Utility of social networks and online data collection in nursing research: Analysis of Spanish nurses’ level of knowledge about palliative care

Introduction: Internet-based social networks are used by nurses with different purposes, including the creation of working groups and to share and create knowledge. Purpose: To evaluate the utility of social networks in the dissemination of an online questionnaire and to measure Spanish RNs’ knowledge about palliative care. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out. Using social networks we distributed an online questionnaire with the Spanish version of Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses (PCQN-SV) throughout August 2015. Results: A direct relationship between the number of responses and the questionnaire’s apparitions in each social network was found. Comparing the results obtained by the 446 RNs participating in this study with those obtained in the study to pilot the PCQN-SV we identify that differences found are related to the participants’ features (years of experience and hours of training in palliative care) and not to the type of questionnaire they answered. Conclusions: Social networks have shown to be a useful tool for nursing research by its ability, to recruit participants as well as to collect data, so their role as an instrument of research should be considered.