Using nursing tweetchats for CPD - again !

Waaaayyyy back in 2012 we wrote a little blog about How to get the best out of Twitter chats for CPD and since then we have been doing a whole heap of tweet chatting !!! However things have moved forward slightly and in the light of revalidation for nurses coming into force we thought it was about time we revisited our thoughts on Twitter chats and CPD. 

The use of social media for continuing professional development and learning is becoming more common place and accepted within healthcare as many have come to realise the knowledge exchange that occurs in these spaces.  Moorley & Chinn (2014) state "Continuous professional development may use formal approaches to learning such as training sessions, classroom events (e.g. lectures) or education workshops. Informal learning may take the form of face to face conversations with colleagues or verbal feedback on actions or performance. As a result of the World Wide Web these approaches to knowledge sharing and transmission can extend to online environments. One such environment is social media using the platform Twitter. Twitter can be used as a learning resource; there are metrics that show healthcare conversations on Twitter. Symplur a provider of Health Care Social Media Analytics revealed there were 410 Million Healthcare Tweets." So with Twitter chats firmly placed on the CPD map here are a few tips to make the most out of them:

1. Be prepared - Have a read of the pre chat information for the Twitter chat you are going to participate in or watch.  You can find out about all of the We Community chats coming up here, so read up ! 

2. Take part - During the chat either get involved by taking part in the discussion maybe favourite some of their tweets to refer to later. Take a note on comments and people that got you thinking.

3. Feel free to lurk - Of course not everyone feels that they can actively take part in a Twitter chat, so feel free to lurk and watch the discussion, sometimes this can be just as valuable. 

4. Reread, catchup and reflect - After the Tweetchat a transcript is produced and this allows you to go over the chat in your own pace and  a  reflect. A summary of the Tweetchat is also available afterwards - this is intended as a quick guide or reflection as to what the main points of the chat were. The transcript and summary are also handy if you missed the discussion but still want to read the main points. 

 5. Write your own summary / reflection - Reflect on what you have learnt, you may even like to blog or video blog about it, or simply print it out and add it to your portfolio.  You can even share your own summary in the comment box under each We Community chat summary.  

The NMC's Provisional Revalidation Guidance states that you need to record the following:

• Date of CPD
• Number of hours
• Number of participatory hours
• CPD method 
• Topic description & how it relates to my practice
• The identification of the relevant part of code the CPD relates to
  
• Evidence of activity 

You may also wish to include:

• Why did you think this chat would be relevant to you, what did you hope to gain?
• What twists and turns did the chat take, how did opinions differ from participants vary?
• Did you pick up any ideas to discuss with colleagues later, or even change the way you currently nurse?
• Do you need to do anything more to follow up your learning?

We have created a very simple form that you can add to your portfolio to help you:

Chose between a word version to complete digitally or a PDF version to print and complete

For more information on revalidation please visit The NMC's Revalidation Guidance & Resources 

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