Il decoro nell'esercizio professionale e nei social network: studio qualitativo in un gruppo di studenti di Infermieristica

The decorum concept can be conceived as the external dimension of the professional, the way in which he/she showshimself/herself to others, the image that he/she builds of himself/herself in the working environment. Consideringthat, although the concept of nursing is constantly changing, in order to adapt to the adjustments dictated by its socio-cultural context, the professional decorum remains an unquestionable value that contributes to determine thecredibility and respectability of the professional family. Furthermore, the contemporary nursing assets do not operateonly in classic care settings but also within a large multimedia platform, the internet, embodied in the most currentlyused and fast communication system. While this has allowed to enhance the sense of professional identity, with thepossibility to connect nurses from all over the world and to gather them into one big community, the internet still representsa very ambiguous tool. Quite a few cases have been reported in which nurses, especially in social networks,made themselves responsible of acts that have damaged not only the privacy of the patients but also the dignity ofthe professional family they belong to. Therefore it seems urgent to reconsider the meaning of dignity and how it canbe expressed through the actions of the incoming nursing assets. In the present study, a first analysis of the meaning of decorum is made by a deontological and normative perspective with the aim of distinguishing it from that of ethicsand professional dignity. Then, through the results of an empirical survey, it is shown how nursing students define,pursue and preserve the professional decorum in the daily working activities, but also, and more importantly, withinthe multimedia platform.