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Join Part II of the Center's "ER" Sponsors Campaign!

March 11, 2005 -- This week, the Center launches Part II of our "ER" sponsors campaign. We split the sponsors into two groups so you would have the time to be able to contact all the sponsors. We are asking you to continue contacting major corporations to ask them to stop advertising on "ER" until the show ends its damaging handmaiden portrayal of nursing. Much of this message is the same as Part I from last week--but the sponsors and their contact information is new. So please send snail mail letters (we'll help you streamline the process) to the remainder of the sponsors if you can--or at least send our instant email to the six sponsors.

Click here to take action now. Or to learn more first about the campaign: (repeat of last week's "ER" sponsor campaign:

Why is this campaign important?

It is important to join this campaign because research shows that school kids get their strongest impression of nursing from "ER" and they think nursing is a lowly technical job--just as "ER" portrays nursing to be. People think "ER" is real, but they have physician characters doing the work nurses do in real life (defibrillation, triage, patient education, emotional support, discharge planning, medication administration and supervising nurses). Since "ER" has basically refused to listen to nurses' concerns for the last three years, we need the sponsors to help us send the message that "ER" is spreading damaging misinformation about nursing. When the public thinks nursing has little value, decision-makers are unlikely to fund nursing clinical practice (which is why we have short-staffing), education or research. We need to educate the world about what nurses do to save lives and improve patient outcomes.That begins with "ER," the most influential purveyor of the handmaiden image of nursing. Please join our "ER" sponsors campaign! Thank you. How to proceed:

If you would like to learn more about our long-standing "ER" campaign, please go to our "ER" Action Center. Otherwise, let's go!

Step One:

Please click here to email American Express, H&R Block, McDonald's, Sprint, PepsiCo and Ford. You can send them our instant letter or one of your own. We have been able to get email addresses for six of the 24 corporations. (If you sent this in the first three hours of the campaign last week (March 3 before 7:30 pm) , please send us a copy of your email, or send it to the sponsors again. We are sorry--we had a technical problem and we didn't see the copies of your emails, but we need all of them. Thank you!)

Step Two:

Below is the second half of the sponsors. Since most corporations tightly guard the email addresses of their executives, we will need to contact most of them by phone, snail mail or fax. We realize that this takes time but our "ER" campaign is our most important campaign ever.

Automatically generate snail mail letters

To automatically generate snail mail letters we now have our form letter in Microsoft Word, so you can simply create 24 documents and put them in the mail. (We have all the sponsors in the table--you can leave out the ones you have already sent...) To do this, download these these forms:
sponsors_table.doc                (The database of sponsor addresses)
er_sponsors_form.doc           (The form letter--or you can insert your own)
full_mailing_labels.doc           (The mailing labels (1 1/3" x 4" or Avery 5162)) OR
envelopes_for_sponsors.doc (Envelopes for sponsors)

After you download the documents, open up Microsoft Word and enter your name and contact info at the top and bottom of the document. Change the letter or insert your own letter as you wish then save. Then select "tools", then "mail merge" then "merge." If it prompts you to find the data file, select the "sponsors_table.doc" file that you have downloaded. Then click on "merge" and "merge" again and your letters should be automatically generated. If you are using the envelopes file instead of the mailing labels, enter your name and contact info on the return address part of the envelope, then use the mail merge function again to generate envelopes with the sponsor names on them. Email me at ssummers@truthaboutnursing.org if you have trouble.

What to say when you call or write

How to proceed

Advertiser contact list

What to say when you call (or write):

Give people the basics:

1) You are a nurse, nursing student or nursing supporter;
2) You're upset about "ER"'s portrayal of nursing;
3) Please stop advertising on "ER."

If they seem inclined to listen longer, mention:

Nearly all causes of the nursing shortage can be traced back to public misunderstanding about nursing (driven by "ER"'s believable but inaccurate images). When society doesn't know what nurses do or why it is important, they don't have any reason to fund nursing clinical practice, education or research. Patients die when nurses are understaffed (specifically 31% more when a nurse's workload is doubled) and research also shows that short-staffing drives nurses from the profession. The nursing shortage is already a global health crisis and it's only predicted to worsen over the next two decades. We need "ER" to present accurate images of nursing so the world will begin to understand why nursing needs more public support--real support in terms of actual funding--not lip service.

What does "ER" do that's so inaccurate?

"ER": Physicians hire, fire and manage nurses.
Reality: Nurses hire, fire and manage nurses.

"ER": Physicians defibrillate, triage, give medications, educate patients how to tackle their health problems, provide emotional support and plan patient discharge.
Reality: Nurses defibrillate, triage, give medications, educate patients how to tackle their health problems, provide emotional support and plan patient discharge.

"ER": The show has about 10 major physician characters but only one nurse.
Reality: Level one trauma centers like that on "ER" have as many nurses as physicians.

