A while ago on StudentMidwife.NET, I wrote about the midwives who were disciplined for complaining about colleagues in public on facebook and I advised all members to be mindful of what they say on forums where such conduct is tolerated. As you are aware we have very strict rules about such conduct here. This message will not change how the site runs, it will still be intimate, friendly and you will still be encouraged to talk about your experiences, thoughts and feelings. This does not really affect our site but that of other sites you may be members of.
Having been researching such 'conduct' matters further I would strongly advise you all to consider not only what you say and how you conduct yourself on public forums but also what kind of photos you have - photos of you and your friends on a night out misbehaving - the kind of pictures that you'd take and share with close friends but try and think of the appropriatness of these images.
I probably sound like I am getting all big brother on you and you will of course make up your own minds, but I would strongly advise you to consider your 'public image' as a midwife. Employers, colleagues, clients etc may all have access to your 'private life' via such unmoderated forums. Keep everything private, double check settings and think about the potential consequences before you post pictures, comments etc.
I would also invite anyone who has their full name as a user name on any websites, including both of mine, to contact the site owners and ask to change your name to a user name that will not identify you - Rob is highly recommending that you do not use either firstname, surname or any derivitive of either in any part of your username. I will start by changing mine. Please can you PM Rob with your new choice of unidentifiable user name. You will then need to log in as your new user name from then on, your password will remain the same. It may take a shortwhile to action all requests so please do bare with us and if you find that you cannot login then it probabally means your new username has kicked in.
We take our responsibilites here very seriously and strive to present a professional yet relaxed and friendly face of midwifery. We have strict rules that we enforce and we would encourage you all to re-think your public persona elsewhere, who may have access to your photos, comments etc. From my previous career I know that certain communications are admissable evidence in court, including emails and texts and now its seems what one contributes to a forum is also admissable - well at least in a disciplinary setting regarding conduct. The NMC conduct guidelines remind us to be mindful of our conduct away from work and this seems all the more pertinent now. The exact wording of the new NMC Code of Conduct effective 1st May 2008 is 'You must uphold the reputation of your profession at all times'. The 2004 Code of Conduct is now out of date.
If you would like to read my previous post on the matter you can locate it here
http://www.studentmidwife.net/blogs/...ls-beware.html you will need to join
www.StudentMidwife.NET to view this and the guidance document.
I urge you all to look through your photo albums here and on other forums. We do of course check albums regularly. A staff team will be checking all albums over the next few days to help you filter whats a good idea to display and what is not.
Rob is working on a setting that makes your photos and avatars private to members only, Im sure you appreciate we can only go so far with how much we can help you be annonymous, plus the real message here is to be mindful of your conduct and take reasonable steps to annoymise yourself and your place of work. On this site we do that for you, our team of moderators are looking out for such identifying factors all the time and we work hard to protect you, the site and our collective professional reputations.
Your MidwiferyWorld photo albums can be set to friends only and that really does mean only the friends on your friends list! You may not be aware but facebook privacy settings are not as private as you think. An example on facebook is you may think only your friends can see your photos - but if a friend makes a comment on one of your photos, then this photo and its comment will be shown to your mutual friends and even people you do not know - people on your friends friends list - this friends friend will be able to press 'next' and flick through the rest of your album. That friend of a friend may be your your ward manager, matron or a client you have cared for. If the photo is of you and your friends drunk as skunks, flashing your knickers - then thats probably not the best way to present yourself to your professional peers.
I hope this message is recieved in the spirit that it is intended, we want to work along side bodies such as the NMC to reach as many midwives as we can to protect you and to protect the public image of midwifery. If you are not a midwife or a student midwife then please make any student midwives and midwives you know aware of this matter. Thankyou.
Kind regards
J
Please see the guidance document here Guideline for Participation and Conduct Online :: Get your copy now