The Nurses' Growing Role in Media - Greater Birmingham Chapter

Nurse Alice will share her career climb, highlighting her work with NBNA, ANA, AARP, AHA, NAACP, and The National Urban League, which was intertwined with health policy work.

Learn how using media as a form of advocacy is not about being popular but about making an impact and creating positive change for our profession and the public.

Objectives:

• Discuss the image of nursing in media today.
• Describe the findings of the Woodhull studies.
• Discuss the significance of nursing’s image in media.
• Identify barriers that limit nursing’s presence in media.
• Identify specific actions nurses can take to increase their visibility in media.
• Identify opportunities for nurses to use media as a form of advocacy.

Class Description

The current landscape of nursing in media is characterized by a notable underrepresentation. Despite nurses being central to healthcare, their voices are rarely heard in media narratives. The seminal Woodhull Studies on Nursing and the Media confirm this, showing nurses were cited as sources in a mere fraction of health news stories, with minimal progress over 20 years.

This underrepresentation has significant implications. Media profoundly influences public opinion and policy-making, and the absence of nurses from these conversations  means that a holistic view of healthcare is often missing, which can impact both policy and care outcomes.

Overcoming barriers to media presence—such as stereotypes, a lack of media training among nurses, and the media's traditional focus on physicians as spokespeople—is  crucial. Nurses can increase their visibility by engaging with media through training, building journalist relationships, utilizing social media, and contributing to publications.

Utilizing media as an advocacy tool is also vital. By speaking on issues like patient safety and health policy, nurses can shift the healthcare dialogue. Pioneers  like Alice Benjamin show us how to exemplify the power of nurses to harness media, advocate for the profession, and enhance public health discourse.

By participating in this class, you will get the opportunity to obtain one (1) CE from Nurse Approved LLC, a CA BRN approved Continuing Education Provider #17734.

As a participant, you will receive a copy of the presentation deck and access to the pre-recorded webinar for three months in the MediaRX portal.

Requirements to obtain the CE:

1. Full attendance of the webinar.

2. Completion of a brief evaluation.