Marketing: A nursing leadership imperative

The current level of competition in the health care marketplace requires a more sophisticated and strategic marketing plan. More savvy health care consumers, an aging population with greater health care needs, and rapidly developing technology must be considered when constructing marketing messages. Nursing leaders have an opportunity to play a critical role in designing and implementing corporate marketing plans given their deep knowledge of health care services, understanding of patient needs, and access to clinical outcome data. In many organizations, clinical and marketing departments function independently, leading to uncoordinated communication and missed opportunities to combine talents, develop new messaging tactics, and explore new business opportunities. Involving expert nurses in communicating internal and external messages can give meaning and depth to marketing initiatives as well as achieve a level of trust and compassion with the targeted audience.