The Ethics of Physical Therapists and Social Media

Harriet Lewis, Clinical Instructor of Physical Therapy at Angelo State University, gave a lecture on Ethics and Social Media to attending physical therapists on Tuesday night at the Vincent Nursing Physical Science Building at ASU.

Physical therapists are required to have continued education courses on ethics every two years, so Lewis decided to bring up something a little different that not many may not have considered.

“You’re facing ethical decisions all the time,” said Lewis. “Social media has really blossomed.”

It is a rare thing to find someone who doesn’t have a computer or a smart phone, much less someone who hasn’t dabbled in social media.

Lewis explained how social media is a permanent thing that has real legal implications.

“Nurse and PT might text information back and forth because both of them are seeing the patient, is it better to text or call,” Lewis posed the scenario.

She made sure to clarify that not all social media is negative, and many positive benefits come from the quick and timely flow of information provided by cell phones.

“How many times do we email each other?” Lewis asked. “Patient cancelled, someone’s late—we use it all the time.”

To illustrate her point she had the class of physical therapists work out scenarios involving situations involving texting, tweeting and whether or not prayer requests for patients are appropriate.

Dr. Kelly Moore, a physical therapist in attendance, commented on how the instant gratification of social media causes people not to think before they act.

“It’s right there, you hit send it’s done, you can’t take it back,” Moore said. He then explained that people don’t read their texts over and over before they send them, allowing other people to see things they might later regret.

When personal opinions and information get thrown out into the social media world, it can’t be retracted.

 “I chose social media for this because it is a new thing and is an interesting addition to the required ethics,” said Lewis. “It raises a lot of questions that don’t always get addressed.”

Lewis suggests to avoid friending patients on social sites, having a social media strategy in the business, having privacy settings and avoiding venting or posting things online in frustration or anger.

“The principles don’t change,” Lewis said. “The situations where you might need to apply it change.”