Nursing and the media
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
Running Head: In the Media
How nurses are viewed in the Media: Past and Present
Student Identification # 1142946
Grant MacEwan College
Undergraduate Nursing Program
NURS 194
November 19, 2003
Faculty Tutor: Brenda Woloschuk
After the 1997 Woodhull study, Nursing In the Media, was commissioned by
the Honour Society of Nursing, steps were taken to foster a more proactive role in establishing an ongoing dialogue between nurses and the media in the hopes of improving the image of the nurse. (Sigma Theta Tau International, 1997) However, has this made any noticeable changes in public opinion? Television and literature continue to represent nurses as obedient, permissive, and flexible; and emphasize their ability to conform. (Kalisch &
Kalisch, 1982) Currently the Alberta public is being bombarded with radio and newspaper advertisements regarding mediation of the current nursing contract. The advertisements paid for by Alberta's Health Region can be interpreted as showing nurses in a negative perspective. Movies still portray the nurses' roles as being simple and non-skilled, where their biggest duty is to take vital signs and help patients onto stretchers. (Kalisch & Kalisch, 1982) A well-documented nursing shortage is currently afflicting the nations hospitals, nursing homes, and community services. How can young men and women consider a nursing career choice when the profession is devalued and ridiculed in the media? (Kalisch and Kalisch, 1982)
In the mid to late nineteenth century, nurses were considered untrained lower class citizens, who often had drinking problems and worked as 'ladies of the evening'. After they were arrested, these female convicts were chosen to carry out the nursing roles in hospitals...