ePLATFORMS
I work as a radiographer in a central hospital, more precisely in the radiology department. My job description includes many different areas of medical imaging, for example computed tomography (CT) and radiological interventional procedures. In my work, I use various digital tools to my advantage, but officially I don’t use social media this.
We have many hospital information systems in use, such as the patient information system LifeCare. In addition to this, we have our own user interfaces for imaging devices, which can be used to display, for example, reconstructed computed tomography images on the screen. In addition to these, we actively use MS Teams and other Microsoft programs (M365) at my workplace.
Personally, I actively use the following services: WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. With these I keep in touch with my friends, but also with the help of Facebook and Instagram I have sold my extra stuff. I haven’t used LinkedIn yet, but now I’m thinking of joining and familiarizing myself with its operations. It could potentially give me a boost in my career.
I use this service a lot and it’s easy to keep in touch with friends, but I can also use it in my work. We have our own group with our colleagues, to which we send messages if we suddenly need an employee for a shift. This is the so-called alert group, because the email message does not reach the employee as quickly. Joining the group has been completely voluntary. I feel that the group has made the supervisors’ work easier in terms of communication, but it has also been beneficial for the employee.
Teams
I use Teams at my workplace every day for meetings and communication with other radiographers. This is a good application because some of the radiographers in charge work in another place, and it is not physically possible to hold the meeting in the same space. Combined with this, OneDrive allows easy sharing and editing of files with others, such as real-time updating of instructions.
FIVE NEW SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
I have actively used this in my personal life for several years. The service is a nice pastime in your free time. But this could also be used more usefully in clarifying the job description of an radiographers to other people. For many, the work of a radiographer and what it really is is still a matter of great surprise. For example many people ask me, “Is the radiology department really open 24/7 and why are you working at night?”. However, if you were to take a lot of pictures of the radiology department for the service, you should know exactly the rules of the organization regarding photography.
Evernote
I haven’t used the service before, but this looks like a useful tool for managing work and busy everyday life. It’s a new kind of electronic version of post-it notes that you can use to track progress. This could be used in future work to keep tasks in order.
Doodle
I’ve heard someone talk about this before, but I haven’t learned more about the program. After a quick familiarization, I thought that this could be a functional and versatile program at my workplace. With this, you could easily make inquiries, for example about the perceived need for additional training in the radiology unit.
Jodel
I have sometimes used the application, but I didn’t feel it was necessary for me. The users are probably younger age groups, and this service could be used especially in the marketing of radiography degree. Younger age groups could be given information about the radiographer profession and users could ask questions there. The purpose of the application is to chat anonymously, for example within the locality.
Blogger
I have also used this fifteen years ago… I didn’t remember it, too many years in between. Blog texts could be used to share information and publish fresh research information regarding medical imaging to the target audience. For example, to create an easily accessible informative site for the members of my work community.
WHY THESE?
For this work, I included such applications that I feel will be potentially useful in my work in the future. When using a successful digital tool, its usability and versatility are primarily important. It’s horrible to think if you do one thing with another program and transfer its output to another program and from there on. The tool must also be safe to use. In addition, group work implemented with a good teamwork application is rewarding and comfortable.
GOOD OR BAD SOCIAL MEDIA?
It has a lot of good and bad. The positive aspects of social media are the possibility of easy networking and keeping in touch with friends, even if they don’t live nearby. Social media can also work in the company’s marketing well and in a targeted manner, generating additional income. However, there are negative aspects, such as data protection and bullying. Adults sometimes write anonymously on different platforms in a nasty tone and forget manners. It is easy to hide behind writing anonymously and write things that you would never dare to say to another person face to face. Children also experience this kind of bullying, and on the other hand, it can create unnecessary pressure for them, for example external pressure. In social media, it is also really easy to give out personal information about yourself, which can have unpleasant consequences.
SELF-ASSESSMENT
The work was challenging to do in my job description, because in my work I don’t use much of the e-platforms in question. However, this allowed me to get to know many different applications that I was not aware of and to think about their use and suitability for the healthcare industry. In my own opinion, I am very involved in digitization, but with this job I still noticed that there is still a lot to learn in this field. It’s great that applications are constantly being developed to make everyday life and working easier. I hope that in the future I will be able to use the lessons learned from this course and familiarization with different e-platforms in the development of the radiology department.