Thankful for nurses: J&J's new campaign aims to reset pandemic clock back to gratitude
Friday, December 3, 2021
Source: Endpoints News
In the early days of the pandemic, people cheered for nurses – delivering food, writing thank you notes and ringing bells nightly to show their appreciation. But something shifted this summer, and now Johnson & Johnson wants to remind people of the gratitude that nurses still deserve.
Call it politics or pandemic weariness or the result of almost two years of a deadly pandemic, but nurses today face threats and mistreatment from patients and their angry family members. And nurses are leaving the profession in record numbers.
J&J’s new ad campaign “Nurses Rise to the Challenge Every Day” launches online and in local newspapers on Sunday, aiming to shine a positive spotlight on the profession. It also includes J&J doubling down on its education, fellowships, scholarships and programs to support nurses.
In the campaign video ad, close-up shots reveal tired nurses in scrubs and as they wearily remove masks, a scroll reads: “You give 100% of yourself, then somehow find 50% more.”
At the heart of the campaign are the many roles that nurses take on: scientist, pioneer, healer and rock star in the video ad, while the print ad lists dozens more including teacher, therapist, cheerleader, entrepreneur, influencer, dot-connector and mind reader. Social media posts have a similar theme with “Nurses are” in attention-getting red letters, while the roles scroll and change in the gif animation.
“When you fast forward to where we are now and look around online, pretty much all you see is stress, burnout and turnover – at upwards of 20% per year,” said Lynda Benton, senior director of global community impact strategic initiatives for J&J Nursing.
She added, “It’s an important step to take to reaffirm our commitment to the profession, but also go back and put a positive message out there. People cannot forget how important nurses are to the healthcare system. If you don’t have nurses, the system falls apart.”
Nurses are already leaving, though. Recent statistics from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nursing and residential care facilities lost 11,000 jobs in November. The same report shows 450,000 healthcare jobs lost since February 2020.
And if they’re not outright leaving, they are thinking about it. Among 6,600 critical care numbers, 66% have considered leaving their jobs because of the pandemic, a survey from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses found this year. Almost all of them (92%) believe the pandemic will shorten nurses’ careers. The nursing group launched its own campaign, “Hear Us Out,” in September to give a realistic window into their frontline reality and urge people to get vaccinated.
As part of the effort, J&J is asking nurses to tell their stories online and partnering with “The Drew Barrymore Show,” planning to include some of them in upcoming nurses-themed episode.