Harnessing Informal Learning in a group of Psychiatric Mental Health Nurses through a Social Media Platform

Learning is an active process, continuously developing throughout one’s lifetime. Social media platforms offer a unique opportunity for learning to occur, bringing forth independent and collective learning opportunities for individuals of all ages. This study
employed an online social media platform to harness informal learning and cultivate a community of practice within a group of psychiatric mental health nurses. The aims were twofold. It was envisioned that by using a social media platform, the participants could access informal learning opportunities. The second aim anticipated that a community of practice could be cultivated as the social media platform would offer a medium for support.

I sought to explore the experiences of this group of psychiatric mental health nurses by understanding the social processes they encountered in forming part of the study. Thus, I adopted a constructivist grounded theory approach to understand their experience. A total of 28 psychiatric mental health nurses opted to take part and it was agreed that Facebook would be the medium for this study.

The participants had a positive experience when adopting a Facebook page for informal learning. However, an unexpected finding was that a community of practice failed to form. It transpired that the study was performed within the organisation where the participants were employed despite the initial intention to conduct the study independently of any institution. A multitude of organisational issues arose which impacted the cohesiveness of the group, leaving all the participants of this study demotivated. These factors together with perceptions of lack of professionalism amongst nurses hindered staff from cultivating a community of practice.

It was concluded that emphasis needs to be placed on raising the profile of psychiatric mental health nurses. This can be achieved by emphasizing continuous professional education. It is also suggested that organisations focus on adopting contemporary leadership styles to enhance working relationships whilst further research is carried out in this area.