RAISING THE PROFILE

Raising the Profile of Nursing Issues in the Media and other Public

Fora

By Claire Fagin

RAISED QUESTIONS

• Do you agree that nursing researchers need to be part of the public information scene and why?

• Do public discussions of your work help or hinder the aims of nursing research from the standpoint of finding and/or evaluating methods to improve nursing practice?

RESEARCH PRIORITIES RANKED IN NURSING • Education &

training

• Practice

• Role ?

• Management and resources

• Client groups

• Organization of care

I AM CLAIRE FAGIN, RN I AM A “R”(EAL)” N”(URSE)

WHAT NURSES OFFER

• Birds eye view of society and the influence of a broad array of health factors on the problems people face from birth to senescence

• Understand how health factors influence children’s learning• Understand how nutrition affects the way children face their day

in school• Understand the effects of sensory deprivation on youngsters

and older people • Nurses see what everyone else is doing in the health care field

QUESTIONS:

• Whether or not nursing researcher's need to be part of the public information scene for nursing and for nursing research?

• Whether or not nurse researchers believe that one of their aims must be to find ways to publicize their work and that of other nurse researches?

WHO ARE THE AUDIENCES?

• Nurses

• Other health professionals

• Consumers

DAVID MECHANIC

“There is outstanding research in nursing, but much of it is invisible to the outside world.”

• Mechanic, D. (2000): Contributions of Nurses to Health Policy: Challenges and Opportunities. Unpublished, pg. 5

MESSAGE

• Getting through the busy environment

• Intra professional

• Inter professional

• Public

VENUES FOR MESSAGE COMMUNICATION

• Interviews

• Letters

• News release

• Op-eds and the like

MESSAGE TIPS

• Choose your audience

• Think about what you want to communicate

• Keep it simple, no jargon

• Be clear on your goals and do mid-course checks on these

• Give compelling facts, stories

GROUND RULES• What does the reporter want?• How much is on or off the record?• Know what to expect in terms of name

identification and sources• Off record information should be used sparingly• Can you see the article before it is published?

(Rarely)• Reporters frequently use what you say or write

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

• “Seize the opportunity!”

• Send it quickly

• Email when possible

• Don’t expect 100% success

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

• First seven seconds count

(Golden rule for written and verbal communication)

• Remember the polluted environment of communications

• Images help; tell human stories

• Use of jargon is poison

IMAGES

• Build images by giving human examples of what our research has accomplished

• Spell out in human terms the effect on individuals and families of what you have done

• A real life example is best, but a made up one works as long as you personalize it

• Goals are to get the meaning of your research across and the way to do it is to help people understand what it means

SUMMARY

• Know your audience

• Keep it simple, no jargon

• Be in control of your facts

• Amplify important points verbally and with images

LEADERSHIP IN GLASGOWREBECCA THOROGOOD STRONG & WILLIAM McWEN

• Matron of the Royal Infirmary at Glasgow (1890’s)

• First educational program for nurses

Edith Cavell• Martyr of WWI

• British nurse who ran hospital & training school in Belgium

• Organized escape route for allied soldiers and cared for all soldiers

• Accused by Germans of spying

• Executed October 12, 1915

Sister Kenny• Australian nurse,

practicing in U.S.

• Raised the profile of nursing

• Expert in using the media

• Fundraising - polio

Margaret Sanger• American public health nurse

• Advancement of women in society

• Successful fundraising organization

• Sanger’s background currently used by planned parenthood leaders

Virginia Henderson

• Definition of nursing

• Discipline

Martha Rogers

• Catalyzed quest for distinct theory of nursing

Florence Nightingale

• Reformed military health system

• Created system of nursing education

• Reformed hospitals

• “Mother of the use of health statistics”

• The prime exemplar

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN’S WORDS

“Hide not your talents, they for use were made”

“What’s a sundial in the shade?”

Benjamin Franklin, October 1750