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New coalition seeks to improve nursing's image
Posted
10-25-99 Indianapolis. A coalition of healthcare organizations that was formed Oct. 11 hopes to combat the growing nursing shortage and change attitudes about the nursing profession. The alliance, Nurses for a Healthier Tomorrow, includes 16 major nursing groups and other members of the healthcare industry, including the American Red Cross and the Arthritis Foundation. The coalition aims to raise more than $1 million for a high-level advertising blitz that members hope will bolster the nursing ranks and "project the image of today's nurse," said Kathy Bennison, manager of marketing and public relations for Sigma Theta Tau International, a coalition member and primary force behind its formation. "The first goal is to recruit and retain," said Lee Vriesman, project manager for the coalition. "We want to recruit nurses into the profession, educate children about the profession of nursing, and we want to retain the people who are already in the profession." Specifics of the advertising campaign have not been determined yet, Vriesman said, but she said ads would target both adults and children. Fund-raising efforts have just been launched, but the coalition is in negotiations with several corporate sponsors, said Joan Meehan-Hurwitz, communications director for the American Nurses Association, a coalition member. Funds will also be solicited from pharmaceutical companies, HMOs, and other industry corporations, she said. Nursing schools are expected to donate seed money to get the coalition started. Meehan-Hurwitz said the recruitment efforts would be tied into updating the image of the profession. "The goal is to step up recruitment, but there is an understanding that in order to be successful you have to change attitudes," she said. Vriesman said the coalition has been in the works for over a year. It was formed in response to declining enrollment at colleges of nursing, as well as the increasing number of veteran nurses leaving the profession. Other coalition members include the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the National Student Nurses Association, the National League for Nursing, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Organization of Nurse Executives, and speciality organizations representing nurses in critical care, oncology, anesthesiology, perioperative care, emergency care, neonatology, women's health, and obstetrics.
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