UCSF School of Nursing faculty are partnering with the American Nurses Association\California to launch a new educational series that will empower nurses to translate their work for the general public and advance health care.
The new online series will train California nursing faculty on how to effectively work with the news media, write op-eds and use social media to advance their work and research. Nurses have the knowledge and expertise that is vital to the public discourse on improving health care, health policy and health equity.
“Having nursing faculty equipped to effectively communicate our work, our science, our clinical expertise, and research findings is essential in combatting misinformation and focusing on discipline-centric solutions that are insufficient to achieve health equity and improve outcomes,” said Monica McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN, associate professor at the School of Nursing.
Although nursing has been consistently recognized as the most trusted profession, the 1998 Woodhull Study found that nursing voices were cited 4 percent of the time in health news stories. The study was repeated in 2018 and found that the figure had dropped to 2 percent.
The new educational series — a project being spearheaded by McLemore and UCSF School of Nursing faculty Ifeyinwa V. Asiodu, PhD, RN, Orlando Harris, PhD, MPH, FNP, and Jerry John Nutor, PhD, RN — aims to change these figures and increase the visibility of nursing voices in support of public health.
"The importance of nursing presence in the media is paramount to our ability to educate and advocate on behalf of our patients, health care institutions, and on behalf of nursing programs to assure patients' access to appropriate, timely, and quality care and also to assure the future of our profession,” said ANA\California Board President Anita Girard, DNP, RN, NEA-BC. “There are 4 million nurses in the United States and when you combine it with the fact that nurses were ranked the most ethical and trusted profession for the past 18 consecutive years, it is clear nurses hold a special place in the heart of the American people. We are honored to be in such a position of responsibility and trust."
Planning is underway. The dates and registration information for the online series will be announced as details become available.
Funding for this project is provided by the UCSF Academic Senate and the ANA\California.
(Story posted Aug. 4, 2020)