Mother's Day Gift: Nurses Find New Tool to Advocate for Their Profession, Says Healthcare Communications Specialist Candy Campbell

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May 04, 2011, 08:15 ET

CONCORD, Calif., May 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of National Nurses Week, May 6-12, and Mother's Day, May 8th, nurses have a new tool to advocate for their profession. With the book My Mom Is A Nurse (ISBN 978-09842385-0-7), Healthcare Communication Specialist Candy Campbell, RN, seeks to help bridge the gap in the long-range nursing shortage.

"As a profession, nurses are still recovering from the backlash of the women's lib movement," states the author. She recalls that for decades, the nursing profession was one of three accepted female career paths, but these days, many would-be nurses have opted for the physician's role. "Don't get me wrong, the world needs women physicians, too. One isn't better than the other, but they are definitely different."

The author quotes the 2010 US government report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), which recognizes that advanced education and training of nurses, a group over 3 million strong, hold the key to cutting healthcare costs and improving health and wellness. "People need to know what a diverse profession nursing is; there are opportunities to serve in so many capacities. We also need to attract and train enough qualified candidates. This book takes a small step in that direction," Campbell says.

She envisioned the book while searching for a baby-shower gift for one of her colleagues. "I was looking for a picture-book about the nursing profession that was informative, fun, and maybe had a little something special on each page, kind of like the classic Goodnight Moon. Unfortunately, there just wasn't anything available."

Fortunately, Campbell, who also has an award-winning documentary film to her credit (Micropremature Babies: How Low Can You Go?), was used to creative challenges. "I started to complain about not being able to find such a book, when it hit me. Aha! Sounds like my next must-do project."

My Mom Is A Nurse is a non-fiction book for ages 0-8, where children from many cultures are introduced to some of the important and exciting work nurses do through playful text and whimsical illustrations. "It's really cute, if I do say so," quips the author, "thanks to some wonderful artwork by Michael Vincent Fusco, who patiently put up with my nitpicking. The reviewers, young and not-so-young, have been very enthusiastic about it."

Curious readers can look into this delightful picture book on Amazon.com.

About Candy Campbell

Candy Campbell (also known as Candy the Nurse) is an author, filmmaker, actor, and speaker who specializes in healthcare communications. As a passionate proponent of maternal-child health and public health policy issues, she serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for two consumer magazines from the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), and volunteers as a public health advocate through the American Nurses' Association of CA. An adjunct professor at CSU East Bay, she also donates a portion of the proceeds of each of her books (and the film, Micropremature Babies: How Low Can You Go?) to the March of Dimes, for whom she serves as a media spokesperson in Northern CA.

For more information, visit http://candycampbell.com, email [email protected], or call 925-207-1376.

Contact:

Candy Campbell
952-207-1376
[email protected]

SOURCE Candy Campbell