Nurses urge U.S. to change name of "Doctor Day" campaign

Last week the Center for Nursing Advocacy launched a campaign to persuade the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to change the name of its annual "Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day" campaign to one that would not exclude Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs), who provide vital primary care to the very minorities the campaign targets. The nurses' campaign has been joined by prominent nursing groups including the American Nurses Association, American College of Nurse-Midwives, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. Nurses have already sent more than 200 letters to HHS and prominent urban radio figure Tom Joyner, who serves as honorary chair of the HHS campaign.

"We believe this name change would enhance the HHS campaign's effect on the target populations, and at the same time address the public image problem that is a critical factor in the nursing shortage," said Center Executive Director Sandy Summers. "Over 200,000 APRNs provide high quality, cost-effective health care in the U.S. today. And despite some unsupported remarks you might hear in the media, research has shown that APRN care is at least as good as that of physicians. APRNs should not be excluded from the name of a campaign addressing health disparities that they do so much to reduce."

APRNs generally have graduate nursing degrees, and they include Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Midwives, Nurse Psychotherapists, Nurse Anesthetists and Clinical Nurse Specialists. Many practice in otherwise underserved urban and rural areas.

Summers noted that HHS has in the past asked APRN organizations to help promote the so-called "Doctor Day" campaign. "That's ironic, don't you think?" she asked. "Of course nurses support the worthy goals of the campaign. But it makes no sense to ask APRNs to promote a campaign whose name tells people to see someone else for care in which the APRNs themselves are expert."

"The nursing shortage is threatening lives worldwide," noted Summers. "Most if not all the factors contributing to the shortage are directly related to a lack of understanding about nurses' life-saving contributions. But recognition of APRNs in a major federal campaign like this one would tell everyone that nurses are a vital part of our health care team."

For reference, the contact information of the relevant officials is at the bottom of this press release.

(Nurses, click here to take action)

On December 7, 2004 our Executive Director sent the following letter to Secretary Thompson, HHS officials and Tom Joyner.

Dear Secretary Thompson, Tom Joyner, Garth Graham, Tuei Doong, Teresa Chapa, Cynthia Amis and Blake Crawford:

I am writing to request that you change the name of the Department's "Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day" campaign to one that would not exclude Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) including Nurse Practitioners, Nurse Midwives, Nurse Psychotherapists and Clinical Nurse Specialists. This modest change would enhance the campaign's effect on the very minority populations the campaign targets, which are served in significant part by APRNs. At the same time, it would address the public image problem that is a critical factor in the nursing shortage, one of the nation's most urgent public health crises.

At the outset, I note that APRNs are already within the scope of the campaign, as your press release announcing the September 2004 campaign included nurses when it urged the public to make appointments with physicians or "other health professionals." So it would appear that the critical issues are whether the campaign's name adequately reflects who is likely to be providing care to those it targets, and whether it serves the Department's overall purpose of promoting public health. We submit that a change to include APRNs would better serve both these goals.

As you know, the campaign is intended primarily to reduce health disparities affecting ethnic and racial minorities. Often, in the communities of these minorities, APRNs primary health care is one of the only, or even the only, practical option for many residents. The nation's 100,000+ APRNs provide high quality, cost-effective primary care to both adults and children. Substantial research confirms that APRN care is at least as good as that of physicians. And the holistic, community-oriented approach of APRNs is an excellent fit for the target populations of this campaign.

The change we recommend would also serve to ease the critical nursing shortage, which is currently threatening lives nationwide and could be a major problem in the nation's response to any significant mass casualty event. One key factor in the shortage is the low level of public understanding of the real contributions of nurses. Today's nurses--though still subject to regressive stereotypes in most popular media--are highly skilled, life-saving professionals who are changing the future of health care through groundbreaking research and clinical innovation. Prominent recognition of the contributions of APRNs through a major public campaign like this one would remind the public that nurses are a vital part of the nation's health care team.

