National League for Nursing Honors Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future at 2010 Education Summit

President's Award for Transforming the Image of Nursing Announced Friday, October 1 at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

Originally published in National League for Nursing

New York, NY — October 25, 2010 —the National League for Nursing honored its partnership with the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future, bestowing one of the League's prestigious President's Awards at a ceremony held during the NLN's 2010 Education Summit, "Shaping History, Reforming Health Care: The Power of Nursing Education."

NLN president Cathleen Shultz, PhD, RN, CNE, FAAN, presented the NLN President's Award for Transforming the Image of Nursing to Andrea Higham, director of the Campaign for Nursing's Future, who accepted on Johnson & Johnson's behalf.

Among the many successful facets of J&J's Campaign for Nursing's Future, Dr. Shultz noted, has been its collaboration with the NLN and the NLN Foundation for Nursing Education to fund the J&J/NLN Faculty Leadership and Mentoring Program. Since 2007, when the program was launched, League members - seasoned and emerging leaders in nursing education - selected through a competitive process, have personally benefited from the opportunity to participate in a two-year project in leadership development.

"We remain indebted to the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future for its continued support of this transformative faculty development experience, and we applaud our partners at J&J for having the vision to make resources available to promote workforce development for nurses and nurse educators," said Dr. Shultz. "They understand that raising the standard of care provided by America's nurses is one key barometer of the 'health' of our nation's health care system. Their media activities have drawn the nation's attention to the pressing need for nurses and nurse educators. They have significantly impacted nursing enrollments and the capacity of programs to teach."

"For nearly 10 years, the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future has been dedicated to showcasing the value of nurses, and we are honored to receive this recognition of our longstanding commitment to our nation's caregivers," said Ms. Higham, "As the US health care system evolves and nurses continue to play an increasingly important role, we will expand our reach through targeted initiatives, including a new outreach program to promote advanced practice nursing that will promote excellence and ultimately, retain and recruit an exceptional force of nurses."

The campaign, which began in February 2002, grew from the company's concerns about the impact of the current and projected future shortage of RNs and by the steep drop in the rates of enrollment in and graduation from nursing education programs in the latter half of the 1990s. Through the campaign, Johnson & Johnson has committed extensive resources and spearheaded the fundraising of millions of dollars, making a substantial investment in a challenge it recognizes as critical to its corporate mission and values and to the welfare of society-at-large.

One of the most exciting initiatives has been the local fundraising celebrations of nursing under the banner, "The Promise of Nursing." These events have engaged local health care organizations that employ nurses to spend an evening recognizing the nursing profession and raising funds for faculty and student scholarships. Johnson & Johnson has also funded several independent research projects on the nursing shortage.