Letter-writting campaigns for Nurses

[DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN]

letter-writing campaigns make your voice heard and get involved in advocating for the nursing profession. please write letters or participate in our following campaigns:

take action!

worth dying for

october 2006 -- we hear that a fine new establishment in tempe, arizona, one heart attack grill, has been the subject of complaints by those battleaxes at the arizona state board of nursing. and it's all because the grill uses scantily dressed "naughty nurse" wait staff to sell burgers and beer! last month, the real nurses (or "terrorists & feminazis," as the grill describes them) even got the arizona attorney general's office to ask the grill to stop suggesting that its employees are real nurses, in alleged violation of the state's protected title statute. the center is outraged at this assault on the free speech rights of scrubs-clad grill owner "dr. jon" basso. but we will explore what those scary arizona nurses might be getting at, when they aren't busy killing millions of jews or crashing jets into buildings. the nurses might be upset because the grill is exploiting nursing's long-standing position as the most sexually-fantasized-about job on the planet. that reinforces stereotypes that discourage practicing and potential nurses (especially men), foster sexual violence in the workplace, and contribute to a general atmosphere of disrespect that weakens nurses' claims to adequate resources. those stereotypes exacerbate the global nursing shortage, a public health crisis that is killing thousands of people. it would even be killing those whose poor diets help lead to heart attacks, if the link between food and cardiac conditions were not just another silly lie in a world in which, as the grill says, "insane political correctness stands as a barrier between the average man and his pursuit of happiness." read more and please join our letter-writing campaign!

"is this all nurses do?"

november 21, 2006 -- fox's "house" generally ignores nursing or shows physicians doing it, but recent episodes have included troubling comments on nurses' autonomy and skill. in thomas l. moran's november 7 "que sera sera" (16 million viewers), a police officer pursues lead character greg house for possible crimes related to his prescription drug abuse. in response to one taunt from house, the officer notes: "i think working around a bunch of nurses has given you a false sense of your ability to intimidate." tonight, in pamela davis's "whac-a-mole" (15.2 million viewers), physician eric foreman prepares to take a sample of spinal fluid from a patient. when the patient's 11-year-old sister offers to help, foreman agrees, noting that it's "quicker than calling a nurse." when foreman instructs her to hold her brother's legs still, the girl asks: "is this all nurses do?" foreman responds, with a wry smile: "my boss [house] doesn't trust 'em to do anything else." the show is not explicitly endorsing these comments. but they are a fair summation of its portrayal of nursing, and it has never done a thing to rebut the attitudes they reflect. viewers are likely to conclude that the vision the comments present of nurses as timid, unskilled physician subordinates is harsh, but essentially correct. more...

between the boob and the tube

september 28, 2006 -- tonight's episode of nbc's "er" marked the return of writer lisa zwerling, md, to the county general nicu. zwerling's january 2004 episode followed a rough nicu rotation by then-medical student abby lockhart. this time, physician lockhart is the mother of a premature infant in the unit. like the 2004 episode, this one presents the nicu as a physician-intensive care unit. smart, caring physician characters do everything that matters, including key psychosocial care that nurses generally do in real life. but zwerling and co-writer janine sherman barrois have expanded the nicu nurse repertoire here. the main nurse character to emerge in 2004 was a battle-axe who suggested that veteran nicu nurses are petty martinets who terrorize medical students. in the new episode, the two nurses who actually get a few lines are utterly incompetent. one is a lactation consultant whose comments are idiotic and insensitive. the other nurse dismisses the concerns of lockhart's mother maggie about a critical heart monitor alarm. maggie has to virtually yell at her to get the physicians--you know, the real life-savers. naturally, it is a life-threatening problem, and the infant is rushed to surgery. "er" has at times shown physician incompetence. but it's rarely if ever this extreme, it's usually the result of inexperience, and there are always plenty of counterexamples to balance it. that's not the case for nursing in this episode, which drew more than 14 million u.s. viewers. more...

but when i became a physician, i put away nursing things

september 27, 2006 -- the houston chronicle's business section featured an article on july 8 by brett brune headlined "in-store clinics not a cure-all, doctors warn." the piece describes the american medical association's continued efforts to denigrate nurse practitioners and limit the rapid expansion of the "quick clinics" they staff in retail stores. of course, this is nothing new. the center has long sought to engage the physician lobbying group on its anti-np campaign, which ignores extensive research demonstrating the high quality of np care, and thus appears to be based more on fear of competition than a concern for safety. but the ama has found a new point person to make its pitch: ama board member dr. rebecca patchin. patchin exploits her status as a "former nurse" to bolster misleading attacks on np training and care that appear in many recent press pieces, including a june 12 chicago tribune piece and an april 28 bloomberg news piece. the ama's strategy resembles that of an organization that, faced with a strong discrimination claim, chooses someone from the claimant's group to lead its defense. the chronicle piece balances the baseless criticism of patchin and a texas physician only with reaction from the rediclinic ceo, whose brief quote does nothing to defend the quality of np care. there is no hint that nps provide comprehensive primary care outside of the quick clinics. and no np is consulted for the piece, suggesting that physicians are the only health experts with anything useful to say about np care. more...and join our letter-writing campaign!

