Dear Editor,
As I finished reading volume 23(6), November/December 2009, of the Clinical Nurse Specialist journal, I found myself thinking about an editorial by Janet S. Fulton, PhD, RN, and wondering about its implications for advanced practice nurses (APNs).
In her article, Dr Fulton stated that "it is next to impossible to find a clinical nurse specialist or a staff nurse, if you were to try and locate one using hospitals' Web sites."(pp287,288) As soon as I finished reading the article, I went on a mission. I opened Web sites of 5 large, multihospital health care systems in Indiana. Of the Web sites examined, none had a link for nursing. These Web sites had links such as find a doctor, medical services, visitor information, locations, mission, and outreach, but nothing about nursing services. This phenomenon became very intriguing to me. I found myself thinking, here is a marketing opportunity that APNs can use to promote the profession to the public. My question then was, does an opportunity exist for nursing to promote the profession to the public by using hospital Web sites?
A Web site is a strong communication medium. Although I like the analogy of a hospital's Web site as "the new front door," I find myself disturbed by the fact that nursing has no "welcome mat." Is nursing working in the shadows? Is nursing losing out on an opportunity to capitalize on the many benefits that come from being out in the public eye? Should APNs be working on removing the barriers to laying a nursing welcome mat to the hospital?
My conviction is that APNs should use all available media to publicize the services that nurses provide in the hospital. A Web site link can also be used to describe the different kinds of nurses and their qualifications. More and more, consumers are interacting with sophisticated forms of technology to streamline and manage virtually all aspects of their lives. There is increasing use of the Internet by those older than 65 years, and more adult Internet users seek health-related information on the Internet. Given this increased use of the Internet, I say that APNs must be creative and devise electronic means to publicize to the public the services of nursing. This publication can be easily done by using hospital Web sites to promote the profession. What a great way for nursing to provide information about nursing to the public and to help them understand that nurses and physicians work together to maintain the health and wellness of the community. In addition, the public will learn that nurses are just as important as physicians and other health care providers in the delivery of health care process.
I think the public needs a constant reminder of what nurses do around the clock to sustain the health and well-being of the public and in particular within health care organizations. I believe that APNs, as the leaders of the nursing profession, have a responsibility to promote the profession to the public. Advanced practice nurses must continue to be active in the "bread-and-butter" politics of promoting the profession. It is my conviction that, if APNs develop marketing material for inclusion in hospital, Web sites will serve as a strong channel for promoting what nurses do, what nursing responsibilites are, and what roles nurses play in the hospital nursing to the public.
Implication for APNs. As the leaders of nursing, APNs should find and utilize all means to promote nursing profession to the public. There should be a concerted effort to publicize nursing on hospital Web sites. Through the Web site avenue, nursing should educate the public about the specific contributions of various specialties of nurses. For example, as we enter into the 21st century, and with nurses becoming more intrumental in the delivery of health care and the related costs, I think that the public ought to be more educated about how it can best utilize the services of nurses.
In conclusion, I say that APNs should make it a national effort to utilize hospitals' Web sites. Every APN should find ways to push for a nursing services link in their hospital's Web site. Start with the chief nursing officers. Let's make it a nursing mission that, every hospital's Web site will have a link to nursing services, with a vision that, by 2015 the public will be able to get answers about the different kinds of nursing certification, contributions of nursing to health care delivery, health carecost containment, and the difference between the services of a physician/other health care providers and the services of nurses.
Juliana Mwose, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC
Valparaiso University School of Nursing Indiana