It takes a collaborative effort to make one great leap. Through partnerships, College of Nursing was able to make it as it hosted its first international webinar last August 29, 2020.
With the support from the University administration headed by CvSU President Dr. Hernando D. Robles, the Beta Nu Delta Nursing Society for Humanity, Filipino Nursing Diaspora Network and the CvSU College of Nursing led by the dean, Dr. Evelyn M. Del Mundo, the activity was able to share with the participants the changing developments and updates in providing quality health care education among all the nurses and other allied health care professionals around the world.
“Correct information can save lives, misinformation and fake news kill,” Dr. Robles said in his inspirational message with emphasis on the relevance of the webinar with the COVID-19 pandemic the world is currently facing.
Dr. John Robert Bautista, a Bullard Research Fellow at the School of Information, University of Texas at Austin served as the guest speaker for the said activity. He presented and shared one of his funded researches which helped him pursue his post-doctoral degree in Communication Science at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. With his numerous scholarly achievements, both in local and international engagements, Dr. Bautista remained humble and very enthusiast in helping and mentoring health care professionals to produce research innovation initiatives that address problems in the allied health community. One particular example is the so-called infodemic or surge of either good or bad information.
As the world comes to grip with the effects of this global health crisis, his research work highlighted that the battle is not only with the allied health care professionals which combat the virus but also with the social media users who are dealing with misinformation. He emphasized that incorrect and misleading facts and information being posted and shared in any social networking site worldwide can put vulnerable individuals in danger.
Rolando P. Antonio, college research coordinator who served as one of the reactors in the said webinar, suggested the use of conceptualized models by Dr. Bautista in correcting health misinformation in social media to produce more scientific and evidence-based nursing practices in relation to patient care and to teach the nursing students be more online literate, accurate and responsible in general.
Meanwhile, Ms. Karen Louela Rint and Mr. Jerome Babate, forum moderators, facilitated the Q & A portion.
“The practical tips can be short term or long term. Short term is that, as we social media users and as health care professionals, we can actually start with our community in terms of our relative- the use of group chat that sometimes tend to post health misinformation. We may want to deal with them first before we can go public, to share more correct information so that instead of false information, the corrected ones will be seen by many. But for the long term tip, we need to emphasize on health literacy. Unfortunately, literacy in the Philippines is not that high,” answered Dr. Bautista when asked about his practical tips and proposed solutions for managing fake medical information.
The challenge is now on the application and implementation of the research outcome that is recommended also to be embedded in the academe as a special topic in teaching health education for nursing and other allied health courses.
Moreover, recognizing this notable undertaking is just a beginning of other collaborations in the future with the prestigious organization, headed by Prof. Violeta Lopez and the Cavite State University – College of Nursing since both value the trust of its constituents in the academe and in nursing profession. Future activities also aim to inspire medical frontliners in fulfilling their mission and vision imbued with the necessary knowledge and skills with confidence and integrity to provide quality health care services to the global community. (Hazel Joyce L. Guiao).
(Source: Filipino Nursing Diaspora Network FB page)
