Preview

media positively or negatively influence the public’s image of nursing?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
386 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
media positively or negatively influence the public’s image of nursing?
The media, and Hollywood in particular, represent one avenue in which the general public becomes familiar with the role of nurses. How does the media positively or negatively influence the public’s image of nursing? What other avenues may better educate the general public on the role and scope of nursing as well as the changing health care system
It is interesting how the media has portrayed nurses for years. Years ago the image was of a blonde, skinny female in a sexy white outfit that waits on her male only patient hand and foot. She is there to give him a sponge bath and feed him even thou it is only his leg that is broken but hands work just fine. Now that image has changed because of shows like Nurse Jackie. This HBO show is about a nurse who struggles to juggle her hectic life as a nurse at a New York City hospital. It’s based on her everyday tussles with physician other nurses and her drug addiction. Even though the show has questionable ethical circumstances it undoubtedly shows her compassionate caring nature. “Jackie is smart, caring, respected by her peers and a vigilant advocate for her patients” (Sorrell 2009). However, due to Nurse Jackie’s questionable ethical practices many nursing organizations feel that this portrayal hurts the image of nurses and hinders them from recruitment, retention, and allocation (Nemeth 2011). In which many organization have fought to refocus the community and general public’s attention on what good nursing incorporates. An organization of nurses, named The Truth about Nursing, has given awards to shows for best and worst portrayal of nursing in order to steer Hollywood to more appropriately depict nurses. Unfortunately, chaos in the media sells and I don’t believe that will change. However I am glad to see that, even thou the negative aspect of nursing as a profession are portrayed, nurses are being viewed now as compassionate, caring, smart individuals who are strong patient advocates rather than the sexy blonde who



References: Nemeth, L. (2011). Nurse Jackie and Nurse Ethics: How TV and the Media Influence our Public Image. Beginnings, 31(2), 8-10 Sorrell, J. (2009). Ethics: the value of nursing ethics. What about Nurse Jackie?. Online Journal Of Issues In Nursing, 14(3),

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2008). Nursing ethics across the curriculum and into practice (2nd ed., pp. 21-22). Sunbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.…

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I must confess that I enjoyed those TV shows even they contain the concept of nurses’ false images. Perhaps it indirectly contributes to the nursing shortage. According to the article The Negative Images of Nursing Portrayed on Grey’s Anatomy, House and ER and its Effect on Public Perception and the Contemporary Nursing Shortage, “ER, Grey’s Anatomy and House are three well-liked medical shows with a large-scale audience spanning across the country. All three shows, however, fail to portray nurses with a positive image and essentially undermine the profession in various ways. These negative images of nurses actually contribute to the overall nursing shortage that has plagued so many hospitals across the nation; whether it be undermining, insulting,…

    • 188 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bernice Buresh and Suzanne Gordon are renowned journalists, lecturers, and authors. The book details how the two women became involved with nursing advocacy in 1989 through a project sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trust. The program sought to investigate public perception of nursing and to cultivate a positive nursing image with the use of the news media. Buresh & Gordon found that despite nursing being the largest healthcare profession, they are also grossly underrepresented and misunderstood (Buresh & Gordon, 2006). Their pivotal co-authored book, From Silence to Voice: What Nurses Know and Must Communicate to the Public, explains the lack of public representation concerning professional presence. The book further outlines how to make nursing’s voice heard through effective communication.…

    • 1678 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    337). Some of the reasons cited in her paper for the decline in care include: increased patient load, decreased time for direct patient care, increased pressure to accomplish more with less time, and mandatory overtime. For these reasons, nurses reported feeling overburdened, overworked and overstressed and dissatisfied with their jobs. In addition to the general dissatisfaction with the profession, negative stereotypes of nurses such as the “physician’s handmaiden” continue to dominate the public perception of the nursing profession, harming the efforts to recruit new talent into the profession (Goodin, 2003). In order to recruit new nurses, Goodin recommends programs that will expose young people to positive and authentic images of nursing. She uses the coalition of thirty-two nursing and health care organizations who are working together on the campaign, ‘Nurses for a Healthier Tomorrow,’ and Johnson & Johnson’s ‘Campaign for Nursing’s Future’ as good examples of programs that provide this positive “real-life goodness of nursing” messages necessary to accomplish the task. Goodin posits that increasing the value in the eyes of consumers will lead to nursing as a more respected profession in society as a whole and an increase in new nurses entering the workforce as a…

    • 4964 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    To conclude the importance of having nurses among us is a vital thing. Judging these professionals is not something that should be going on because these are they people who take care of you and give you the best patient care. Not only does the society take place in this but as well as the media. It exposes what a nurse does even if that is truly not what happens. The public eye does not know what really does happen and the media influences others. The art of nursing is what makes these nurses proud to be one. They enjoy giving back no matter what society thinks of them nor how the media impacts their lives. These nurses who work hard everyday pulling a double deserve to gain respect from the public and understand what they go though. To help…

