Faculty Spotlight - March 6, 2025
College of Arts & Sciences: Faculty Spotlight Series
Dr. Amy Mersiovsky
Associate Professor of Nursing and serves as the
Director and Chair of the Department of Nursing.
Presentation: Thursday, March 6, 2025, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
Talk by Dr. Amy Mersiovsky
Location: Founders Hall, Bernie Beck Lecture Hall (Doors open at 4:15 p.m.)
All are welcome to attend. Appetizers and light refreshments will be served!
“Family Education for Safe Social Media Use"
Many children have been harmed from social media use. Dr. Mersiovsky’s talk will discuss the importance of healthcare providers providing education about social media safety.
Abstract:
Many children and adolescents feel that social media is an important means for them to interact with others. During the past few years, social media challenges have become commonplace. Children and adolescents participate in these challenges to satisfy their developmental needs, including self-expression, friendships, and peer acceptance.
Unfortunately, children may be subject to peer-pressure, cyber-bullying, and physical dangers while participating in social media platforms and social media challenges. Because social media and social media challenges are relatively new, research is limited, particularly in nursing.
Nurses, who are front-line healthcare providers, provide guidance to children and families and are tasked with advocating for and educating the families regarding the dangers of social media and social media challenges. Parents must be educated regarding the importance of relationships with their children, peer approval, the need for independence, application safety features, and safe social media challenge participation. Parents who are comfortable with monitoring social media activities have children who are less likely to participate in risky activities and have fewer emotional problems.
Dr. Amy Mersiovsky, is an Associate Professor of Nursing. She is a licensed Registered Nurse and holds a board certificate in Pediatric Nursing from the American Nurse’s Credentialing Center. Dr. Mersiovsky has presented at international conferences on pediatric health and nursing education issues. She has also published on the experiences of nurse educators during the COVID-19 pandemic and social media risk for children.