Use of mobile phones and social media by healthcare professionals in the ER hospital departments in Dammam, Saudi Arabia: benefits and risks

The objective of this study was to investigate the use of social media and mobile phones by healthcare professionals in the ER hospital departments in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, considering benefits and risks. An online survey was carried out to get information about the use of mobile phones and social media among 200 healthcare professionals in the ER hospital departments in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. More than half of the participants were females, and the majority was more than 27 years old. Also, half of them were health technicians, emergency specialists, and clinical nursing specialists. Regarding the utilization of social media, almost half of the respondents used Facebook, MySpace, GooglePlus, and Twitter. The majority of the respondents accessed websites and mobile phones apps at work, expressed that they sent or received phone calls from patients or colleagues, and used mobile phones and social media for sending and receiving text messages and e-mails from coworkers or patients.