Johnson & Johnson launches $20M campaign to recruit hospital nurses

     Johnson & Johnson recently announced that they will commit more than $20 million to  sponsor a multi-year campaign to attract more people to nursing in hospitals, where an acute shortage, which is expected to triple in the coming years, raises health concerns for Americans.

     The campaign was developed with national nursing organizations and addresses a shortage of nurses in hospitals and extended care facilities that the government estimates will increase from 126,000 today to more than 400,000 by the year 2020.  Gary Mecklenberg, president of the American Hospital Association, stated, "Our nation's hospitals will be facing extreme shortages of intensive care, emergency room and operating room nurses for the foreseeable future.  This Campaign will help us close the nursing gap so we will be prepared, as the population ages, to treat the large number of patients we expect in future."

     The Campaign for Nursing's Future includes: new recruitment brochures, posters and videos for 20,000 high schools and nursing schools; scholarship funds for students and nursing faculty and a multi-city scholarship fundraising campaign with hospitals; a Web site (www.discovernursing.com) for comprehensive information about nursing, scholarships and links to major nursing organizations; and a national advertising campaign to celebrate nurses and their contributions.