Dear Pandemic: Nurses as key partners in fighting the COVID‐19 infodemic

Ritter, Ashley Z.; Aronowitz, Shoshana; Leininger, Lindsey; Jones, Malia; Dowd, Jennifer Beam; Albrecht, Sandra; Buttenheim, Alison M.; Simanek, Amanda M.; Hale, Lauren; Kumar, Aparna

The COVID‐19 pandemic and subsequent proliferation of misinformation have created parallel public health crises. Social media offers a novel platform to amplify evidence‐based communication to broader audiences. This paper describes the application of science communication engagement on social media platforms by an interdisciplinary team of female scientists in a campaign called Dear Pandemic. Nurses are trusted professionals trained in therapeutic communication and are central to this effort. The Dear Pandemic campaign now has more than 97,000 followers with international and multilingual impact. Public health strategies to combat misinformation and guide individual behavior via social media show promise, and require further investment to support this novel dissemination of science communication.