[thisgirlsanurse]

According to the International Council of Nurses, the international symbol for nursing is....(drum roll, please): A white heart.

Yup, you heard right. A white heart that looks like this: http://www.icn.ch/bookshop.htm

Anyone ever heard of this? (I hadn't)

What do you think? Specifically male nurses?

Would you buy/wear one of these pins?

[hypocaffeinemia]

What is the "International Council of Nurses" and how are they relevant?

[thisgirlsanurse]

They're an international group that serves as representation of nurses worldwide...kind of like the ANA only for the world.

Seems pretty relevant to me: http://www.icn.ch

[hypocaffeinemia]

I didn't say they weren't relevant- It's just that I'm naturally skeptical of any organization with no direct meaning, influence, or oversight in my career acting as a universal voice for nurses. Internet organizations are a dime a dozen these days, so I think my skepticism isn't unfounded.

Anyways, that's another can of worms. Regarding the logo:

I personally find it way too feminine, although I can see how some of my XX peers would eat it up.

Of course, you're talking to the guy that just had to buy this t-shirt, so I'm perhaps not the best when it comes to sentimental logos. I personally prefer the red cross symbol or the blue star of life symbol.

[sm6531]

hi!
yes i heard and they are really relevant. USA(american nurses association)does belong to this federation as well as other 127 countries. It is not an internet organization.The International Council of Nurses was founded in 1899 as a federation of national nurses associations.
" ICN is the world’s first and widest reaching international organisation for health professionals. "

This is one of their focus:the International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP®).
This is already in use and provides a common language that allows nurses to compare nursing data in different countries.

For example, in my team there is a member that develops the nursing plans according to this language and has regular meetings with other members in order to be aware of what has been done.
Also when u do your charts u are supposed to use this language. this means that everybody (your team members and also the nurses in those 128 countries) understands what has been wrote. For example, i can not find a definition in my country for what you call a piggyback. this is not a question of translation we just don't have a specific term for that.
with icnp this can not happen. Another example: high blood pressure must represent the same in my country and in yours. if it is above 140/90 mmhg in my country it can not be above 150/90 mmgh in yours, it has to be 140/90.

you can see same information here:http://www.icn.ch/icnp.htm

i like the white heart

[thisgirlsanurse]

cool! thanks!

i like the white heart, too. know of anywhere else that it's sold?

not a bad price, but the shipping to us is pretty steep.

[sm6531]

For those interested in the white heart.
His story:

http://www.icn.ch/whiteheart.htm

[flightnurse2b]

what happened to the lamp? ive never seen the white heart before...

[-MNC_RN-]

What? The lamp wasn't good enough? Probably hard to make a lamp cutsie-cute on a scrub top or lunchbag.

Is it the fact that the lamp also can represent the "Lamp of Knowledge" and that nurses would rather be known for TLC than learning? Is it because "Nightengale's Lamp" actually implies that she and we worked hard and that we would rather promote the concept that "love is all it takes?"

What's that you say? Nurses don't believe either of those things? Well, then. I guess it's the lamp for me.

(Personally, I'd like to know how many actual nurses were polled before developing a stupid--yet another--heart logo. And how many of them had a Y chromosome?)

[ranaazha]

I thought the nursing symbol was the lamp of knowledge. The symbol at the top center of their home page is kind of a triangle-shaped lamp. You can see the flame on the right -- although it's tiny.