Reaching out: Organizational structures and public communication of nursing professional associations and trade unions in Portugal

Abstract

Aim: To describe the organizational structure and resources for strategic mediacommunication of nursing professional associations and trade unions in Portugal.Design and Methods: Quantitative study, with a cross-sectional, exploratory/ descriptive design. From October to November 2017, a questionnaire was sent to 21 nursing professional associations and trade unions in Portugal. Eleven (52.4%) organizations replied: nine professional associations and two trade unions.Results: The participating organizations rely on basic structures regarding strategic communication: 54.5% of them have less than 500 members; 63.6% of them have no communication budget; 54.5% of them have no formal communication structure, and only 27.3% of them hold events for the purpose of media coverage. Consequently, most of these organizations have occasional interactions with journalists, create messages about nursing problems, and directed mostly to nurses, perpetuating a circular communication.Conclusion: Nursing professional organizations have limited resources and lack of formal communication structures. The restricted interaction with the media and the "echoing" voice that propagates within the profession may hinder citizens' full understanding of its contribution. Nursing organizations must develop a nation-wide strategy that promotes transversal collaboration and resources optimization, with the purpose of increasing their media visibility and strengthening their Public Health mission. K E Y W O R D S media visibility, nursing professional associations, nursing trade unions, public communication, strategic communication 1 | BACKGROUND Nurses are the largest occupational group in the health sector and play a key role in promoting the well-being and quality of life of the populations they care for. They integrate multidisciplinary teams which work in a variety of settings (hospitals, outpatient departments, conflict scenarios, etc) and provide more than 80% of primary health care in some countries. 1 They promote public health and health literacy by ensuring vaccination and education for selfmanagement in areas such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular Nurs Forum. 2019;54:291-297. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/nuf are co-authors.problems. 2 In addition to direct patient care, nurses are also responsible for quality improvement programs, management development, teaching, and audit activities, and are actively involved with health policy.Despite nurses' major contribution to the economic and social development of a country, they are usually missing from the media coverage of the health sector and, consequently, kept away from public discussion. [3][4][5][6] Mason et al 4 analyzed 537 articles from 13American health publications and concluded that nurses were identified as sources of only 2% of quotes in the articles, were mentioned in 13% of stories, and were identified in 4% of images in the articles. The authors concluded that 20 years after the initial study, which found the profession was almost invisible, there were no significan...

Türkiye’deki Ulusal Hemşirelik Derneklerinin Etkinliklerine Bir Bakış

“…Hemşirelik okulları, sendikalar, dernekler ve sağlık kurumlarının bu anlamda iş birliği içerisinde olması önem arz etmektedir. 23,24 Uluslararası literatürde hemşirelik derneklerinin işleyişleri ve faaliyetleri incelendiğinde, hemşirelerin iş yükünün azaltılması eşitsizliklerin ortadan kaldırılması, profesyonel konularda farkındalığın arttırılması, işle ilgili sorunların paylaşımının sağlanması, çözüm önerilerinin oluşturulması, mesleki gelişim ve sosyalleşmenin sağlanması, eğitim fırsatlarının sağlanması, mesleki sigorta oluşturulması, akademik araştırmalarda ödenek sağlanması, yasal olarak hakların savunuculuğunun yapılması ve ortak ağ oluşturularak bilgi paylaşımın yapılması gibi faaliyetler sıralanmaktadır. 13,24,25 Uluslararası kapsamda dernek işleyişlerine İran örneği ile bakıldığında, hemşirelik dernekleri İran Anayasasına göre kurulmuş sivil toplum örgütleri olduğu ve hemşirelik ile ilgili düzenlemelerin kontrolü sağlık bakanlığı aracığı ile yapıldığı, birçok ülkede olduğu gibi İran'da da mesleki derneklere üyelik isteğe bağlı ve yasal olarak zorunlu olmadığı bilgisine ulaşılmıştır.…”

Associativism in nursing, public communication, and interaction with the media

“…Of the 11 associations participating in the first phase of the research (21) , those that had interacted frequently with the media were selected. Of the six associations representing different areas (professional regulation, defense of labor rights, and professional specialization), five agreed to participate.…”

“…In addition to media attention, it is intended to increase the importance of the association in the eyes of journalists and the public (standing) and obtain a favorable framing (preferred framing) of messages to be communicated (12) . Research produced in recent years have revealed: the scarce media coverage of the profession, with nurses being news sources in 1.5% to 6.6% of the total published health related news (7,(16)(17)(18) ; the media discourse tending to be negative, focusing on work problems, the shortage of nurses, and scandals in the profession (5,11,16,19) ; the reduced frequency of nurses' interaction with mass media (20) ; the existence of limited resources (reduced number of members and funding), the lack of formal communication structures, such as communication offices or spokespersons trained to interact with the media; and the spread of a discourse centered on professionals and little directed at citizens (21) .…”

Diplomatic activities of Iranian Nursing Organization: A qualitative study

“…Nurses are an important part of the healthcare system and predominantly involved in direct patient care. Therefore, nursing organizations are also highly important and have developed in national and international spheres over the recent years 3 . The number of nursing organizations and nurses, who are members of such organizations is currently on the increase in the United States and, hence, their implications to the nursing profession is becoming more evident 4 …”

“…Each organization is unique. Nonetheless, they are alike in creating a unified voice and enhancing the working conditions of nurses 3 …”