Nurse Stereotypes and the White Cap...

I picked up a "Pacific" magazine while I was waiting at a doc's office yesterday. It's a magazine about things to see and do in the San Diego area. There was a full two page ad for a new nightclub called "Intervention."
And guess what the ad was- a huge "naughty nurse" picture.
It's 2009 and this is still going on.

When I graduated in the 70's, from nursing school, I threw my hat up in the air and never saw it again!! I loved that hat but it never would stay on my head. It fell off once into the sterile field when I was putting in a cath! Let's face it, like sharpening needles (before my time) wearing the hat has become passe' for logical reasons. I wear a hat now that I am in the OR because it is necessary. We do what is necessary.
When I became a nurse they paid pennies but it was what I loved. Television will be television and that is entertainment. I am too busy working 3-11 to ever watch. Find what you love to do and do it well.
Although people may have ideas of what nurses do from television, when they need us and they will, we have the opportunity to make a very good impression with kindness and perspicacity. Always do your best and respect will accumulate about you.

These stereotypes really do matter. I never once considered a career in nursing because of the stereotypes. I even had several practicing nurses ask me "Ever consider a career in nursing?" when I was in the hospital... but I immediately said NO due to the stereotypes. I remember watching an episode of ER when I was a teen. It was about a nurse who aced the MCATs and was considering medical school. The doctors were telling her she was special and different than other nurses because she was smart! Too smart to "wipe butts". The RN character even said (this is a quote!) "I'm a nurse. I wipe butts." As I hate poop and also consider myself too smart to wipe butts for a living, I immediately ruled out nursing as a career in my mind. Another thing that discouraged me from considering nursing as a career is the sad fact that I know of several families that have been torn apart by doctors cheating on their wives with nurses. I find homewreckers to be a notch above child molesters, and seeing nurses as sleazy adulteresses put quite a damper on my willingness to even consider nursing. Now at the age of 30 I am in nursing school and hoping to have a long and meaningful career as a nurse. I wish I hadn't believed the stereotypes... I could have been a nurse for a decade already! BTW: I have tried and tried to make paragraphs appear in my posts... of all the forums I belong to, this is the only one I cannot figure out how to make breaks in between paragraphs. It's SUPER ANNOYING.

I think all professions have their stereotypes. That is just something we have to contend with. Your performance as a nurse will put those stereotypes to rest. I am just entering nursing school this August. I am 52 and male, I am looking foward to all that this entails good and bad. The people that have made the most impression on me have been the nurses that I have met when my wife is in the hospital. The true honest caring for my wife as well as me gave me the impression that nursing is an honorable profession. I have nothing but the highest regard for nurses even if I were not persuing a nursing career. All of you nurses posting keep your head up and be proud that you are doing something to help others.

In order to effectively address the *sleazy* and negative images of nurses today, it is not enough to say* Hold your head high*- all nurses as intelligent professionals hold their heads high! The statement is a panacea and indicative of inaction, the inability to clearly and accurately target the easy abuse of the profession and the lack of a concise, collective statement from all nursing boards condemning abusive journalistic practice.
Nurses are the pivot of healthcare where 24/7 care is provided with skill, training and a unique sense of committment to the profession. If we cannot articulate a strong response to poor journalism and sleazy media techniques which continuously target nurses as persons and indirectly the profession then a pardigm shift in attitude and thinking is overdue. In general, one does not attack the doctor and divorce the person from the profession, nor is this evident among architects, lawyers, or other professionals. When reflecting upon this phenomena why is it so easy to place a distinct divide between nursing professionals and the profession? Your response is appreciated.

I did not realize that there was a prevalent negative stereotype of nurses. Most of the attitudes of nurses I have seen in my 52 years have been positive. I would like to know examples of this if anyone can provide them. When I say examples I mean concrete examples that can be verified. It seems that the majority are attributing the negative aspects to the media. Please give me examples of this. Because I honestly feel that this is a non-issue as I have stated every profession has stereotypes.

I personally have never heard the word sleazy associated with nurses. In fact, except for my older brother, who is a Physcians Assistant and called Florence Nightengale a "camp follower" and a younger brother, in the Air Force and worked in the hospital and did not respect his co-worker RNs, I have not encountered a negative stream toward nursing in over 30 years. My brothers like to antagonize me. The slightest hint came from an instructor (retired Army Nurse) who said if a patient were to touch or grab one of us in an embarassing area then it was "our fault". She said we were to speak and move around our patients in such a way that they would not get those "ideas". Her remark annoyed me but nonetheless I took her advice and have had no problems.

I may have a distinct advantage/disadvantage here. I had polio at age 1 and later spent a year, then most summers and a Christmas in the hospital. I saw what nurses really did and never thought differently. I see TV and movies as entertainment and affairs as gossip. We know that affairs are not limited to the medical field. Someone told me that in the large teaching hospitals where there are many young persons learning medicine in both the doctor and nurse roll, there is much more hanky panky. I have not worked in one of those.

Nursing is a very honorable profession, right up there with parenting and teaching, in my book. Please, where do you find these negative remarks about nursing? And by the way, joyouter, that was very well written.

Meh, call me "type B" but it doesn't bother me, personally I think we should pay less attention to stereotypes. First of all, stereotypes are prevalent in many, if not most professions. I can think of several that apply to the "sleazy" stereotype alone..like flight attendents, secretaries, teachers, etc. Second of all, and more importantly, if we provide nursing care to our optimal potential, the perception of nursing is likely to evolve into a better light :]

I guess hat's had their place...before the sexual revolution, but it's almost 2010 and nursing now includes dudes. I'd just look silly in one of those.

Hmmmm, wish I still had my old cap. I got rid of it years ago because it was yellowing and I never wore it. I thought I could get another but the school no longer has them. It was kind of fun to wear it when I first graduated but it was really useless. I was also afraid I would get a bald spot where the comb held the cap to my hair.