The public gets its impression of nurses and nursing in several ways. Television shows and movies often portray nurses as flippant, flighty, and/or sexy. Greeting cards may show a slim but full-bosomed female in a white uniform, cap, and high heels. Often she is carrying a bedpan, an enema bag, or a syringe with a v-e-r-y long needle. While we may laugh at these images, they are very dangerous to a public sensitive to media influence. What they see may well be what they believe. What kind of perception are they going to have of the nurse in the employer’s occupational health office or the nurse in the emergency room caring for their loved ones after an auto accident? How will those media images impact their perceptions of what nurses can do?
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Get Help Now!The public’s image has had an impact on nursing from the Crimean war era to present day in the 21st century. If nursing is to grow as a profession it has to meet a number of challenges due to society’s attitudes. This is an important issue for contemporary nursing. I feel the most pertinent of challenges nurses have is oppression in society. There are multiple causes for this oppression; the lack of power and control in nursing (Roberts 2000). The poor public image generated by the medias representation.
The media image can also have a powerful influence over employers, particularly in non-hospital settings. If the employer’s perspective of a nurse is the flirtatious socialite and what they want is someone to do tasks or procedures, they are more likely to hire a technician than a nurse. Think about clinics, occupational health, prisons, and other non-health care facilities that hire health care workers.
Historically, nurses have struggled to define the image of nursing and the professional role of the nurse. There are many different views and opinions, but nurses are definitely gaining ground when it comes to defining the profession of nursing. The annual Gallup survey for professions noted that for honesty and ethical standards, nursing has been rated at the top of the list for the past 13 years. In 2014, 80% of the American public rate the standards held by nurses as either high or very high; this rates the nursing profession 15 percentage points above any other profession (ANA, 2014). The image of nursing is evolving and changing, with nursing being promoted and viewed as an intellectual, autonomous profession that demands a high level of commitment, focus, and a dedication to advancing education and scholarly activity.
Misunderstanding of nursing and the roles of various healthcare providers can lead to ineffective legislation, too. Legislators are influenced by a variety of groups in determining their positions on pending legislation. If nursing’s voice is not heard in the halls of the legislature, other voices will carry more weight. Legislators’ lack of knowledge of the realities of nursing practice can result in legislation that does not support nursing or actually undermines nursing practice.
Nursing has been identified as an “emerging profession” for at least 150 years. The historical context of nursing’s image is often traced back to Florence Nightingale, the “founder of nursing.” Florence Nightingale is recognized as a nurse, statistician, and writer who became known for her groundbreaking work during the Crimean War. Nurse Nightingale was also called the “Lady with the Lamp,” as she was reported to have made rounds on her patients at night by the light of a lantern. International Nurse’s Day is celebrated each year on her birthday, May 12, and the Nightingale Pledge is still recited by new nursing graduates around the world, often with the accompaniment of flickering candles in symbolic lamps. Even though much has been written about Florence Nightingale’s many contributions, she is undeniably remembered as the pioneer of nursing education
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