D., RN, associate director of the North Carolina Center for Nursing, which consulted 200 children through focus groups to come up with a video, a poster, a public service announcement and the song above. We have nurses out there working under dire conditions. Television programs, newspapers and movies put nurses in a poor light if they mention nurses at all, educators say whereas generations past might have been inspired by the biographies of wartime nurses such as Clara Barton or Edith Cavell. Nursing recruiters must persuade children who ve heard about poor salaries that the actual compensation isn t bad and improves over time, that the work is rewarding even if it is difficult and that there s a lot more to it than assisting a physician. Recruiters are frustrated that parents, teachers and particularly guidance counselors push bright students with an interest in health toward careers in medicine.
Recruiters say they have had only limited success persuading such youths to consider nursing.
Most recruitment drives are comprised of one or two paid staff members and a large cadre of volunteers. Most of the projects haven t been around long enough to measure results. The next best thing is to simulate that exposure by letting a student tag along for a day. Good marks in math and science are required. Of the 30 percent who respond, more than half say they plan to go into nursing.