Assignment: Public’s image of nursing
The media can negatively influence the public’s image of nursing. Most television shows that have a medical theme, often focus on the sex driven story lines. Nurses are often seen having relationships with work colleagues, cheating on their spouses with someone at work, or having some sort of other personal drama that has nothing to do with medicine. It certainly makes for interesting television in the interest of ratings, but fails to produce a sense of professionalism in the women acting in the show. Examples of these shows are ER, Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy, and Nurse Jackie.
People are highly influenced by the media. Media platforms are how opinions are formed and people believe them if they are not experiencing them first hand. Nurses are always seen as female. The nurse should be very attractive, wearing makeup, slim figure, and perfect hair. Their scrubs are always form fitting. What I’ve seen in some of these shows is when a woman, in any medical role, says or does something highly intelligent, people always seem surprised. Why should this be surprising? Often times the show portrays the man as the surgeon, the doctor, and the go-to know it all. The impression of the man is generally not very nice, has poor bedside manner, and no one likes them. Then somewhere, along the series, a strong willed female puts the grumpy doctor into place. Then, by some miracle, she has gained his respect and the respect of the rest of the unit. If there is a male nurse in a show or movie, they are seen as a lesser man. It continues the false idea that a nurse is a woman’s role (Creasia, 2011).
There are ways in which the general public can be better educated on the role and scope of nursing. One of the simplest ways is to be confident, educated, and proud. When a nurse knows what they are talking about and can explain it to a patient confidently, that nurse is portraying a competency, educated rationale, and body language that they are a professional and should be respected. Taking pride in one’s self, wearing your nametag, shaking a patient’s hand, and addressing them formally, are all ways that a nurse can make an impact on the false portrayal of the media’s nurse representation (Summers, 2016).
References:
Creasia, J. L. (2011). Conceptual Foundations: The Bridge to Professional Nursing Practice. St. Louis: Elsevier.
Summers, S. (2016). American Nurse Today. Retrieved from https://www.americannursetoday.com/lets-take-lead-educating-public-nursing/