"ER": Physician training is a huge focus, and nurse training does not exist.
Reality: Highly skilled nursing requires years of training and experience.

"ER": Nurses pursue graduate education only in medicine.
Reality: U.S. nurses are 50 times more likely to pursue graduate education in nursing.

"ER": Physicians provide all significant care and receive all credit for outcomes.
Reality: Nurses save lives and greatly improve patient outcomes.

How to Proceed:

If your last name starts with A-H, please start contacting people at the beginning of the list and work down. If your name starts with J-R, please start with Johnson & Johnson and work down, (then come back up and start at the top). If your name starts with S-Z, please start with PhRMA and work down, (then come back up and start at the top). This way, if not everyone is able to do the whole list, we will have spread out our impact. When you have finished, please let us know what you have done. And please don't miss steps 3, 4 and 5 below. Thank you!

Advertiser Contact List--Part II


Apple (recently advertised ipods, many times)

Mr. Philip W. Schiller
SVP, Worldwide Product Marketing
Apple Computer, Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
Apple Public Relations (408) 974-2042 press 2--do not press 3

General Motors (recent advertised Equinox and Malibu)

John F. Smith Jr.
Group VP, North American Vehicle Sales, Service, and Marketing
Mailcode: 482-A39D22
General Motors Corporation
300 Renaissance Center
Detroit, MI 48265-3000
Advertising dept. 313-667-2684 Lisa Stern
Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner's Fax: 517-272-3709

GlaxoSmithKline (recently advertised Imitrex and Zantac)

Director of Marketing (unsure of the contact's name)
GlaxoSmithKline
1 Franklin Plaza
Philadelphia, PA 19101
Toll Free: 888-825-5249 (ask for Customer Service)
Fax: 215-751-3233

J&J (recently advertised Acuvue, Neutrogena and Stayfree)

J. Andrea Alstrup
VP, Advertising
Johnson & Johnson
410 George St.
New Brunswick NJ 08901
General Phone: 732-524-0400 ask for Andrea Alstrup's office

Novartis (recently advertised Triaminic)

Barbara Tombros
Director of Alliance Development
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
1 Health Plaza
East Hanover, NJ 07936-1080
Barbara Tombros phone: 862-778-6491

P&G (recently advertised Crest; Nyquil; Oral B and Tide/Downy)

Mr. R. Kerry Clark
Vice Chairman; President, Global Market Development and Business Operations, and Director
The Procter & Gamble Company
1 Procter & Gamble Plaza
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: 513-983-1100 Ask for Kerry Clark's office
Fax: 513-983-9369

Pfizer (recently advertised Listerine and Zyrtec)

Ms. Kaki Hinton
VP, Advertising Services
Pfizer Inc.
201 Tabor Rd.
North Plains, NJ 07950
Phone: 973-385-2000 Ask for Kaki Hinton's office (pronounced "Kay-kee")

PhRMA (urge them to ask their members to stop advertising)

Ken Johnson
VP Communications
PhRMA
1100 Fifteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Ken Johnson's Phone: 202-835-3402
Assistant: Neda: 202-835-3479

Toyota (had five recent advertisements)

James Lentz
Group VP, Marketing, Toyota Division
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
19001 S. Western Ave.
Torrance, CA 90509
Phone: 310-468-4000 x 6285
Fax: 310-468-7800

Verizon (had three recent advertisements)

Tom Tauke
EVP Public Affairs and Communications
Verizon Communications Inc.
1095 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212-395-2121 ask for Tom Tauke's assistant Pat: (pronounced "taw-key")
Fax: 212-869-3265
Toll Free: 800-621-9900

Wyeth (recently advertised Advil)

Ms. Marily H. Rhudy
SVP, Public Affairs
Wyeth
5 Giralda Farms
Madison, NJ 07940-0874
Phone: 973-660-5000 Leela is Ms. Rhudy's assistant
Fax: 973-660-7026

Step Three:

After you have made your calls and sent your letters, please let us know what you have done so that we can keep track of the impact of your outreach (we will know if you sent the email letter, but nothing else). If no one tells us what she/he did, we will think nothing was done. We need to know how many letters, calls and faxes the campaign generated so we can put that in our next press release. Thank you.

Step Four:

Please ask your colleagues, nursing organizations, listservs, bulletin boards, friends, and family to join our "ER" campaign. We need the widest possible reach on this campaign, so please help us get the word out. Please send your contacts the first two paragraphs of this page and its URL <www.truthaboutnursing.org/letters/er/er_sponsors_2.html>, which explains what the campaign is and why they should join it.

Step Five:

If you would like to be notified of any tangible results of our campaign, please sign up for our free news alerts. Given our limited resources and technology, we can only contact letter-writers through the news alerts system. Thank you.

Thank you very much for your work in creating a more positive image for the nursing profession!!

Sandy Summers, RN, MSN, MPH
Executive Director
The Truth About Nursing
203 Churchwardens Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21212-2937
410-323-1100

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