Does Johnson & Johnson Commercial Really Help Nursing?

[Snoopd]

Hello nurses and students! Here's the question; you've all seen the commercial by Johnson & Johnson, those smiling, yet serious, faces proclaiming BE A NURSE! This is supposed to promote the career of nursing. They are even showing male nurses in an attempt to promote this career choice among our male populous (good for them!). Who is really benefitting from this add? It's obviously being aired because of the hype of a "nursing shortage" in our country, but what affect is this add having on the nursing profession? What is this commercials real purpose? I believe this commercial is helping create a glut of new nurses (as evidenced by the 2-3 year wait at most nursing programs, and the "cooling" of hiring new nurses in many locations). This will result in a cheaper labor force for hospitals to choose from in my opinion - "the dime a dozen theory". What do you think? Here is my suggestion or "strategy". Many hospitals are now hiring non RNs to do RN type tasks and skills. They give these people fancy little technical titles and pay them less. This results in fewer RNs being hired. Why not have a commercial where some sick or elderly person, or a concerned family member looks seriously into the camera and states: I WANT AN RN!! This would help reinforce the legitimacy, professionalism, and technical expertise that has been associated with the RN designation, and create a demand among our population that they expect to be treated by an RN, not some "Walmartish" "technical associate" who is willing to work for peanuts. Honestly, this commercial scares me a little because all it is designed to do is flood the market with new nurses, and this will lower pay scales and weaken the "bargaining power" (what little there is) that RNs have. What do you think? Snoopd

P.S., this commercial is by Johnson & Johnson, who supply many hospitals with products (see any connection)? Why doesn't the ANA shell out some of its own money and run a commercial like "I WANT AN RN" that would actually strenghten the RN profession?

[QueenNurse]

You know what? I don't really care what it's "real purpose" is supposed to be.

I love that commercial in that it shows nurses, men and women, in a professional setting doing a professional job and has a bright happy feeling about it.

I'm not sure what you are so upset over. This is a whole lot of emotion on a very little thing. The problems getting into nursing school are caused as much by the lack of qualified instructors as anything else. And it's helped by the fact that nursing is now seen as a profession where you can make a decent living at. I'm not saying we make the most in the world but we do have lots of flexibility, lots of options and incomes that let us support our families.

And hospitals have been using unskilled labor for all of eternity. About every 10 years or so someone will decide they can hire people with 6 weeks of training and have them do much of the nursing "tasks". It lasts a few years and then the studies come out showing that nosicomial infections rise and hospital stays are lengthened and then they go back to hiring LVN/RNs.

I don't want a commercial that says I WANT AN RN. I have worked with a lot of great LVNs and I would not want to discount their role and the help they give me.

[medsurgnurse, RN]

I to would like to see a commercial " I want an RN". That would be great for people to see that the RN does more than bring warm blankets for you and coffee for your family. The RN must know multiple medications, interactions, side effects, diseases, treatments ans on and on. Anyone can hand a pill to you in a cup, but an RN (some LPN) know what the pill is for, how it works, what are the side effects, interactions etc

[Katnip, RN]

I think the waiting lists in nursing schools have more to do with lack of instructors and a bad economy.

Historically, when the economy is bad, nursing school have waiting lists. It happened for a while in the '70s and there was a period in the early 80s as well when nursing schools had waits of up to 3 years.

I like the ads. It shows nursing in a positive light. As for non-licensed people, I don't know what we'd do without our techs.

A good tech is worth his or her weight in gold. They free up the nurse to do what a nurse is taught to do...assessments and treatments. They are our eyes and ears where patients are concened. They're our partners in patient care.

[RN4NICU, LPN, LVN]

I don't mind the J&J commercials themselves, but if I have to hear that "dare to care" song that plays during the commercials one more time, I may vomit.

I agree - an "I want an RN" commercial would be much better - and no stupid song.

[RN4NICU, LPN, LVN]

I think the waiting lists in nursing schools have more to do with lack of instructors and a bad economy.

Historically, when the economy is bad, nursing school have waiting lists. It happened for a while in the '70s and there was a period in the early 80s as well when nursing schools had waits of up to 3 years.

I like the ads. It shows nursing in a positive light. As for non-licensed people, I don't know what we'd do without our techs.

A good tech is worth his or her weight in gold. They free up the nurse to do what a nurse is taught to do...assessments and treatments. They are our eyes and ears where patients are concened. They're our partners in patient care.

Lack of instructors has to do with post graduate education being recognized and rewarded with peanuts. Staff nurses earn more. Nurse practitioners earn more. Why teach?? You have to really have a passion for it and be willing to sacrifice everything that the extra income would provide. I would love to teach, but I am not willing to sacrifice my lifestyle to take the paycut at this point. It will depend on the direction hospital nursing takes over the next several years of my career - it may be worth it to me at some point to get out of the hospital setting.

