Abstract
Background: Nursing students use social media (SM) daily, leading to the challenge of maintaining clear boundaries when managing professional and personal information (Daigle, 2019). As boundaries blur, information posted to SM becomes unprofessional. This is a concern among educators despite having guidelines and SM policies in place regarding professional use. Although limited research is available, a few studies demonstrated unprofessional SM use. Sadd (2019) found 22% of students surveyed posted inappropriate information they did not want others to see. Duke et al. (2017) discovered 100% of nursing students posted information on SM that they would not want prospective employers to see. Evidence emerged that pre-licensure nursing students identified emotions as a factor in maintaining professionalism while using social media (Skrabal, 2017). As students use SM to cope with the emotional stressors associated with nursing school (Booth, 2015; Englund et al., 2012; Skrabal, 2017), there is an increased need to determine how emotions, such as stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness influence SM use.
Purpose: To determine if the frequency of SM use is linked to meeting pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing students’ emotional needs and if so, if there is an increased risk of unprofessional behavior when using it.
Method: A descriptive correlational survey design used a convenience sample of pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing students who attended accredited nursing programs in the United States. Students completed a SM questionnaire, the UCLA Loneliness Scale (v3) (Russell, 1996), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS 21) (Psychology Foundation of Australia, 2022).
Findings: Among 829 students who participated, 11% who reported posting unprofessional information to SM were found to have mild depression (µ=11.54), moderate anxiety (µ=10.59), mild stress (µ=17.39), and moderate loneliness (µ=45.77). Three psychological states showed a statistically significant positive correlation with hours on SM: depression, r =.094, p = .008, anxiety, r = .111, p = .002, loneliness, r =.093, p =.009 with stress being non-significant, r =.058, p = .103.
Implications: Education about professional SM use and SM policies throughout the curriculum is essential. Knowing that emotions may impact SM use, strategies to help students manage emotions with referrals to student services should be implemented when needed.
Notes
Reference list included in attached slide deck.
Sigma Membership
Alpha Alpha Zeta
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Descriptive/Correlational
Research Approach
Quantitative Research
Keywords:
Stress and Coping, Ethics, Sustainable Development Goals, Emerging Technologies, Social Media, Professional Conduct, Baccalaureate Nursing Students
Recommended Citation
Skrabal, Julie, "Oh My…Emotions Can Influence Social Media Use Among Pre-Licensure Baccalaureate Nursing Students" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 114.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/114
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-11-27
Oh My…Emotions Can Influence Social Media Use Among Pre-Licensure Baccalaureate Nursing Students
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Background: Nursing students use social media (SM) daily, leading to the challenge of maintaining clear boundaries when managing professional and personal information (Daigle, 2019). As boundaries blur, information posted to SM becomes unprofessional. This is a concern among educators despite having guidelines and SM policies in place regarding professional use. Although limited research is available, a few studies demonstrated unprofessional SM use. Sadd (2019) found 22% of students surveyed posted inappropriate information they did not want others to see. Duke et al. (2017) discovered 100% of nursing students posted information on SM that they would not want prospective employers to see. Evidence emerged that pre-licensure nursing students identified emotions as a factor in maintaining professionalism while using social media (Skrabal, 2017). As students use SM to cope with the emotional stressors associated with nursing school (Booth, 2015; Englund et al., 2012; Skrabal, 2017), there is an increased need to determine how emotions, such as stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness influence SM use.
Purpose: To determine if the frequency of SM use is linked to meeting pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing students’ emotional needs and if so, if there is an increased risk of unprofessional behavior when using it.
Method: A descriptive correlational survey design used a convenience sample of pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing students who attended accredited nursing programs in the United States. Students completed a SM questionnaire, the UCLA Loneliness Scale (v3) (Russell, 1996), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS 21) (Psychology Foundation of Australia, 2022).
Findings: Among 829 students who participated, 11% who reported posting unprofessional information to SM were found to have mild depression (µ=11.54), moderate anxiety (µ=10.59), mild stress (µ=17.39), and moderate loneliness (µ=45.77). Three psychological states showed a statistically significant positive correlation with hours on SM: depression, r =.094, p = .008, anxiety, r = .111, p = .002, loneliness, r =.093, p =.009 with stress being non-significant, r =.058, p = .103.
Implications: Education about professional SM use and SM policies throughout the curriculum is essential. Knowing that emotions may impact SM use, strategies to help students manage emotions with referrals to student services should be implemented when needed.
Description
Nursing students actively use social media (SM) and continue to exhibit unprofessional behavior when using it. Emotional factors, such as loneliness, anxiety, depression, and stress were found to be associated with unprofessional SM posts and the amount of time spent on SM. Knowing this, education regarding professionalism when using SM and strategies to help students manage emotions must be implemented early in the curriculum and addressed throughout.