In response to the nation-wide nursing shortage, Johnson & Johnson launched "The Campaign for Nursing's Future", a multi-year initiative to attract more people to the nursing profession. This $20 million advertising campaign has brought new energy and excitement to the profession. The first commercials began airing during the 2000 Winter Olympic Games and continue on prime-time national television. The campaign depicts real life nurses who feel good about themselves and their profession.

The campaign focus is on two key areas. The first is raising awareness of the value and importance of the nursing profession, then helping to recruit more students into the nursing schools and more needed faculty members to teach them. There are 65 nurses profiled on the Johnson & Johnson web site www.discover-nursing.com. The website raises awareness of the many opportunities that, Nursing provides. It features links to accredited nursing programs. Students may select a program by state, region, type of program, and size of school. There is also a database for student scholarships.

Mary Foley, Immediate Past President of American Nurses Association and an advisor to the Johnson & Johnson Campaign, said, "Nurses are the face, the hands, and the heart of health care. Their skilled care provides the safety net. Without them, the nation's health care suffers. I've been a nurse for many years and this Campaign inspires me, I believe it will help attract the talent we need to revitalize the profession for the years ahead."

The Campaign for Nursing's Future has committed significant fundraising for nurse faculty scholarships and fellowships. These scholarships and grants will be administered by the National League for Nursing Foundation for Nursing Education. Details about the grant program are available on the NLN website at www.nln.org.

Johnson &. Johnson's Credo is "We believe nursing is the essence of caring, and feel it is critical to help resolve, the deepening nursing shortage in America." Our commitment represents a top corporate priority for Johnson & Johnson to help resolve the shortage and Our Credo commitment to nurses, the community and health care.

Join us at this year's luncheon and be part of Nurses Answering the Call.