URGENT midwives are being disciplined for online activities - dont be one of them!

I wrote a while ago about the midwives who were disciplined for complaining about colleagues in public on facebook and I advised you all to be mindful of what you 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 student midwife. Lecturers, employers, mentors, colleagues 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 website, including 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 the future 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

I urge you all to look through your photo albums here and on other forums. We do of course check albums regularly and have requested that some pictures are removed as they have not been deemed appropriate. 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.

We have already advised all members to annoymise posts about practice, yourselves and your location. Having your Uni status is fine as long as your user name is not your full name, as of course there will be many students from many years from each Uni. We have the uni status set here as a way of bringing students together, like in our Student Mentor Scheme - the same way we have our social groups - I would now encourage all 'Pudding Club/Uni social group' owners to make your groups private and invite only as I did with the Brighton Uni Social Group when we started to discuss where to meet etc. Staff members will contact you to help you do this in the next few days.

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 placement site. 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 SMNET 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. Rob is working on an advisory article which he will publish on the site tomorrow advising you how to fully protect your privacy on sites like facebook, myspace and bebo. 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 lecturer, your ward manager, 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 RCM, NMC and universities to reach as many students as we can to protect you and to protect the public image of midwifery and our future midwives. We have around 20,000 vistors per month to the site from 93 countries around the world, so I hope this message reaches as any people as possible. If you are not a midwife or a student then please make any student midwives and midwives you know aware of this matter. Thankyou.

Kind regards

J

Edited to add: Please see the guidance document here http://www.studentmidwife.net/studen...nline-get.html

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StudentMidwife.NET Founder & Director

What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?
(George Eliot, 1860)

Thank you for this TallPoppy - this is something I've been considering since I read the new Code. I'm partial to a small shandy and whenever a new facebook pic comes up I have to think about whether it's acceptable. Thankfully, so far I believe they're OK - I just look like a bit of an idiot, rather than obscene or debaucherous. What I would urge others to do is trackback through their previous internet lives if they have any concerns, to make sure there is nothing insalubrious about. I've been on the net for about 15 years and had various blogs etc, most of which are still live...

PS I mainly commented so that this shot back up the 'new post' listings - not enough people have read this yet!!!

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Thanks J...that is really informative and has made me realise that I have a few pics on my facebook that could be deemed inappropriate (they are only from my dance shoes mind) But I dont want to be taken the wrong way.
Will PM Rob to get my name changed....then at least people wont keep spelling my name wrong....lol my own fault for thinking it was cool back when I was 14 to spell my name differently.
X

Thanks J! You are a minefield of information!

Diolch!

xx

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StudentMidwife.NET Administrator (aka The Welsh One )
PAB Support Worker

Thanks for posting that J.

Duly noted

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have pmed you J x

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Wolves Sept 2008
SM.NET Project Manager
SM.NET Wolves Student Rep

More and more cases are now coming to light and I am being contacted by many individuals and organisations who are in support of the advice that we have given you above. They are saying that we are giving you sound advice to protect yourselves aswell as protecting the public face of midwifery, which has of course always been a matter close to our SMNET heart.

I am pleased that the advice is being recieved in the spirit that it was intended.

We are currently working on the new guideline and it will be posted up asap.

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StudentMidwife.NET Founder & Director

What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?
(George Eliot, 1860)

All very sensible advice. As part of our training I feel that we will be on a three year interview and every part of your public life will be scrutinised. Thank you for making it so easy for people to be able to change things.

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Coffeebean xx


Student Midwife

Agree entirely - thanks for this sound advice J. Although I am rather wistful that I have no recent pictures of any debauched nights out - if only!!

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waving, not drowning!!

LOL wanabeemidwife! I know the feeling. I think having kids really does put an end to any kind of potential debauchery!

__________________
StudentMidwife.NET Founder & Director

What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?
(George Eliot, 1860)