Reaching out: Organizational structures and public communication of nursing professional associations and trade unions in Portugal.

AIM: To describe the organizational structure and resources for strategic mediacommunication of nursing professional associations and trade unions in Portugal.

DESIGN AND METHODS: Quantitative study, with a cross-sectional, exploratory/descriptive design. From October to November 2017, a questionnaire was sent to 21 nursing professional associations and trade unions in Portugal. Eleven (52.4%) organizations replied: nine professional associations and two trade unions.

RESULTS: The participating organizations rely on basic structures regarding strategic communication: 54.5% of them have less than 500 members; 63.6% of them have no communication budget; 54.5% of them have no formal communication structure, and only 27.3% of them hold events for the purpose of media coverage. Consequently, most of these organizations have occasional interactions with journalists, create messages about nursing problems, and directed mostly to nurses, perpetuating a circular communication.

CONCLUSION: Nursing professional organizations have limited resources and lack of formal communication structures. The restricted interaction with the media and the "echoing" voice that propagates within the profession may hinder citizens' full understanding of its contribution. Nursing organizations must develop a nation-wide strategy that promotes transversal collaboration and resources optimization, with the purpose of increasing their media visibility and strengthening their Public Health mission.