile. You can follow whoever you like and quietly watch their tweet/banter/heated discussions. Bear in mind though that Twitter closes inactive accounts so be sure to Tweet (or Retweet someone else’s message) at least every 6 months.


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Get Started To set up a Twitter account from scratch, you will need:  A PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet. Yours or property of any agreeable teenager you may reside with.  An e-mail address (to sign up with).  An unquenchable thirst for knowledge/updates/ gossip/networking/all of the above. Go to www.twitter.com Click on Sign up for Twitter


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Fill in your name and e-mail address. Select a password and username.

Tip re username…many spammers use a lot of numbers and symbols in their username, so if you want to remain anonymous try and choose a username that includes a recognisable word with just a few numbers if you must have them.

Click Create My Account

For the purposes of demonstration, these graphics show a Twitter account that has the handle (i.e. Twitter username) @HCP2012 You will get this screen with a sample tweet…


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Click Next This screen will appear

You will simultaneously get an e-mail to the e-mail address you signed up with, asking you to:

“Confirm your Twitter account, [name you chose]!” Hi, [Twitter username]. Please confirm your Twitter account by clicking this link: https://twitter.com/account/confirm_email/hcpireland/**??!!##%% “ Once you confirm, you will have full access to Twitter and all future notifications will be sent to this email address. The Twitter Team Click on the link in the e-mail to confirm your Twitter account.


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The screen below will open in a new tab. You can adjust your privacy settings here.

When you have adjusted your privacy settings, click on Save Changes. You will be prompted for your password to confirm the settings. Click on the link to your Twitter name in the top left corner. This brings up your profile. To edit your profile, click on Edit Profile in top right corner.


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The screen below will appear and this is where you can set up your profile.

Picture: This is your profile picture. It will appear on your profile page and at the side of all your tweets. You can upload a photo of yourself, or photo of your pet, or a cartoon or any image you have a licence for. If you prefer, you can leave it as the ‘egg-head’ although it is not recommended if you want other Twitter users to be able to identify you as a legitimate user. Bio: This is where you can describe yourself in 160 characters or less, e.g. Healthcare professional, sphygmomanometer expert, dog-owner, frustrated [team] supporter, parent, film-critic, student in clown school, coffee-junkie, chocoholic, Olympic Tiddlywinks hopeful, pioneer of senior moments, laundry expert, dish-washing manager, light-bulb engineer, owner of hundreds of pharmaceutically branded pens…etc. When you have made all your amendments, click Save Changes. To customise your profile, click on Design (from list on left side of screen). Select a suitable background, or upload / customise your own background.


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Notifications: This is where you adjust how Twitter updates you, e.g. each time you are mentioned or Retweeted. To set up notifications to your mobile phone, click on the ‘your mobile settings page’ link at the top of the screen.

Follow the instructions on screen. Twitter will send a confirmation text to your mobile phone to ensure it is linking with the correct number.


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How to Find & Follow Interesting People on Twitter Now that you have set up your Twitter account you can start making connections, building your own online network of like-minded people and learning from them, by finding and following the right people. Perhaps you have already found some great accounts to follow. Maybe you have been wandering aimlessly around the site, not really sure what the fuss is about. You might have become side-tracked and followed your friends, people who post motivational quotes or controversial opinions (fist in mouth – can’t believe they said that!). To get the best value out of Twitter, you need to follow 50 to 100 people who educate you or share handy tips and relevant news. Life is short too, so make sure you also find people who entertain you, brighten your day and whose content makes you look forward to checking your Twitter feed. So follow the next batch of step by step instructions below, say goodbye to the empty Twitter feed on your screen and charge up your smartphone/laptop - you might be here for a while! 1. Log in to your Twitter account. 2. Click on Home (top left of screen) to show your timeline.


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3. Left click in the ‘Search’ box at the top right of your Twitter screen. Type in the name of someone you would like to follow, e.g. HSE, or their Twitter handle if you know it, e.g. @HSElive and then click the magnifying glass icon or press enter on your keyboard. 4. If, for example, you searched for @HSElive, the screen below will appear. You can see the HSE logo under the heading ‘People’ on the top left of the screen. You will also see a list of HSE tweets or messages by others in which the HSE is mentioned.


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5. Hover your mouse over the logo on the left and you will see the full name ‘HSE Ireland’ which helps to confirm that this is who you were searching for. Click on this logo to bring up a preview window that shows a summary of the HSE Twitter account.

6. If you would like to follow HSE Ireland immediately, you can click on the ‘Follow’ button in the preview window. If you would prefer to read more tweets to help you decide whether to follow or not (and I would personally recommend this, especially when search terms such as nurse can yield what can only be described as ‘alternative’ results), you can click on the name at the very top of the preview window. This will bring up the full @HSElive profile, as below.


