title: Lessons in media advocacy: a look back at Saskatchewan's nursing education debate.
abstract: Nurses are encouraged to exert their influence in the realm of public policy, particularly policies related to the nursing profession, the health care system and the health of their clients. Media advocacy can be used by nursing organizations to mobilize public support on policy issues in order to influence policy makers. This article retrospectively examined the media advocacy efforts of nursing stakeholders in Saskatchewan, Canada in response to a new government policy that would have impacted educational requirements for licensure as a registered nurse (RN) in that province. Print media sources from the period January to March, 2000 were examined to determine the specific media advocacy techniques used by nursing organizations within the framework of the policy cycle. The success of nursing stakeholders in reversing the government position highlights the effectiveness of media advocacy as a tool to disseminate messages from the nursing profession in order to impact policy.
authors.affiliation: 1University of Saskatchewan, Regina, SK, Canada.
authors.forename: Marie Dietrich
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Leurer
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D003254:Consumer Advocacy; D003657:Decision Making; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D004511:Education, Nursing, Graduate / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D011050:Policy Making; D011361:Professional Competence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012525:Saskatchewan
keywords: media advocacy; nursing education; political action; professional nursing organizations; public policy; regulation of nursing practice