A social media intervention to improve hypoglycemia management at a multicenter hospital: a quality improvement pilot for clinical nurses

Abstract

Background: Hypoglycemia poses significant risk to inpatients. Nursing management of hypoglycemia is a challenge, despite established best practice guidelines. Social media is an effective tool for sharing information and could overcome barriers to clinical education at a multicenter hospital.Aims: The purpose of this quality improvement intervention was to create and disseminate social media posts about best practices in hypoglycemia management.Design: An unmatched pre-and post-survey assessed nursing knowledge of hypoglycemia management.Methods: Social media posts were created to visually outline the steps for hypoglycemia management over 2 weeks, across a nursing social media platform. We assessed the reach of the posts via Facebook and a survey.Results: The posts reached 2962 users during the first week, and 1491 users the second week.Conclusions: A social media intervention can have a substantial reach and distribute information across a multicenter hospital. Additional study is needed to determine what factors could support an increase in nursing knowledge through a social media campaign.