Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/17305
Title: Analysis of the Social Network Development of a Virtual Community for Australian Intensive Care Professionals
Contributor(s): Rolls, Kaye Denise (author); Hansen, Margaret (author); Jackson, Debra  (author); Elliott, Doug (author)
Publication Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1097/CIN.0000000000000104
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/17305
Abstract: Social media platforms can create virtual communities, enabling healthcare professionals to network with a broad range of colleagues and facilitate knowledge exchange. In 2003, an Australian state health department established an intensive care mailing list to address the professional isolation experienced by senior intensive care nurses. This article describes the social network created within this virtual community by examining how the membership profile evolved from 2003 to 2009. A retrospective descriptive design was used. The data source was a deidentified member database. Since 2003, 1340 healthcare professionals subscribed to the virtual community with 78% of these (n = 1042) still members at the end of 2009. The membership profile has evolved from a single-state nurse-specific network to an Australia-wide multidisciplinary and multiorganizational intensive care network. The uptake and retention of membership by intensive care clinicians indicated that they appeared to value involvement in this virtual community. For healthcare organizations, a virtual community may be a communications option for minimizing professional and organizational barriers and promoting knowledge flow. Further research is, however, required to demonstrate a link between these broader social networks, enabling the exchange of knowledge and improved patient outcomes.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 32(11), p. 536-544
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Place of Publication: United States of America
ISSN: 1538-9774
1538-2931
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 111099 Nursing not elsewhere classified
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 420599 Nursing not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 929999 Health not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 200201 Determinants of health
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

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