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Vital Signs

Johnson & Johnson Launches Diversity-Based Campaign to End the Nursing Shortage

In February, millions of TV viewers who tuned in to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City got the chance to vicariously experience such thrilling activities as ski jumping, snowboarding, speed skating and nursing.

In a series of highly visible commercials that aired during the games, the nation’s prime time TV screens were filled with the faces of male and female nurses, representing a wide variety of races, ethnicities and ages, all talking about how much they enjoy their exciting careers. “I saved a life,” they told viewers. “I never get bored.” “I know I make a difference.” “I’m a nurse.” The tag line: “Be a Nurse. They Dare to Care.”

This aggressive, high-profile advertising blitz is just one of the innovative strategies that make up The Campaign for Nursing’s Future, a major multi-year national initiative to reduce America’s critical nursing shortage by attracting a new wave of people into the profession. Johnson & Johnson, one of the world’s leading providers of health care products and services, is the organization behind this ambitious recruiting program, officially launched on February 5 in Washington, D.C.

The campaign, which is estimated to exceed $20 million over the next two years, was developed by the New Jersey-based company and national nursing organizations in response to a Johnson & Johnson-sponsored opinion poll which found that three out of four Americans believe the nursing shortage is a serious crisis. In addition to national and local television ads--featuring real nurses, not actors--The Campaign for Nursing’s Future also includes:

• Recruitment brochures, posters and videos, to be distributed to 20,000 high schools, 1,500 nursing schools and other nursing organizations;
• A Web site, www.discovernursing.com, where visitors can learn more about nursing careers, explore different nursing specialties and career paths, and find links to accredited nursing schools and scholarships;
• Scholarship funds and grants for nursing students and prospective nursing faculty;
• Special events in major cities to honor nursing excellence and raise additional scholarship money.

The need for increased diversity in the nursing profession is a strong and consistent theme in the campaign. The recruiting materials showcase the faces and testimonials of real-life nurses who are female, male, Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Asian, etc. Several minority nursing associations, including the National Black Nurses Association, the National Association of Hispanic Nurses and the National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association, provided input and feedback on the program materials and minority nursing leaders are included on the campaign’s Advisory Panel.

To find out more about The Campaign for Nursing’s Future, and to receive recruiting materials, call (202) 466-7800.