"The History of Chinese Medicine Really Is Very Detailed Regarding Pandemics": A Qualitative Analysis of Evidence-Based Practice and the Use of Chinese Herbal Medicine by Licensed Acupuncturists During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States.

Objective: The objective of this qualitative study was to understand how licensed acupuncturists determined treatment strategies for patients with symptoms likely related to COVID-19 using Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) and the impact of the pandemic upon their clinical practice. Methods: A qualitative instrument was developed with questions aligned with when participants started treating patients with symptoms likely related to COVID-19 and the availability of information related to the use of CHM for COVID-19. Interviews took place between March 8 and May 28, 2021, and were transcribed verbatim by a professional transcription service. Inductive theme analysis and ATLAS.ti Web software were used to determine themes. Results: Theme saturation was achieved after 14 interviews lasting 11-42 min. Treatment predominantly started before mid-March 2020. Four themes emerged (1) information sources; (2) diagnostic and treatment decision-making; (3) practitioner experience; (4) resources and supplies. Conclusion: Primary sources of information informing treatment strategies came from China through professional networks and were widely disseminated throughout the United States. Scientific studies evaluating the effectiveness of CHM for COVID-19 were generally not deemed useful for informing patient care because treatment had been initiated before they were published and because of limitations associated with the research and the ability to apply it to real world practice.

Media competencies for nurses: A Delphi study.

BACKGROUND: Media raises awareness of important health issues, provides guidance to promote health, and shapes health policies. However, nurses are poorly represented in media. PURPOSE: To propose competencies that can be used to advance nurses' knowledge and skills in using media to advance health. METHODS: A Delphi study design of three successive surveys was employed. The Round 1 survey was sent to 70 nurse media leaders, and 28 (40%) responded. Seventeen respondents (61%) participated in Round 2. The Round 3 survey was not needed. DISCUSSION: These competencies provide direction for academia, healthcare organizations, nursing associations and others who seek to develop the leadership and population health skills of nurses. Ways the competencies can be used are outlined. CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need to improve population health outcomes by reducing disparities and promoting equity in health and health care. Media engagmeent is an importnat strategy for promoting population health. Additionally, promotion of better media representation of nurses and improved media engagement by nurses and nursing organizations all speak to the importance of advancing media competence.

The Woodhull Study Revisited: Nurses' Representation in Health News Media 20 Years Later.

PURPOSE: To determine if nurses are represented in health news stories more frequently today than 20 years ago when Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honorary Society published The Woodhull Study on Nursing and the Media, which found that nurses were cited as sources in only 4% of the stories. DESIGN: Content analysis of health news stories for the month of September 2017 in the same publications used in the original Woodhull study. METHODS: Searches with Nexis and Webhose identified 2,243 articles related to health care published by the news outlets in September 2017. A random sample of 537 of these articles was obtained: 258 from seven newspapers, 127 from three weekly newsmagazines, and 152 from three health industry publications. After removing irrelevant articles or those with only passing references to health, 365 articles were reviewed and coded, using the original study's coding schema. FINDINGS: Nurses were identified as the source of only 2% of quotes in the articles and were never sourced in stories on health policy. When quoted, nurses mainly commented on the profession itself. Nurses or the nursing profession were mentioned in 13% of the articles. Nurses were identified in 4% of photographs or other images that accompanied the articles. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses remain invisible in health news media, despite their increasing levels of education, unique roles, and expertise. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Nurses' clinical expertise is accompanied by unique perspectives on health, illness, and health care; but the public is not benefiting from the wisdom and insight that nurses can provide in health news stories.

Journalists' Experiences with Using Nurses as Sources in Health News Stories.

: Purpose: In a 2018 replication of a 1997 study, the Woodhull Study on Nursing and the Media, nurses were identified as sources in only 2% of health news stories in the same print publications investigated in the earlier study, showing no improvement in 20 years. We sought to interview health journalists across a spectrum of media to better understand their perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to using nurses as sources in news stories. METHODS: This qualitative study employed a snowball sampling technique to obtain a sample of 10 health journalists. One-to-one semistructured telephone interviews using open-ended questions were conducted and recorded, and thematic analysis was performed on the transcripts. RESULTS: Analysis of the transcripts revealed an overarching theme of biases about women, nurses, and positions of authority in health care among journalists, newsrooms, and public relations staff in health care organizations and universities that impeded journalists' use of diverse sources in health reporting. Subthemes were that 1) when used as sources, nurses can enrich a story; 2) health journalists don't understand the range of nurses' roles, work, and education; 3) health journalists don't know how to find nurses to interview for news stories and have little time to do so; 4) communications staff of health care organizations and universities aren't offering nurses as sources; 5) editorial biases, policies, and processes can get in the way of journalists using nurses as sources; and 6) nurses and the nursing profession aren't strategic about engaging journalists. CONCLUSIONS: Because nurses as sources can enhance the quality of health news, health journalists should become more aware of their biases and strive to include more nurses, as well as more women and people of color overall, in their stories. Nurses and nursing organizations can do more to reach out to journalists and public relations staff to raise awareness of nurses' expertise.