benghazi six court decision delayed until january 31; negotiations continue

ongoing -- the final court ruling in the case of the five bulgarian nurses and one palestinian physician imprisoned in libya for seven years for allegedly infecting over 400 children with hiv has been delayed until january 31, 2006. the libyan supreme court ruling had been scheduled for november 15. the health workers were sentenced to death before a firing squad for allegedly causing infections that independent experts have determined were caused by poor infection control systems, not by any intentional act of the health workers. some infections occurred before the workers arrived in libya. today south africa's cape times reported that the delay could help give libyan leader col. muammar ghaddafi time to negotiate with europe and the u.s. for a face-saving way out of the situation. the piece reports that diplomatic sources say that following through with the executions would be a huge impediment to libya's efforts to normalize relations with the west. yesterday's arabic news had a report on the somewhat volatile situation in libya, where relatives of the infected children called for the sentences to be carried out. please send a polite, respectful letter to the libyan government expressing sympathy for the plight of the children (many of whom have died) and asking for the unconditional release of the health workers, who should not be discouraged from caring for vulnerable populations because of a fear that they may be blamed for systemic issues beyond their control. thank you. also see more details on the benghazi six from the bulgarian medics solidarity project.

touching the world

may 10, 2006 -- since last year, johnson & johnson has been running new 30-second u.s. television ads with the laudable goal of promoting nursing careers. these sentimental ads are part of the company's massive "campaign for nursing's future" begun several years ago. their theme is "the importance of a nurse's touch." in them we see caring young nurses helping patients ranging from a newborn to an older man. the spots are certainly well-produced. and they do include a few elements that suggest the nurses have some skill. but sadly, the ads rely mainly on the same kind of unhelpful angel and maternal imagery that infected the campaign's original "dare to care" ads. and that era's four-minute recruitment video, complete with the gooey theme song, is still circulating. of course "caring" is an important part of nursing. but everyone knows that, and we believe that only greater understanding that nurses actually save lives and improve patient outcomes will attract the resources nursing needs in the long term. for a great alternative ad, consider the wacky, infectious rap recruiting video from 2004 by craig barton and the ed staff (below) at the university of alabama at birmingham. fortunately, j&j has done more than disseminate troubling ads and videos. they have also financed a helpful nursing web site (which we helped to create) and raised funds for faculty fellowships and student scholarships. the company has also sponsored the longer 2004 recruiting video "nurse scientists: committed to the public trust," apparently made for the friends of the national institute for nursing research. this helpful 11-minute video features nursing academics discussing their research in key areas like cancer, hiv, geriatrics, and domestic violence. it's not exactly going to enthrall the total request live audience. but it tells the public that nurses can be scholars, and it may help address the faculty shortage that is hampering efforts to reduce the overall crisis. see and join our campaign...

not sure if you'd rather hit nurses or have sex with them? do both!

december 1, 2005 -- recent reports on computer gaming web sites say that two popular wrestling games now being released in new versions--rumble roses xx (xbox, playstation 2) and wwe smackdown! vs. raw 2006 (playstation 2)--feature an icky mix of violent and sexy "nurse" images. competing gamers in barely dressed female "nurse" modes can slap, kick and grapple, toss each other on a bouncy bed, rip each other's clothes off and spank each other, and, you know, use the body parts of their victims to create a malevolent cyborg wrestler that will help them rule the world. yeah, baby. these "nurse" characters are not helpless handmaidens, to say the least. but we do have a problem with the games' mixing of two other key nursing stereotypes, namely the naughty nurse and the battleaxe, in a toxic stew of crypto-sexual assault. we urge microsoft (xbox) and sony (playstation 2) and game developers konami and yuke's to move away from this kind of mindless stereotyping, which degrades a profession in the midst of a global shortage. click here to read more and join our letter writing campaign!

nurses call on pacific cigar company to change name and nursing uniforms worn by staff at "the nurse", an upscale cigar shop in bangkok, thailand july 23, 2003 -- the nurses' association of thailand is asking for your help in a campaign to persuade pacific cigar to stop using "nurses" to sell their cigars and wine. pacific cigar (thailand) is a subsidiary of pacific cigar co., which reportedly controls 75 per cent of the cuban cigar market in the asia pacific region. in december 2002, pacific cigar relocated one of their cigar and wine stores from hong kong to thailand. this store was and is called "the nurse," and its sales staff apparently dress in nursing uniforms. it is not clear to the center why the shop has this nursing theme. more...

see our past campaigns or just the success stories

the url for this page is www.nursingadvocacy.org/action/letters/letters.html

© 2003-2006 the center for nursing advocacy, inc. all rights reserved.

[Simplepleasures]

I will write all the letters you want as payment for the great laugh I got from your avatar, I havent had such a good laugh in a long time. Seriously though, the nurses situation in Libya is just horrid, I will write that letter today.

[kcalohagirl]

I've been following the case in Libya for a long time. Thanks for posting. Let's hope for a better end to what has become a tragic situation for all involved.