Student Social Media Policy

Berkshire Community College

Nursing Division

Student Social Media Policy

For the purpose of this policy, the term “Social Media” shall be understood to include blogging and microblogging platforms; wikis and social networking applications/sites including but not limited to: Facebook, Google+, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Vimeo, Flickr, Picasa, LinkedIn, Four-square, Pinterest, WordPress, Quizlet, Tumblr and other similar services.

Students are expected to be respectful, careful, responsible, and personally accountable for their use of social media. The existing BCC Division of Nursing and general Berkshire Community College student policies regarding academic integrity, professional behavior, and Internet- Acceptable Use, apply to all forms of communication. A student’s right to make a statement does not mean that the speech has no consequences in terms of impact on others, judgments made about the speaker by third parties, or the impact on future employers. Remember that all content contributed on all platforms becomes immediately searchable and can be immediately shared.

The Berkshire Community College nursing student will:

• Protect confidential information.
• Be thoughtful about what is published on social media platforms.
• Respect HIPAA regulations.

The Berkshire Community College nursing student will NOT:

• Disclose or use confidential information related to any person or agency encountered during clinical rotations.
• Identify themselves as “checked in” at a clinical facility.
• Share or post ANY information about their experience at the clinical facility i.e., stating, “I saw your mom at the hospital today” or “I took care of a patient who had…”.
• Take pictures of themselves, faculty members, facility staff, or patients at clinical facilities to post on their own social media accounts. Pictures of clinical sites, clinical groups and faculty members may be taken for the purpose of end of year celebrations such as pinning/graduation. Pictures taken and utilized for this purpose may not have any confidential information in them such as patient names, room numbers, charts, etc.
• Engage in social media (to include emails & texting) while participating in clinical, lab, and/or lecture.

Violating any identifying information detailed in this policy will put the student at risk for disciplinary action in the form of a written professionalism warning at minimum, and in more egregious circumstances, will result in dismissal from the nursing program.

Created Nursing Faculty Committee – 5/1/23, reviewed 10/2/23