1. Is anybody out there…

2. This presentation shares a journey of discovery for the modern nurse and the issues faced for them to develop professionally
It focuses on the challenges faced today to comply with NMC PREP requirements whilst coping with the demands of a busy life.
And offers a solution.

3. In November 2010 I blogged and tweeted “is anybody out there ?”
I had been working as an agency nurse for four years and felt that I needed a nursing community with whom I could discuss professional issues and share information with. So, was there “anybody out there”?

4. Time passed and my busy life continued and after a few weeks… I came to the conclusion there was “no one out there”.

5. As time went by I thought more about why a nursing community would be of so much value to me and why I felt the need to be part of one. I realised I needed access to like minded professionals to share knowledge, explore ideas and develop alongside. So I thought about how nursing had overcome this in the past, what has changed and if nursing could achieve a sharing, knowledgeable community now.

6. In the past nurses worked, ate, slept and socialised with nurses
In the past nurses worked, ate, slept and socialised with nurses. They lived in nurse accommodation and knowledge was passed and shared. Nurses were trained on the job and lived and breathed their vocation. This changed slowly over the years ….

7. Nurses were slowly not expected to live in nurses accommodation
Nurses were slowly not expected to live in nurses accommodation. Nurses became spouses, parents and bread winners as well as being nurses. Nursing progressed forward and modernised. However the community that nurses relied on to share knowledge and develop has now become stretched apart. Nurses no longer afford the support of living and working side-by-side. The sharing of knowledge and support of each other is now squeezed into a busy working day and for some nurses it does not exist at all.

8. In order to see how nursing can resolve this problem we need to look at what others in society are doing ? How are they sharing information with their busy lives?
The answer is at our fingertips… Social media. Sharing, helping, engaging, accessible, mobile and easy.

9. We have used the internet in the past to search for information.
The onus is on us to search until we find what we are looking for, by searching through lots of results complied by search engines.
The volume of information available is making it increasingly time consuming to find what we need, having to assess its value ourselves.

10. Social media connects real people, via multiple routes, allows them to ask for help and be signposted to it; we’re sat round a table, within a community once more.
Social media allows us to ask a single question once, with the answer(s) presented to us. In this community we can both add value and gain knowledge.

11. And so I return to my blog and tweet… “is there anybody out there?”
I started to blog and tweet again, this time determined to find someone….

12. …… and I did !!
Not many – but a few….. I had to really search hard.
This brought me to a new conclusion … there are people out there but we are missing each other !!

13. It’s a fabulous start – but we need more …
There are people making a start out there towards a social media community:
The Nursing Times are tweeting brilliant links that are relevant to nurses. The links are to real information, forums and web chats. It is a breath of fresh air from a name that nurses know and love. And we are sharing it too!
It’s a fabulous start – but we need more …

14. So how can nursing move forward ?
How can we share knowledge?
How can we support each other?
How do we find each other?
We need to develop online communities
But How??

15. Nurses are finding it hard to see each other amongst the vibrancy of social media. We need to make it easier to see each other and see information relevant to us. We need to bind these conversations by using hashtags
Nurses can make it happen…….

16. Without a hashtag we have noise

17. With a hashtag we have a community

18. It’s easy …… And … …So we all can see each other tag it!
If you have something interesting to say, or found something interesting to other nurses share it on a blog, in a tweet, via Facebook, through a forums, or on youtube.
If you need the answer to a question or more knowledge about a subject then ask on social media
Keep an eye out for others wanting knowledge and support and help them
And …
…So we all can see each other tag it!

19. #nurseuk is a concept that will recreate that nursing community that we had all those years ago.
#nurseuk will enable nurses to share knowledge and expertise at their own pace and in their own time around their busy lives.
#nurseuk will help nurses to find resources to meet their PREP requirements.
We need to promote #nurseuk to our colleagues, our peers and to nursing organisations.

20. So … “Is there anybody out there…..” …..YES !!!

21. Thank you for viewing this slide deck
By Teresa Chinn
An ordinary RN
An agency nurse
A Blogger &Tweeter
06/2011