On a brighter note, ANA is trying to get a bill passed that will require hospitals to post, on each unit - where the public can see - the number of RN's working that on that unit, that shift and relate it to the number of patients on the unit. I think that is a great idea!!

[sharann, BSN, RN]

Call me sappyt, but I liked the song and commercial. I still think that a commercial on safe and appropriate staffing would be a real public service.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

nurses for a healthier tomorrow (nht) is a coalition of 42 nursing and health care organizations working together to wage a communications campaign to attract people to the nursing profession.

http://www.nursesource.org/mission.html

career profilesthe nurse careerfaq's

nurse educator recruitment campaign

http://www.nursesource.org/campaign_news.html

careers in nursing campaign

http://www.nursesource.org/campaign_newscin.html

careers in nursing campaign

for details on nht's careers in nursing campaign, which features downloadable ads/flyers, public service announcements, and movie theatre advertisements, click here.

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ny state nurses association campaign respose to ana's "every patient deserves an rn" campaign --started in 1998

"every patient deserves an rn" - grid illustrating the differences in nursing care when delivered by an rn versus and unlicensed person

http://www.nysna.org/images/pdfs/practice/epdarnchart.pdf

nysna practice and governmental affairs

disclose rn staffing levels: talking points

every patient deserves a registered nurse

• if you're sick enough to require hospital or nursing home care you need skilled nursing care. in many facilities throughout the state there are fewer and fewer registered nurses per patient. in some cases the ratio is as bad as it was during the height of the nursing shortage in the early 1990s.
  
• nurses report a "thinning" of the rn staffing that results in too many patients and not enough nurses to give quality nursing care and/or a heavy reliance on unlicensed/assistive personnel to care for patients. the proliferation of unlicensed healthcare personnel fragments patient care and confuses patients about who is providing care. providing continuity of care under such circumstances is very difficult.
  
  • no one on the nursing staff besides the rn can use professional judgment to assess a patient's needs.
    
  • no one on the nursing staff can delegate skilled nursing care to an unlicensed person.
    
  • no one should assign unlicensed persons to work with medically fragile patients without adequate and ongoing supervision by an rn.
    

  [*]one way to stop these unacceptable practices is to disclose information to patients and their families (or potential patients) about rn staffing ratios. this will empower consumers to use their purchasing power to demand adequate nursing care.

nursing quality of care indicators must be disclosed to patients

• the american nurses association has identified a prototype for nursing report cards which includes specific patient outcome indicators related to nurse staffing. these indicators include rates of medication errors, nosocomial infections, skin ulcers, patient falls and other similar "errors" in the delivery of health care.
  
• patients must have easy access to information about the quality of nursing care to judge for themselves the differences among healthcare facilities.
  
• every effort must be made to collect and study data that relates to a nursing model of quality care.
  
• in the future, nursing outcomes of care must be developed and must guide health care policy decisions.
  

make sure a "nurse" is a nurse

• health consumers have the right to verify the credentials of licensed professionals and to know the names and titles of professionals and other healthcare workers who provide services.
  
• the titles "registered professional nurse" and "licensed practical nurse" can only be used by qualified licensees.
  
• the public trusts that nurses licensed by the state meet minimum competency requirements established to protect the consumer.
  
• unfortunately, in new york state, the term "nurse" can be used by anyone. the difficulty in making sure a "nurse" is a nurse has been compounded by the recent trend of using job titles for unlicensed personnel such as "nurse technician" which can easily mislead the public.
  
• the use of the term "nurse" must be limited to licensed personnel (rns and lpns)
  

http://www.nysna.org/programs/legislative/points/dsr2003.htm

[KacyLynnRN]

I think the long waits to get into nursing programs have more to do with lack of instructors...because they are paid peanuts for long, hard work from what I hear....also I don't know if there would ever be a 'glut' of nurses, only because our job is really hard, let's face it...sucks a lot of the time, and a lot of people can not deal with it. I graduated LPN school in 2002 and already there are 4 girls out of the 24 I graduated with that have left nursing and say they never want to work in nursing again. That's almost 20% of my graduating class, and it's only been 2 years since graduation!! Pretty bad statistics, in my opinion.....

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

You know what? I don't really care what it's "real purpose" is supposed to be.

I love that commercial in that it shows nurses, men and women, in a professional setting doing a professional job and has a bright happy feeling about it.

Exactly, thank you.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

An "I want an RN" commercial is going to suceed in leaving LPNs asking "um what about me?"

[warrior woman]

An "I want an RN" commercial is going to suceed in leaving LPNs asking "um what about me?"

As well it should.