We recognize that the current campaign title is catchy, and perhaps it has tested well in focus groups. However, surely some other alternative could communicate the basic idea in an equally effective way. A potential idea might include "Take a Loved One for a Check-Up Day," but we're sure that your professional staff could come up with many options.

Please let me know if I can be of any assistance in pursuing this modest change, which would make a big difference for nurses, their patients, and the nation as a whole. Thank you very much.

Sandy Summers, RN, MSN, MPH
Executive Director
Center for Nursing Advocacy

Campaigns initiated by the Center for Nursing Advocacy have recently inspired nurses the world over to come together to protest harmful media depictions. Since last year, these efforts have led to the removal of "naughty nurse" advertising images created by Skechers, Disney, Clairol, Pennzoil and Physicians Formula cosmetics company. Other successful campaigns include those regarding Dr. Phil, Vogue, Jeopardy! and shock jock Mancow.

The Center for Nursing Advocacy, founded in 2001, is a Baltimore-based non-profit that seeks to increase public understanding of the central, front-line role nurses play in modern health care. The focus of the Center is to promote more accurate, balanced and frequent media portrayals of nurses and increase the media's use of nurses as expert sources.

The following are among those who sit on the Center's Board of Directors or Advisory Panel:

Diana J. Mason, PhD, RN, FAAN, Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Nursing;

Claire Fagin, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean Emerita, Professor Emerita, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing;

Pam Maraldo, PhD, RN, President, PJM Associates, former CEO, National League for Nursing

Beatrice Kalisch, PhD, RN, FAAN, Titus Distinguished Professor of Nursing, Division Director, Nursing Business and Health Systems, University of Michigan School of Nursing;

Nancy Dickenson-Hazard, MSN, RN, Chief Executive Officer, Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society of Nursing;

Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN, Anna D. Wolf Endowed Professor of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing;

Maryann Fralic, DrPH, RN, Professor of Nursing, Director Corporate Relations, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing;

Linda C. Pugh, PhD, R.N.C., FAAN, Associate Professor, Director, Baccalaureate Program, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing;

Margaret S. Soderstrom, PhD, RN, CS-P, Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing;

Colonel Dena A. Norton (Ret.), MSN, RN, Administrator, Cenla Nursing Workforce Coalition, The Rapides Foundation; Retired Colonel and Former Director of Health Care Recruiting, HQ, US Army Recruiting Command;

Journalists Bernice Buresh and Suzanne Gordon--co-authors of From Silence to Voice: What Nurses Know and Must Communicate to the Public.

For more information on the "Doctor Day" campaign, contact:

Sandy Summers, MSN, MPH, RN
Executive Director
The Center for Nursing Advocacy
203 Churchwardens Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21212-2937
office 410-323-1100
fax 443-705-0260
cell 443-253-3738
ssummers@truthaboutnursing.org
www.truthaboutnursing.org

Contact information for HHS officials and Tom Joyner

Secretary Tommy Thompson
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
phone: 202-619-0257
fax 202-690-7203

Tom Joyner -- tomjoyner@blackamericaweb.com

HHS officials:

Garth Graham, MD, MPH, Director, 301-443-5084
          ggraham@osophs.dhhs.gov
Tuei Doong, Deputy Director, 301-443-5084
          tdoong@osophs.dhhs.gov
Mirtha Beadle, Acting Deputy Director
          mbeadle@osophs.dhhs.gov
Teresa Chapa, PhD, MPA, Director, Division of Policy and Data 301-443-9923
          tchapa@osophs.dhhs.gov
Cynthia Amis, Director, Division of Program Operations, 301-594-0769
          camis@osophs.dhhs.gov
Blake Crawford, Director Division of Information and Education, 301-443-5224
          bcrawford@osophs.dhhs.gov

They can be reached at this address:

Office of Minority Health
Department of Health and Human Services
The Tower Building
1101 Wootton Parkway Suite 600
Rockville, MD 20852
General number: 301-443-5084