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7. Don’t forget you are still logged into your own Twitter account and what you are looking at now is the HSE Ireland Twitter profile, which shows how many tweets they have broadcast, how many people they are following and how many followers they have (see circled area). You can choose to follow HSE Ireland in this screen as well, by clicking on the ‘Follow’ button. Once you have clicked on the Follow button, it will change to a blue ‘Following’ button. 8. When you follow other people, their Tweets will automatically appear in your Twitter feed (i.e. on your Twitter “Home” page), in chronological order with the most recent at the top. There are several ways find great people to follow: a) Use the ‘Search’ box as described above to search for individuals or groups by name. b) You can also use the ‘Search’ box to find people who Tweet about a particular subject. For example if you search for ‘Immunisation’, the search results will show people or groups who have mentioned immunisation.


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c) See who other people are following by checking their profile page and clicking on “Following”. This is a fast and efficient way of finding likeminded people. If you decide to unfollow someone, go into the list of accounts you are following (under your profile name on your Home page). When you hover over the blue ‘Following’ button beside each name, it turns to a red ‘Unfollow’ button. Just click this to unfollow. People follow and unfollow others all the time on Twitter, so don’t worry that you will offend someone if you unfollow them – it’s your right to choose!

Who to Follow – some suggestions ‘Great!’ you say, “but I’m having difficulty finding health-related Tweeps!’. Good to see that you are getting to grips with the lingo…!...and if it helps to get you started, below are just some examples (name, Twitter handle and bio) of people and groups from the Healthcare Sector who are active on Twitter, who provide relevant news and updates that you may be interested in and who I recommend – my personal Follow Friday list! HSE Ireland @HSElive The HSE provides health and social services to everyone living in Ireland

Irish College of GPs @ICGPnews The Irish College General Practitioners (ICGP) is the professional body for general practice in Ireland.

RCPI @RCPI_news The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland is Ireland's largest postgraduate medical education and training body.

RCSI @RCSI_Irl RCSI provides extensive education and training in the healthcare professions at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Irish Pharmacy Union @IrishPharmacy The voice of community pharmacy


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Chartered Physio @CharteredPhysio Chartered Physiotherapists - essential for effective treatment in musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory, neurological and other chronic conditions

BMJ @bmj_latest BMJ - British Medical Journal aims to lead the debate on health, and to engage doctors, researchers and health professionals to improve outcomes for patients.

GPBuddy.ie @gpbuddy The original online directory built by GPs for Ireland's Healthcare Professionals - we provide Education Modules as well!

Healthevents Ltd @healthevents1 HealthEvents delivers Conferences, Exhibitions and Seminars for the medical and healthcare professional. Ex nurse and Healthevents owner. I see both sides!

HealthCareMinds @HealthCareMinds Nurse Consultancy & Training in Primary & Community Care. Resource for Healthcare Speakers & Writers.

SwiftQueue @swiftQueue SwiftQueue, The Intelligent Queuing Solution Providers, provides self service appointments to the healthcare industry for all patients anytime & anywhere.

Medical Independent @med_indonews medicalindependent.ie is a website that wants to inform and engage with Irish doctors and NCHDs by providing them with breaking news.

IrishMedicalNews @IMNonline Ireland's foremost medical newspaper

Irish Medical Times @IMT_latest Since 1967, Irish Medical Times has been the leading weekly medical newspaper for Irish doctors.

NurChat @NurChat Fortnightly nurse tweet chats, visit our site to find out more info, enjoy our last chat and contribute to the next!

WeNurses @WeNurses Connecting, driving and supporting the nurse community through nurse twitter chats & nurse social media resources


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GP Update @GP_Update GP Update is run entirely by coal-face GPs to bring you up to speed on the latest issues, literature, research and guidelines affecting all primary care staff.

NurseGroups @NurseGroups The social career resource for nurses. Tweeting daily nursing and health news.

Nursing Ideas @nursingideas Sharing ideas and passion to improve nursing, health and healthcare.

NurseZone @NurseZone Everything Nurses Need to Know.

Medscape Nurses @MedscapeNurses Medscape Nurses helps you stay current with breaking medical news; quickly look up drugs, diseases, and procedures; and complete free CE activities.

RN.com @RNdotcom RN.com is dedicated to providing the nursing community with the highest quality, ANCC accredited online nursing continuing education courses.

Review Nursing @ReviewNursing Simple concise nursing review guide for students and nurses. Concentrated answers to relevant test questions in nursing school and randomized NCLEX exam.

Hopefully you now feel that you are ready to jump out of the nest and explore the Twitterverse. If you get stuck or want to learn more, check out the Help sections on the Twitter website – they are very useful.

Have fun!

References 1

Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter

2

Ipsos MRBI Poll November 2012. http://www.ipsosmrbi.com/social-networking-quarterly-survey-november-2012.html

3

‘Affective News and Networked Publics: The Rhythms of News Storytelling on #Egypt’, Journal of Communication Volume 62, Issue 2, pages 266–282, April 2012


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