Introduction
The headlines report murder, theft, abuse, drug dealings and forgery. These are the stories most people read about nurses. Other headlines report breakdowns in negotiations between unions and health organizations, with threats of strike action. Still more stories revolve around patients appearing at hospital doors unable to make it inside without help, but being told to call 911. The public are being shown nurses who seem cruel, indifferent, greedy, lazy and power hungry.
Nurses are the largest body of health care professionals in North America and in most other countries as well. They are the backbone of every health care system, gluing all other parts together, providing support and strength in the care of health care consumers. Such news stories however create a very ugly picture of the profession. I’ve read some of the on-line comments to these stories which are mostly harsh, but justified. Media rarely presents all sides of the story however, just those that seem most news worthy. Controversy makes for great headlines
Personally, as a retired Registered Nurse, I am disgusted with such stories and believe there could not be any proper justification, even if I did listen to the other side of the story. I know that the temptations are real but that is no excuse for any nurse to misuse their position of trust. Some of the stories are really only half truths because most nurses will not speak up to clarify.
So are the public’s perception of nurses, the misunderstanding, are own fault? I would have to say yes.
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2 comments:
I am not exactly sure what your goal is with this book. It states you want to "advance the practice of nursing", but you call nurses wicked? Is it satiracal, or do you really feel this way about a profession you participated in for 20 years?
Even though I myself am in the middle of horizontal violence in nursing, I would not go as far as saying the bag images of nurses displayed in the medial represent "us" as a whole.
I mean no disrespect when I ask this, but what is the goal/message of your book? To help or hurt us?
It is satirical. If I had called the book, "Notes on Nursing: Two Hundred Years After Florence Nightingale" it is unlikely the average person would pick it up off the book shelf. Here in 2010 too many people have no idea (governments included) what nurses really do. I needed to pique curiosity. This book is in total defense of a powerful profession that deserves better recognition, by all.
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