    • 230 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The media, and Hollywood in particular, is one avenue in which the general public becomes familiar with the role of nurses. How does the media positively or negatively influence the public’s image of nursing? What other avenues may better educate the general public on the role and scope of nursing as well as the changing health care system?…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The barriers around the nursing profession must be fully understood. Historically and practically were developed as professional identity, because fictitious characterization of nursing is unfortunately what sticks in the minds of people. Nurses were seen poorly educated women, incarcerated criminals, or housekeepers untrained; therefore, nursing was women’ profession. Charles Dickens wrote a book Martin Chuzzlewit in 1896, the image of nurses was portrayed in the character “Sairy Gamp” who was physically abused, neglected, and stole from patients (Berman, Snyder, Kozier & Erb, 2008, p.8).…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over the course of the past few months the public’s perception of nursing has slightly changed as a result of taking AHNR 2250. The public mainly focused on nurses as being a hand holder and someone to give encouragement to patients and families, but a nurse is so much more than that. The public realized that nursing was stressful and required problem solving skills, but the public did not quite realize all of the small mental notes that had to be accounted for while dealing with a patient. The public also did not realize that the nurse is the only health care provider that is with the patient twenty-four hours a day. There are rules that everyone has to abide by in everyday life, this is the same for nursing. Every hospital has its own rules…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The realistic of Nurses are often depicted as stereotypes in media especially, not only in Hollywood movies, but all over the film world generally. The movies in my native country also perceive nurses as someone always very rude to others, not helpful, darlings of doctors or as comedians. I have always felt sad and angry at times watching nurses characters played in the movies. Inexact portrayals of Nurses in popular films are damaging to the profession. Nursing is misinterpreted in the public from what they get through the media. So they are provoked to choose a different carrier than nursing.…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Image Of Nursing

    • 796 Words
    • 3 Pages

    You are marooned on an island with two other people. One of them is dressed in a captain’s uniform covered in medals and the other cast away is wearing a prison jumpsuit and is covered in tattoos. Which one of these people would you trust to lead you to safety, the captain or the criminal? The obvious choice is the captain because he looks like he knows what he is doing. His “image” broadcasts leadership and trust. This same situation can be applied to nursing.…

    • 796 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    The nursing is a fundamental sector in the provision of proper healthcare services to the individuals and the society as a whole. The importance of the sector is emphasized as it has a bearing on the health status of the economy. The state of health of the people forming part of the society today is of the essence. Improper health of individual workers affects the output of the workers negatively as they cannot effectively attend to their obligations at work. It results into a nation-wide loss of revenue. A healthy economy thrives in all the sectors as the workers are in a position to effectively deliver…

    • 3109 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nursing Image and Media

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The nursing image has become a major issue in the society as people have different perception about nursing. Some believe that nurses do their duties out of kindness. This has influenced the nursing image as most people do not see nursing as a good profession. Only few people in the society see nursing as an important profession and consider the qualification of the nurses (Younge & Niekerk, 2004). This has led to shortage of nurses in the country as minimal people join the nursing profession.…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Image of a Nurse

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages

    hour" or as a guardian angel, then patients would never make it out of the hospital. This article made some very good points as to where the image of nursing has been and where it is going. Sure nurses are caregivers, people who have possibly felt a draw towards the profession. But to be that caregiver takes a lot more then possessing the desire to help people. You need to know exactly how to care for those who are ill. I hate the fact that doctors are the one who are perceived as having all the knowledge. I'm sorry, but I have not worked this hard in nursing school and sacrificed my social life for this long to have the people think that I give the back rubs and the doctor diagnoses, takes care of, and heals the patient. I think that a lot of agencies and hospitals try to recruit people to the nursing profession by telling them that nurses are angles with a lantern in the dark and that people will love you if you are a nurse. I don't believe that that is what the image of a nurse should be and that by continuing to portray nurses like this we are taking a step backwards in the advancement of the profession. I believe that a nurse should be portrayed as a healthcare provider. Someone who has worked to get where they are and now has the knowledge to help bring a person back to health.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nursing Today

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Moreover, television nurses also promote positive nursing it's understood that medical dramas are meant to entertain, not serve as documentaries. Nevertheless, media-driven messages are also very powerful, influencing the culture and collective mindset. There are numerous current images of nurses in the media and challenges nurses to engage in professional and public service designed to promote a positive media…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Redeem Nursing Image

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Page

    Doris, I agree with you that the media and Hollywood portraying the image of nursing in a negative manner, but nurses needs a lot of work to do in order to redeem the image. Many nurses do not showcase good image of nursing. What about a nurse that supposed to administer a control drug to a patient, who started stealing the medication and ended up using drugs, does he or she portraying good image of nursing? Like I mentioned before, charity begins at home. Let us charge ourselves to redeem nursing image among ourselves, and let us showcase good professionalism to our clients/patients and their family…

    • 106 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays