Social Media Guidelines

Introduction

The AWHONN Social Media Guidelines embodies our values, high standards of ethics, and commitment to mutual respect. It serves as an enforceable set of expectations for professional and respectful communication within our online communities. Members are encouraged to uphold integrity and exercise good judgment while interacting on our platforms. For any uncertainties, contact AWHONN for clarification. Constructive dialogue and the exchange of ideas are encouraged, provided all participants adhere to this code.

Guidelines for Participation

  1. Honor our differences
    • Fellow online users should always be treated with respect, without exception. Discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, or genetic information, or any other protected characteristic under applicable federal or state laws, regulations, or ordinances will not be tolerated. We want the AWHONN online communities to be welcoming forums for all members; this means that discriminatory statements, both clear and masked in words or images, are not appropriate. Harassing, bullying, trolling, taunting, or defamatory content will also not be tolerated and in addition to any remedies provided under this policy, such content may also be reported to https://ethics.awhonn.org for resolution
  2. Communicate in a professional manner
    • Maintain open, honest, and respectful dialogues. Discussions should encourage conversation and not create divisiveness or tension. Every member deserves the opportunity to express his or her opinions on patient care-related matters openly and in a civil, respectful manner. Participants should act in a dignified and courteous manner to avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false, malicious, or improper action. Obscene, vulgar, or inappropriate language and/or images are not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
  3. Avoid discussions pertaining to politics, religion, and sexual content
    • AWHONN’s online communities are designed to enable discussion on topics related to patient care. Use of AWHONN’s social media to discuss and debate politics, religion, and non-health care related sexual content is prohibited. Posting of political promotions and/or content of self-interest is also prohibited.
  4. Behave ethically
    • All persons participating in AWHONN online communities shall act honestly, in good faith, and with the highest professional standards.
  5.  Treat others as you want to be treated
    • Misunderstandings on forums are quite common often due to the difficulty in understanding the implied tone in another user’s remarks. Take extra care to be kind in your comments to other users and never react negatively to comments you perceive as rude or otherwise objectionable. Instead, it is always wiser to either end the discussion, ignore the comment entirely, or in more severe cases report the offense to the AWHONN staff at customerservice@awhonn.org. Responding to another user’s comments in a manner contrary to our posting policy will be viewed by AWHONN as equally inappropriate and may result in sanctions against your forum privileges.
  6.  Protect the integrity of AWHONN
    1. Participants should safeguard AWHONN’s reputation and integrity by ensuring that any public statements relating to AWHONN, which are not official statements of AWHONN, are properly portrayed as the opinion of the individual making them. Statements directed to AWHONN as an organization should be expressed in a civil and respectful manner to avoid injuring the organization’s intellectual property or reputation by false, malicious, or improper action. Obscene, vulgar, or inappropriate language and/or images are not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
  7. Advertising for other companies and personal business programs is strictly prohibited
    • Except for the items listed below, participants are not allowed to post solicitations of any kind (research, survey, service and/or product promotions, etc.). Participants are prohibited from posting commercial messages or promotions, advertising, or selling goods or services. Use caution when discussing products. Comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws. If you request information about a product or service, note that any responses are considered personal referrals and not an AWHONN endorsement. AWHONN does not endorse any vendors. Job postings can be made at https://careers.awhonn.org/employers/.
    • Exceptions to the Advertising Policy:
      • AWHONN Headquarters can post solicitations related to its products, services, events, advocacy, research, and other mission-related activities in any social media forum managed by AWHONN. This includes any instructor-led events for AWHONN products and resources organized by AWHONN Headquarters.
      • Sections, Chapters, and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) can post solicitations related to events organized by the Section, Chapter, or SIG in the specified social media forum for the Section, Chapter, or SIG.
      • Individual members may post up to two notifications about an educational event/activity that has nursing contact hours affiliated with the event in the “Education Bulletin Board Community.” The contact hour information must be posted in the event; events without contact hour information will be removed. This platform is designed only to promote educational events. Products, resources, surveys, market research, or other services may not be solicited or promoted in the AWHONN Member Community. Fetal Heart Monitoring Instructors and Obstetric Patient Safety Instructors may post about their events on this platform, but they must also continue to schedule their events on the AWHONN website. All postings must provide contact information for people with further questions, as this platform discussion will be disabled. All postings must provide email contact information for questions about the event.
  8. Do not discuss AWHONN social media administrative/moderator actions on the forums
    • If you do not agree with a moderator or AWHONN staff decision, you may send a private message to the moderator or AWHONN staff administrator at ethics@awhonn.org You may not start a thread or post a complaint that your post was removed. Also, you may not post any private correspondence from an AWHONN online moderator/administrator. Membership account issues should be directed to customerservice@awhonn.org and not displayed in a public forum.
  9. Safeguard patient and member privacy; maintain confidentiality where applicable
    • Never share personal health information (PHI) on AWHONN’s social media. Preserve, protect, and secure PHI and hold in the highest regard health information and other information of a confidential nature obtained in an official capacity, taking into account the applicable statutes and regulations. Comply with HIPAA requirements. For more information about PHI, visit: http://bit.ly/2wVCah9. Remain mindful of any information you share — any personally identifiable information you share can be seen by persons with access to AWHONN social media. Do not disclose any kind of confidential, proprietary, or sensitive business or other information. Do not disclose personal emails, phone numbers, addresses, family information, employer details, or any kind of private information that should not be displayed in a public forum.
  10. Respect intellectual property rights
    • AWHONN social media may not be used in a manner that violates applicable federal, state, or local laws, or any other AWHONN policies, procedures, rules, or regulations. For example, while sources can be disclosed, participants may not post or distribute files, articles, or other information subject to trademark, copyright, or other proprietary rights, except with the express consent of the owner of the rights.
  11. Avoid disparaging or defamatory remarks
    • Disparaging and defamatory statements violate the Code of Conduct and may violate applicable defamation laws. The term defamation can include verbal and written statements that are factually false that bear on the reputation of an individual or organization. Defamation laws, which vary from state to state, are generally intended to protect individuals and organizations from false statements that could harm their reputations. One key element in proving defamation claims in most states is that the aggrieved party must establish that the defendant uttered or published a false factual statement to a third party. Exercise good judgment and avoid engaging in personal attacks against others while using the social media forum or AWHONN social media pages.
  12. Adhere to antitrust laws
    • Users are prohibited from using AWHONN social media to communicate about matters implicating price-fixing, bid-rigging, or resale price maintenance; tying and reciprocity; exclusive dealing arrangements; monopolization; output restrictions; group boycotts; prices, fees, or pricing policies; staff salaries; terms of sale; specific R&D sales or marketing plans; restrictions on output or production; division of customers, territories, or locations; or any other information that may amount to an unfair restraint on trade or otherwise violate federal or state antitrust laws.
  13. AWHONN online communities are member-only forums
    • AWHONN’s various online communities are a benefit of AWHONN membership and are administered by the organization for the sole use of AWHONN members. The sharing/forwarding of online discussions with nonmembers is prohibited.
  14. Job postings are prohibited
    • AWHONN communities promote conversation, collaboration, and the exchange of information on the practice of patient care. Jobs may be posted in our career center here: https://careers.awhonn.org/employers/.

