Nurse Lifeline
A story about support for nurses, by nurses
Brief
Create a campaign film to inspire more nurses and midwives facing day-to-day mental health struggles to call a new helpline.
Challenge
Changing a deeply embedded culture. We knew all about the need for nurses to seek a friendly, understanding person to offload to – especially given the unimaginable pressures they faced during the pandemic, with funding cuts and the cost-of-living crisis.
But nurses put others before themselves by default. They need a lot of persuasion to make a call that caters solely to their needs.
Solution
To stop nurses from suffering in silence, we needed to convey empathy, reassurance and empowerment. We zoomed in on the fact that Nurse Lifeline was a service created and run by nurses – they really know what it’s like when the stresses of everyday working life build up.
We also foregrounded the ‘free and confidential’ message – research among users had shown that many nurses were concerned that their thoughts and feelings would find their way to line managers.
We used a clear, textured animation style to convey diversity and reach and a strong type that could carry simple, bold messages. We also did long and short versions and made clips for social.
Result
Everyone was happy with the process, and the film went down a storm at the Nursing Times Awards. Teresa Griffiths, Chief Executive of Nurse Lifeline, said, “We had a small budget, so it was a risk. But it was a risk worth taking because we are so proud of that film.”
“We had a small budget, so it was a risk. But it was a risk worth taking because we are so proud of that film.”
