ConnectRN's 'UnResignation Letter' Emphasizes Nurses' Daily Challenges

Nurses had tough, underappreciated jobs before anyone ever heard of Covid-19. They were revered as heroes throughout the pandemic, so why are nurses’ working conditions so abysmal? It’s causing them to leave their jobs in droves, and connectRN hopes to change that.

The company launched “UnResignation Letter,” a two-page letter that ran in last Sunday’s New York Times, that both encourages nurses to recommit to the industry and puts employers’ feet to the fire to offer nurses a better work/life balance and flexibility.

“Dear Healthcare Leaders. The essence of my job is to make sure my patients don’t quit. … But in the past few years, being a nurse became something else. … I quit. Thousands of us did,” says the ad. Changes to the system are listed, surrounded by hundreds of signatures. “If you also believe change is possible, please accept this letter as my unresignation,” closes the ad.

“The act of listening is simple, but is not what nurses experience often,” says Jen Reddy, CMO of connectRN. “We talk to thousands of nurses every year and have uncovered how the state of healthcare has taken a greater toll than what is being reported. The job they love to do has become heartbreaking and unhealthy. This is why they quit.”

Mischief @ No Fixed Address created the campaign, which includes a website where nurses can sign the letter and share it via social media and a 90-second video, “Don’t Quit.”

The spot begins with nurses encouraging their patients in every step of the recovery process, but as a voiceover urges them not to quit, the viewer realizes the V.O. is the inner mantra of countless nurses who are trying to keep it together.

Actors who were formerly nurses played the roles, and the brand and agency worked with a current nurse to ensure authenticity.

“There’s a nursing shortage because the healthcare industry is coming up short,” Nimisha Jain, EVP of strategy at Mischief, tells Muse. “The problem is as simple as that. Nurses want to work, it’s not in their nature to quit. But it’s hard for them to continue when they don’t get the flexibility and support they need. Nurses deserve a stronger voice in how healthcare evolves, yet they don’t have a seat at the table. This letter and campaign is a rallying cry to keep nurses in nursing.”