Abstract

Background: Visual technologies are central to youth culture and are often the preferred communicationmeans of adolescents. Although these tools can be beneficial in fostering relations, adolescents’ use of visualtechnologies and social media also raises ethical concerns.Aims: We explored how school public health nurses identify and resolve the ethical challenges involved inthe use of visual technologies in health dialogues with adolescents.Research design: This is a qualitative study utilizing data from focus group discussionsParticipants and research context:We conducted focus group discussions using two semi-structureddiscussion guides with seven groups of public health nurses (n = 40) working in Norwegian school healthservices. The data were collected during January and October 2016. Discussions were audio recorded,transcribed, and coded into themes and subthemes using systematic text condensation.Ethical considerations: The leader of the public health nursing service who agreed to provide access forthe study and the Norwegian Center for Research Data that reviewed and approved the study. Allparticipants gave informed consent.Findings: : In adolescents’ use of visual materials with public health nurses, ethical concerns were raisedregarding suicide ideations, socially unacceptable content, violation of privacy, and presentations of possiblechild neglect. The nurses utilized their professional knowledge and experience when identifying andnavigating these ethical dilemmas; they resolved ethical uncertainties through peer discussion andcollaboration with fellow nurses and other professionalsDiscussion: We discussed the findings in light of Annemarie Mol’s interpretation of the ethics of care. Molexpands the notion of ethical care to include the action of technologies.