According to a survey done by staffing and recruiting firm AMN Healthcare, 48% of surveyed healthcare providers are using some type of social media website for professional networking purposes.
The survey based on 2,790 health professionals including registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, pharmacists, dentists and allied health care workers showed that:
Top sites for healthcare professional networking
- 41% are using Facebook
- 29% are using YouTube
- 23% are using LinkedIn
- 11% are using Twitter
- and 3% are using Foursquare for professional networking purposes.
#1. Increased use of social media for job search
#2. Efficacy of social media for job seekers
Of those who used social media for job searching, 11% said it resulted in a job interview, 9% said it led to a job offer, and 6% found a new job through their use of social media. Although 6% is still low, only 3% of respondents credited social media for securing a job in 2010.
#3. Facebook is top site for healthcare professionals followed by LinkedIn
When asked which single social media site they would choose, 74% of those surveyed cited Facebook, an increase from 64% in the 2010 survey. Nurses favored Facebook more than other clinicians. After Facebook, LinkedIn was the next most favored general social media site.
#4. On-the-job use of social media sites
Participants were asked about their use of social media for work-related purposes. The top reason respondents cited was to access healthcare-related education (54%), followed by sharing of research or articles with colleagues (33%), and to communicate with employers (18%). Only 8% said they use social media at work to connect with patients. Another 10% cited other social media uses at work.
#5. Use of mobile devices for health-care related content or jobs on the rise
2011 survey participants were asked about their use of mobile devices, mobile job alerts, and the type and frequency of content consumed via mobile devices. In 2011, 32% of clinicians reported using mobile devices for accessing healthcare-related content or jobs, compared with just 12% in 2010. Clinicians’ use of mobile devices to access healthcare-related applications is also on the rise, increasing to 30% of respondents in the latest survey, up from 13% in 2010.
To download the full report, ‘Use of Social Media and Mobile by Healthcare Professionals – 2011 Survey Results’ click on this link.
Over to you: What do you think of these findings? Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.
Social Networks