New campaign aims to reduce nursing shortage

AORN Journal,  March, 2002  

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Johnson & Johnson has announced the beginning of a national, multiyear advertising and recruitment campaign aimed at attracting more people to the field of nursing in hospitals and extended care facilities, according to a Feb 6, 2002, news release from MedicalNewswire.com. The acute shortage of RNs, now estimated to be 126,000 in hospitals, is projected to increase to more than 400,000 in all health care facilities by 2020.

"The Campaign for Nursing's Future," which could exceed $20 million in expenditures during the next two years, was developed in cooperation with national nursing organizations. The initiative includes

* recruitment brochures, posters, and videotapes for 20,000 high schools, 1,500 nursing schools, and nursing organizations;

* scholarship funds for students and nursing faculty members and a multicity scholarship fund-raising campaign with hospitals, nursing organizations, and hospital associations;

* a web site, http://www.discovemursing.com, which highlights the benefits of nursing as a career and features searchable links to hundreds of nursing scholarships and more than 1,000 accredited nursing educational programs; and

* a national advertising campaign celebrating nurses and their contributions.

Research on the nursing shortage and conferences with experts from nursing organizations, nursing schools, hospitals, and other health care groups aided in the development of the campaign. A study by researchers at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, commissioned by Johnson & Johnson and conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, Inc, Washington, DC, surveyed 1,005 Americans 21 years of age or older on their attitudes toward nurses and the nursing shortage. Key findings from the telephone survey include the following.

* Eighty-one percent of Americans are aware of the nursing shortage, and 65% classify the shortage as a "major problem" or "crisis."

* Ninety-three percent believe the nursing shortage jeopardizes the quality of US health care.

* Although 83% of respondents would encourage a loved one to pursue a career as an RN, only 21% would consider this career for themselves.

* Only one in 10 male respondents would consider a career in nursing.

According to the release, people are unaware that nursing salaries are competitive with those of other professions and that nursing offers career opportunities in health research, hospital management, and family and community health care, in addition to traditional patient care. The campaign will expand in the future to address other issues affecting the nursing profession, such as retaining nurses in hospitals.

New Poll: Americans Believe Nursing Shortage a Crisis (news release, New York: MedicolNewswire.com, Feb 6, 2002), http://www.medicalnewswire.com/archive/ bockissues.asp?pubDate=2/6/2002&publD= 13 (accessed 7 Feb 2002).

COPYRIGHT 2002 Association of Operating Room Nurses, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group