Faceoff: Nursing

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, May 1, 2004

America is in the midst of a nursing shortage that is bound to get worse with the aging of baby boomers. Until the ranks of nurses grow, the leading nursing publications will be working harder for ads. Half-million-plus Nursing Spectrum and NurseWeek focus on providing news and events in local markets, RN aims at the nurses' lifestyle, and venerable AJN covers cutting-edge research.

Nursing Spectrum /NurseWeek (Gannett)

Ad Pages: 1,693/1,003 Total Circulation: 653,000/550,000 New Advertiser: Intellistaff

When Gannett's Nursing Spectrum acquired Jobson Publishing's NurseWeek in February, a juggernaut of free local publications was formed. The company produces 18 nursing-related titles, but these two are the largest. Pairing the pubs allows Gannett to reach more than a million nurses and nursing students each month. Each title is about 70 percent local advertising and editorial, and 30 percent national news. "That is basically the secret to our success," says Patti Rager, R.N., president and publisher. "The more local news and advertising, the better." Events are a specialty at both pubs. Gannett hosts 40 annual career fairs across the country, where advertisers exhibit wares and nurses participate in continuing education programs. "Our career fair and continuing education events enhance our popularity with readers and they also enhance our profitability," explains Rager.

On the competition: "We're far more locally based than any of our competitors, and all of our articles are written for and by registered nurses," says Rager.

RN (Advanstar)

Ad Pages: 491 Total Circulation: 210,000 New Advertiser: Skechers

RN was just one small part of Advanstar's 15-title, $135 million acquisition of Thomson's Medical Economics Group last October, but it will be the first to get a total makeover in June. There will be new editorial content too, says group publisher Matt Holland. The aim: to feature more pieces about nurses' lifestyle and open the doors to general-interest ads.

Nursing titles now mostly have endemic ads. Nearly three-quarters of RN's revenue comes from the advertising of search firms for traveling nurses. It is a paid-circ publication with 95 percent of its subscribers paying $19.95 annually. Ad pages dropped slightly in 2003, but circulation rose. "We're looking at potentially selling it on specialty newsstands, such as in hospitals and academic institutions," says Holland.

This year, RN will have its first event with sister pub Travel Nurse focusing on employment issues. On the competition: "We're a publication that nurses can use in their daily lives, both in and out of the workplace," says Holland. "NurseWeek and Nursing Spectrum are basically local news tabloids, while AJN is far more academic than us."

American Journal of Nursing (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins)

Ad Pages: 814 Total Circulation: 340,000 New Advertiser: Uniform City

Published since 1900, AJN is the oldest and most respected of the nursing titles. It receives numerous grants to investigate different topics and serves as the publication of the National Association of Nurses. Half of AJN's subscribers are members, who pay $30 ($20 for students) annually.

Half of the monthly's revenue comes from subs and half from ads. While most ads are endemic, it hopes to expand to other categories. "When the magazine started more than 100 years ago, we had champagne ads," says editor-in-chief Diana J. Mason, R.N., Ph.Da[yen] "The world has changed since then, but I'm sure we can do that again."

The journal also partners with academic institutions to host an annual invitation-only, state-of-the-science research symposium, the results of which are then published in the magazine. "It really garners a lot of media attention for us every year," says Mason.

On the competition: "No other publication puts forth real research in the field and then interprets it and finds the holes in the research," says Mason. "We're scholarly but accessible. We're out to fuel debates, not make people feel good."