Lapin, Miriam & Schwartzbach, Sonja. From intra-op to Instagram: increasing public awareness in nurse anesthesia utilizing a structured social media platform. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-939x-ae25
DescriptionPurpose of Project: While the profession of nurse anesthesia precedes that of its physician anesthesiologist counterparts by over a century, dating back to roots during the American Civil War, the public perception of the field is often skewed or silenced by role confusion in what is considered a silent profession. Much like aviation pilots, the sign of a job well done in anesthesia is that your role is unnoticed. It is this aspect of the role of nurse anesthetists – the very idea that they provide the majority of anesthetics across the globe, yet most people are wholly unfamiliar with the profession – that prompts this project.
Methodology: In order to address the issue of a lack of public awareness of the nurse anesthesia profession, a structured social media platform was selected as a medium through which professional information would be disseminated. Metrics inherent to Instagram were utilized to monitor the reach of the account, with data utilized as surrogates for public awareness. A unique list of hashtags was created to identify and categorize all associated posts.
Results: Following a five-month data collection period, a total of 511 unique accounts followed the site. More notably, was the number of impressions per post: 566.23 average impressions per post, with one post garnering 2,035 impressions. As a surrogate for public awareness, the account extended beyond its subscribed list of followers to engage users with the generated content – thereby increasing the public’s general perception of the field.
Practice Implications: Economic, educational, and healthcare policy impacts of increased public awareness of nurse anesthesia yield positive translations in long term changes to the profession.