[NPInfo] Do you agree?

[David Mittman]

 From PHarmalot.com

Just to say my years selling both professions have taught me  (if we  
are pro-pharma or con) that the companies regard NPs and PAs lightly.  
Some of that has to do with inability to track our prescriptions.  
Specialty nurses sometimes are regarded considerably and "regular"  
RNs are invisible.
We will chhange this! And are well on our way to doing that.
Dave
Nurses Are ‘Soft Targets’ For Pharma Promotion
February 7th, 2008 9:41 am By Ed Silverman



Nursing education fails to prepare graduates to deal with pharma’s  
promotional tactics, and many nurses appear to accept promotional  
materials uncritically, according to an analysis of the nursing  
literature in PLoS Medicine.
“The pharmaceutical industry recognizes nursing influence on medical  
prescribing and identifies nurses as a marketing target,” write  
Annemarie Jutel and David Menkes. “The industry has had its eye on  
nurses and nurse practitioners for over a decade, and is heavily  
invested in wooing them.”
They examined nursing literature for papers that explored pharma’s  
influence on nurses and nursing education. Of 32 articles found, just  
13 expressed or reported any serious concerns about pharma’s role in  
influencing behavior. Four articles were “clearly industry- 
friendly,” while the remaining 14 expressed mild concern about  
pharma, viewed industry support as generally favorable, or identified  
both harms and benefits of pharma involvement.
Nurses should be encouraged to re-evaluate the educational benefits  
of promotional information, “which is carefully selected, prone to  
bias, and hardly likely to be as beneficial as many believe,” they  
write.

“Rather simplistically,” they write, many articles suggest nurses  
should be “cognizant” or “aware” of industry influence and  
that by knowing the scope of the problem and working “with”  
industry, nurses will be able to avoid complicity in unethical  
promotion. “This optimistic approach belies the fact that many  
nurses are not trained in critical appraisal, and appear to  
understand little of the mechanisms by which marketing strategies  
operate,” they write.
As an example, they cite an article by a ‘medical writer’ with  
‘12 years’ experience in pharmaceutical sales training’ in  
Advance for Nurse Practitioners, who refers to promotional objects as  
a normal part of professional practice without offering any critical  
consideration.
The authors call for a three-pronged strategy to combat promotion to  
nurses: train nurses to understand and manage the impact of  
commercial activity; institute guidelines and policies to complement  
nursing education; and conduct research into the role nurses may play  
in prescribing.
Financial disclosures: Annemarie Jutel previously held shares in  
Pfizer, but sold them during the preparation of this work. David  
Menkes has accepted speaker fees and support to attend conferences  
from various drugmakers. In addition, he has received research  
support from Roche, Lilly, and Lundbeck, and has served as an expert  
witness on behalf of plaintiffs in civil cases defended by Lilly,  
Glaxo and Pfizer.