| Since its emergence, social media has been a popular online venue that has influenced how individuals communicate, connect, and network. Its multifaceted uses extend beyond individual use and have become part of the business, advertisement, education, and healthcare infrastructure. Brimming with information, social media is shown by existing research to support both teaching strategies and health promotion activities. Despite the limited research that is available, researchers have examined how social media are incorporated in nursing education. With an increasing patient user base searching for online health information, it is important that nurse educators examine how they are preparing future nurses for the incorporation of social media into practice.;Extending beyond its original use, social media has become a forum for users to discuss, collaborate on, and examine health issues. With health information easily accessed from virtually anywhere, users are accessing information online in lieu of talking directly with health providers. Although there are benefits such as immediacy and cost effectiveness, not all available information is accurate and reliable. Ascertaining whether information is credible requires a health literate audience (Kortum, Edwards, & Richards-Kortum, 2008). Healthcare professionals have been seeking ways to increase their online presence in order to reach digital healthcare communities and create accurate, easily interpreted health materials.;It has been established that nurses lack formal training in nursing informatics. A lack of understanding about how communication and information management systems work creates an unprepared nursing workforce. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive, quantitative study was to examine nurse faculty's use of social media for personal and professional use. Data were collected using a survey to determine what social media sites faculty use both personally and professionally and to examine advantages and disadvantages to using social media. The modified Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology2 (UTAUT2) model assisted in examining faculty's use of social media and intent to use social media.;A total of 137 nursing faculty members from Pennsylvania participated in this study. Overall, faculty reported that constructs of the UTAUT2 were positively related to both behavioral intent and actual use of social media for both personal and professional activity. However, the construct habit was the only predictor of personal and professional use and was not modified by the age and gender of faculty. Although nursing faculty may be unaware of the inclusion of nursing informatics within higher education, they reported the inclusion of credible versus non-credible health-related sites in their teaching. Lastly, faculty reported that they believed social media was a form of nursing informatics. In summary, faculty who perceived social media as easy to use, priced well, beneficial with clear advantages, and pleasurable reported intent and actual use of social media. If resources were available to support it, faculty were more inclined to use social media. Lastly, behavioral intention and actual use of social media were related to the influence of peers and family. |
