Racism is deeply embedded in nursing, harming both patients and nurses — yet many in the profession lack the tools or motivation to address it. Research from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) showed 6 in 10 nurses had experienced or witnessed racism in their workplace or school, and nurses of color often carried the burden of advocacy alone.
SHIFT Nursing’s Everybody’s Work was created to change that. Our goal: disrupt nursing’s culture of racism by making inequities visible, personal, and actionable through the most trusted voices in healthcare — nurses themselves.
We set out to:
- Ignite awareness and conversation about how racism shows up in nursing education, leadership, and practice.
- Equip nurse leaders with a powerful, shareable tool — a feature-length documentary — that could spark dialogue, reflection, and systemic change in their institutions.
- Mobilize action by inspiring at least 10% (approximately 300) nursing schools, 100 hospitals/health systems, and 50 professional associations to host screenings.
- Reach the “moveable middle” — nurses open to learning but not yet activated — and shift mindsets toward shared responsibility for equity.
Through branded content grounded in real nurse stories, we aimed not only to inform, but to build a national, nurse-led movement for health justice. Our success would be measured by screening requests, social reach, audience sentiment, and reported behavioral intentions to address racism in nursing.
To shift nursing’s culture on racism, we needed more than statistics or policy papers — we needed a story powerful enough to bypass defensiveness, inspire self-reflection, and move nurses to act.
The Strategy
Research from RWJF and the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing revealed that while many nurses acknowledged inequities, fewer saw racism as their personal responsibility to address. Our solution was to create branded content that would transform that perspective: Everybody’s Work, a feature-length documentary elevating real nurses dismantling racism in education, leadership, and practice.
The strategy hinged on:
- Meeting nurses where they are — in classrooms, staff meetings, conferences, and online.
- Empowering leaders as messengers — positioning screenings as an act of leadership that sparks local change.
- Making it turnkey — providing hosts with ready-to-use materials so they could easily convene conversations.
Execution
We launched during Nurses Week 2024 with a high-profile premiere at The Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., attended by more than 200 nurse leaders, deans, and federal officials. This wasn’t just a screening — it was a catalyst. Every guest left equipped to host their own.
From there, we built a multi-channel engine for engagement:
- Host-a-Screening Program: Nursing schools, hospitals, and associations could request private screenings. Each host received a toolkit with the film, discussion guides, promotional graphics, and social content.
- Influencer Partnerships: We engaged high-reach nurse and health equity influencers (@mariebeech, @shesinscrubs, @nursenacole, @joelbervell) to post reflections and calls-to-action, lending peer credibility.
- Festival Circuit: We delayed public release to qualify for high-visibility film festivals, earning selection at the International Black Film Festival (winner: Best Social Justice Film) and the International Social Change Film Festival.
- Social Media & Extended Content: We shared emotional film clips, an anti-racist curriculum of extended interviews called “SHIFT University”, and themed playlists across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube — each ending with the CTA of “Host a Screening” or “Start Your SHIFT” email signup.
- Targeted Outreach: Geo-targeted paid social and direct outreach to nursing school deans, CNOs, and association executives fueled adoption.
Challenges & How We Overcame Them
- Festival Eligibility vs. Mass Reach: Public distribution would have limited festival opportunities. We solved this by creating a private screening-first model, maintaining exclusivity while building grassroots momentum.
- DEI Backlash: In a climate of anti-DEI sentiment, we framed the message around shared nursing values — fairness, opportunity, and unity — to engage the “moveable middle” rather than trigger defensiveness.
- Time-Strapped Audiences: We kept resources concise, made hosting supported and low-lift, and offered both virtual and in-person formats to remove barriers.
What Made It Unique
Unlike traditional awareness campaigns, Everybody’s Work wasn’t content about nurses — it was content for nurses, built to be passed hand-to-hand, not unlike a clinical exchange. By turning a documentary into a movement tool, we enabled thousands of leaders to join hands to bring anti-racism into the rooms where nursing culture is shaped — and gave them a blueprint for change.
Everybody’s Work transformed a documentary into a movement tool that took on a life of its own. By embedding a powerful social justice message in a shareable, nurse-led narrative, we equipped thousands of leaders to share it, sparking action where nursing culture is shaped.
- Mobilized Nationwide Action: Since launch in May 2024, 3,213 individuals have requested screenings, including 671 at nursing schools (22% of all U.S. programs), 778 at hospitals and health systems, and 223 at professional associations. These far exceeded our initial goals of 10% of nursing schools, 100 hospitals/health systems, and 50 associations.
- In-Person Reach: These screenings have brought the film to a confirmed 12,377 in-person attendees.
- Deep Audience Impact: Post-screening surveys of 4,256 viewers (78% nurses, 49% white, 71% with 10+ years of experience) showed that after watching the film:
- 95% learned new ways nurses can address social and cultural barriers.
- 96% plan to adopt new practices within a year.
- 95% believe every nurse should see the film.
- Reaching the Moveable Middle: Nearly half of respondents to our audience survey were white, veteran nurses — a key audience for shifting culture — confirming success in engaging beyond existing advocates.
- Social Engagement at Scale: SHIFT channels grew followers across all channels by 150% since before the campaign launch — fueled by film clips, extended interviews, and influencer partnerships.
- Cultural Recognition: Selected for the International Black Film Festival (winner: Best Social Justice Film), reinforcing both storytelling quality and social impact.
Video for “Everybody’s Work” – SHIFT Nursing
