Health communications: nursing education for increased visibility and effectiveness

The media play an influential role in American society. The challenge for health professionals, including nurses, is to translate and transmit complex health information for the public through many channels. Although nurses are trained to be effective communicators in practice, a recent study demonstrates that nurses are virtually invisible in the media. This lack of visibility limits nursing's ability to communicate important health information, impedes nursing's ability to define its role and contributions in the health care delivery system, and restricts nursing's ability to advocate for health policy. One option to improve nurses' ability to communicate effectively in all media venues is to integrate health communications content into nursing programs, which would provide nurses with the opportunity to develop advanced communication skills, media expertise, and new strategies for educating the public. Health communications programs exist in several colleges and universities, but not within nursing programs. Because nursing curricula are in a period of transition as changes in the health care environment are accommodated, health communications courses could be integrated into nursing programs as elective courses, graduate certificate programs, or a field of graduate study. Without creative educational strategies, nursing will remain invisible to the public and ineffective in its ability to influence the health care environment.