Discussion Group Etiquette
Use the following guidelines to enhance your participation in the community of your choice:

  • Stay on topic. Do not discuss irrelevant topics or post non-related links or images.
  • Respect the opinions of your peers. If you feel the need to disagree, do so respectfully.
    Acknowledge that others are entitled to have their own perspective.
  • Do not write anything that sounds angry or sarcastic even in humor. Without hearing your tone, your colleagues may not realize you are joking.
  • Do not type in ALL CAPS. It could appear as if you are screaming.
  • Check the most recent comments before you reply to a comment to ensure you are responding to the latest post.
  • State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.
  • Send messages such as “thanks for the information” or “me, too” to individuals, not to the entire list. Do this by using the “Reply to Sender” link in every message.
  • Do not send administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list,” to the group.
    Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. To change your email address, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new email address; simply change your settings.
  • Avoid excessively long posts. Limit word count to no more than 700 words. Additional content can be added as attachments.

Reporting
Any member, volunteer, leader, employee, or third party may report an alleged violation of these Guidelines to https://ethics.awhonn.org.

Complaint Resolution
The AWHONN online communities are private message boards administered by AWHONN. All message board content is allowed at the discretion of AWHONN. AWHONN staff monitor the AWHONN online communities and may make reasoned judgements about whether the posted content violates the Guidelines. Inquiries received through https://ethics.awhonn.org will be reviewed by the the Ethics and Compliance Committee (ECC). Upon receiving a report that posted content violates the Social Media Guidelines, the ECC shall review the content and make a reasoned judgment about whether the posted content violates the Guidelines. In order to preserve an environment that encourages respectful and meaningful dialogue, AWHONN may take any action deemed appropriate. Remedies may include removing content, a temporary or permanent ban from a discussion forum or listserv, referral to an adjacent disciplinary body for additional resolution, or any other sanction commensurate with the infraction that is supported by AWHONN’s Bylaws and the law.

Whether or not the posted content violates the Social Media Guidelines, AWHONN reserves the right to remove any message board content without notice and for any reason. AWHONN also reserves the right to remove forums with inactivity of at least 12 months or more.

Effective: 5/30/2025