The Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario (RPNAO) is trying to show all the different environments in which nurses work to fight misconceptions about the skill and knowledge required for the job.

With its new campaign, “Caring Ontario Forward,” five registered nurses talk about their skillset, the impact they have, and the connections they make with patients, in four two-minute videos, covering pediatrics, long-term and chronic care and HIV support.

“We had to do more than one ad to show the breadth of the types of work that RPNs do,” says Dianne Martin, RPNAO’s CEO.

https://youtu.be/4_ea-thadLA

“Nurses are not well understood in society,” admits Martin, a nurse herself. She tells strategy that unlike pharmacists or physicians, people do not grasp that nursing is a knowledge-based profession. “The public often does not understand the knowledge applied in nursing practice every day,” says Martin.

She says its members want to see themselves regularly represented so the public gets a better understanding of what they really do. With this campaign, the RPNAO wanted to show, in nurses’ own words, the high skill level they need to have in order to perform every day at work, as well as how patient-centered they are in their approach to care.

“Caring Ontario Forward,” is a marked departure from “In Good Hands,” the organization’s 2018 effort. That 30-second spot used a short voiceover and highlighted different ways in which a nurse’s hands are their best tools. It was RPNAO’s first integrated communications campaign, and included time during the broadcast of the Super Bowl, OOH, paid social media and search.

That approach was a shorter, more compassionate and less descriptive approach, Martin says. However, she adds that its messaging has a common foundation, regardless of the campaign year: nurses provide a high quality of care.

“Caring Ontario Forward” was developed by agency Co-Op and also includes a series of print ads and PR efforts targeting healthcare publications.