Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Jan. 10, 2002, edition 1 / Page 5
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State at forefront of fight to gain nurses BY COURTNEY GAILLARD THE CHRONICLE <i The N.C. Center for Nurst, ing (NCCN) wants you - not to remind you of your routine check-up but for a job in nurs ing. Grants have been distrib uted to state hospitals and agen cies, posters are hanging in schools, brochures have been printed and passed out, and public service announcements are being aired on radio and tel evision. Why all of this propa ganda? you might ask. TTiis major public relations effort is part of the new "Nursing: The Power to Make a Difference" campaign to promote the nurs ing profession to children and young adults in the beginning stages of choosing a future career path. As the need for health care booms and will continue to skyrocket all over the country, N.C. nursing professionals fear that if the youths of today are misinformed about this critical and important profession in the medical field, it may be extremely detrimental to the nursing shortage expected to intensify by 2010. After spending the past cou ple of years performing random surveys in four counties of 300 students in he sixth, 10th and 12th grades. NCCN determined it needed to not only clear up the myths regarding the nursing industry but focus on young people for a massive recruit ment process. The reason is simple: to plant the seed of interest in as many young minds as possible. Surveys showed that most children are interested in jobs that would be intellectually challenging after completing KRT Photo Studies have found that the nursing profession appeals to people who want to make a dif ference in people's lives. Above, Florida R.N. Darryl Ephriam chats with a patient. college. However, those same children were not aware of the career progression in pursing, therefore hindering the field for career consideration. Many young people have been under the impression that a nurse's duties involved only bedside assistance and taking orders from a physician. NCCN wants children to know that nurses do perform those tasks, but that nurses also make independent choices on a moment-to moment basis. Dennis Sherrod, associate director of recruitment and retention programs for NCCN, says that the focus is geared toward growing nurses from within the state whereas in past public "relations efforts, nurses were recruited from neighbor ing states and even overseas. The goal is to get youngsters interested ar.d informed so that they can go home and educate their parents about nursing. "(NCCN) is looking to get kids from the community in our marketing for the health care field," Sherrod said. "The cen ter is encouraging employers to promote interest and awareness to kids in communities that they serve; that should have a big impact on the campaign." The organization has found that one factor has remained: nursing is the field of choice for people who want to make a dif ference in people's lives; thus the campaign slogan "Nursing: the Power to Make a Differ ence" has been adopted as a theme. Posters and video vignettes have been designed for middle and high schools as well as talking points for working nurs es to use when educating the public about the profession. NCCN is relying on some of its best nurses to serve as ambassa dors in the 'Talk with Kids about Nurses" marketing strate gy in order to get past what it calls the "squeamish factor " - ?the fear of blood, injections and death related to a nursing posi tion - so as to cater to children who might be sensitive to the matter and to also avoid scaring away potential nursing stu dents. The demand for nurses is expected to affect the entire country, but officials say North Carolina is out in front with a strong marketing campaign under the direction of Bernard Hodes Advertising Agency, a national agency that specializes in recruitment and human resources. Past campaign marketing was also geared toward nursing schools, which it still is. hut now NCCN is making a stronger and consistent effort of promoting nursing to youths and minorities to reflect the populations being served in North Carolina. In its current "Nursing Excellence Directo ry," NCCN comments on the fact that it has performed inad equately in recruiting? ethnic and even male nurses into the field. Sherrod says the center is making certain that all recruit ing materials and activities will appeal to and draw diverse, can didates by even having a pres ence at social and cultural events and even expos attended by minorities across the state.. "(NCCN) is making great strides in North Carolina." Sherrod said. "We have a lot of people working together to address this need for nurses." Bill Means, coordinator for recruitment, retention and aca demic development for the Northwest Area Health Educa tion Center (AHEC), said AHEC also is reaching out to school-age students. AHEC. which is a 'part of the Wake Set Nurses <m A10 Good, bad news about life expectancy in state NMX'IAL roTHKCHRONICU RALEIGH - A new report from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services State Center for Health Statistics show s that the average North Carolinian bom today will live to be more than 75 years old. The bad news, however, is that nearly 13 of those years will be spent in fair or poor health. Titled '"Healthy Life Expectancy in North Carolina. 1996-2000." the report is the first information on life expectancy of North Carolinians available since 1990, according to Paul Buesch er, chief of the center's statistical services unit. The current life expectancy at birth is 75.6 years, compared to 74.5 years in 1990 and 72.9 years in 1980. "The report shows that there are substantial differences in IHe expectancy by-race and sex." Buescher said. "Females ljye longer than males and whites I iv?> longer than persons of minority race The average life expectancy at birth is 73.8 years for white males. 79.6 years for white females, 68.0 years for minority males, antl 75.8 years for minority females." Several measures of ill health are used to estimate years of "healthy" life remaining. The average years of healthy life remaining at birth - based on health status as perceived by the individual is 63.0. This means that 12.6 of the 75.6 years of life expectancy will be spent in a con dition where health status is per ceived to be fair or poor. Females and minorities spend a higher number of their remaining years of life w ith health problems- or some activity limitation. The average number of years from birth w ith health status perceived as fair or poor is 10.6 for white males. 13.0 for white females, 14.7 for minority males and 16.5 for minority females. To produce these estimates, the author, of tlie study combined death certificate data with data from a random telephone survey of N.C. adults asking questions about perceived health, physical health, mental health and activity limitation. 0 Thursday,January 17, 6-8 p.m. New Hope United Methodist Church 5125 Shattalon Drive, Winston-Salem. ? Hear a presentation of the current Thoroughfare Plan for Winston-Salem and Forsyth County ? Get information about the draft Thbroughfare Plan update ? Learn about the comprehensive Transportation & Land Use Study for the Town of Bethania ? Comment sheets will be available ^ for written comments about the draft Thoroughfare Plan ^ Questions? Call Greg Venable at 727-2707 E-mail: gregv@cityofws.org p Sponsored by the [J I ill Winston-Salem M| Uil Department of X? Winston Sainu Transportation '?"j ^trent'ion Homeowners ^ * With A Loan From The Associates Roy Cooper As your North Carolina Attorney General, I'm proud that our state has the toughest laws in the country to keep had lenders from getting homeowners into bad deals. Recently, we won refunds for thousands of customers who purchased credit insurance on their mortgages with The Associates between August 1, 1995 and July 1, 2000. If you are eligible, you'll he receiving a letter from me that details how you can get jj the jefund you deserve. Please read it carefully and return the forms quickly if you qualify. ' We're on the lookout for lenders who charge illegal fees that rob homeowners^? the equity they've built up in their homes. - ? This practice is known as predatory lending, and it's wrong. No one should be ** ] charged unnecessary add-ons to their mortgage. \'3k 'I Remember, your home loan is your biggest investment. Make sure it's not your biggest mistake! ? J ! I For more information about predatory lending or The Associates settlement, please call the Consumer Protection Division of my office at (919) 716 6000. j^^^_ Attorney General North Carolina Make'sure lenders M give you a Not Paid for at Taxpayer Expense * |
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Jan. 10, 2002, edition 1
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