"From doctors to beautiful ladies..."

katy_kenemy · May 12, 2006

i would love to be called a beautiful lady.

Balder_LPN, LPN · May 12, 2006

ugh. This is why the media portrayal of nursing is so important. People pick up on these tired stereotypes of nursing and perpetuate them.
Hillary
One of my favorite sites: www.nursingadvocacy.org

Oh come on now. I am really not worried about the public basing their opinions on :smokin:Keith Richards. As much of a herd of cattle the US population seems to be, I give them a bit more credit than that.

I'm a guy, and if he wants to call me a beautiful woman, I really dont give a rip. As a matter of fact, I think I will add this to my comeback lines for pt's who arent used to seeing male nurses. maybe something like this.....

PT: How come I get you for my nurse instead of a beautiful woman?

ME: I dont know, you better call up The Stones and see where they go to the hospital.

SophiaRN · May 12, 2006

Well said, Greentea! I agree.

rambisisking · May 12, 2006

Oh come on now. I am really not worried about the public basing their opinions on :smokin:Keith Richards. As much of a herd of cattle the US population seems to be, I give them a bit more credit than that.
I'm a guy, and if he wants to call me a beautiful woman, I really dont give a rip. As a matter of fact, I think I will add this to my comeback lines for pt's who arent used to seeing male nurses. maybe something like this.....
PT: How come I get you for my nurse instead of a beautiful woman?
ME: I dont know, you better call up The Stones and see where they go to the hospital.

LOL LOL LOL LOL.................This mornings readings have my sides aching, literally.

I am definately old enough to remember when Keith was young enough to talk and well........ he still couldn't talk. I agree with you that few minds really care what comes out of his mouth and that fewer can understand it. But this came out of his heart. Keith is a sweetheart, have you ever seen him in an interview? You can't understand what he's saying but it's comming from his heart. Really now, what's wrong with being called a beautiful woman? At least he didn't call us " toothless hags". I agree that this is much too trivial to feel victimized over, just have a nice chuckle and grin and be astonished that Keith Richards made it through yet another crisis in his life. We should all be as invincible.

tencat · May 12, 2006

It's always nice when someone says thank you. What's that saying...."Don't look a gift horse in the mouth"?

Yes, it's a stereotype. Do I like it? No. But there's a big difference between how Keith Richards said it and how The Governator in California said it ( I believe he referred to nurses as window dressing). I would get peeved with Arnold because his referral obviously shows no respect for nurses. I think Keith Richards probably has respect for hospital staff (including nurses) and he was grateful for the care he received. It works for me.

PANurseRN1 · May 12, 2006

I am not thinking he insulted his nurses. I think he made as statement that doesn't help nurses get more respect, and god knows we need that. And because this is another public statement, people will receive impressions even in subtle forms.
This form isn't even that subtle to me. Everyone will connect the "beautiful ladies" to nurses. It has the same impact as many other things in the media downplaying our role.
For some reason, many people are commenting that he's being sincere, it's a nice compliment, sure.. I've gotten many similar compliments before, but without disregarding that a patient or family is appreciating what I do, I can still see the nuance. Nuances shape minds.
This is not about Keith Richards.

It is, and it isn't. I've cared for WWII vets who called their nurses "girls," and there is no way I am going to stop them and give them a lecture about the objectification of nurses and how men and women go into nursing, yada, yada, yada.

You are looking for an insult that just is not there. Do we always have to take umbrage at the slightest thing? He could have just thanked the doctors, for heaven's sake. Let's take into account generational and cultural differences, as well as Keith's, ehm, "interesting" past, as well as the fact that the guy is recovering from brain surgery.

PANurseRN1 · May 12, 2006

I agree with alot of what you say. He's a rock star though. I'd focus my attention on those who perpepuate old stereotypes and should know better. A local hospital here is running billboards with "Our Angels." May I gag? What about those da Johnson and Johnson Discover Nursing commercials? That "I dare to care" mantra over and over. Those who should know better get my wrath.

Seriously. For "Nurses' Week," we got this cheesey pin that's supposed to look like a nursing school pin, and in the center is the J&J logo. I threw it out. I will not be a billboard for them.

Antikigirl, ASN, RN · May 12, 2006

I don't know...I get offended only slightly when I hear "thank you to all the Doctors and Nurses"...feel like Doc get the forefront again (not that they shouldn't be thanked or respected) and we are an add in! I think a nice proper thank you depends on the person it comes from...

Sometimes when I hear a compliment from a pt...and they say Doc and Nurse...I see more emphasis on nurse anyway :).

I would have loved that note from MR. Richards! Celeb and I am with other posters in saying I didn't even know he spoke english most times let alone write it!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!LOL!!!!!!

mtnmom · May 12, 2006

Think about the vernacular of the 60's...his "root generation"?...."beautiful" means way more than physical beauty.

I would be honored with such a note. Inifinitely better than no thanks at all.

Antikigirl, ASN, RN · May 12, 2006

Think about the vernacular of the 60's...his "root generation"?...."beautiful" means way more than physical beauty.
I would be honored with such a note. Inifinitely better than no thanks at all.

Although I was born in 1970, I felt the same as you described by his words! Not just physical beauty...but much much more...that was cool..I automatically smiled and understood it as that (if that was intended or not...who knows..this is Keith here! LOL).

weetziebat · May 12, 2006

i am not thinking he insulted his nurses. i think he made as statement that doesn't help nurses get more respect, and god knows we need that. and because this is another public statement, people will receive impressions even in subtle forms.
this form isn't even that subtle to me. everyone will connect the "beautiful ladies" to nurses. it has the same impact as many other things in the media downplaying our role.
for some reason, many people are commenting that he's being sincere, it's a nice compliment, sure.. i've gotten many similar compliments before, but without disregarding that a patient or family is appreciating what i do, i can still see the nuance. nuances shape minds.
this is not about keith richards.

i'm sorry if i seem dense, but i'd much rather have a compliment, than not get one cause the person was afraid of not being politically correct.

a good nurse will get respect from people.

just wondering what you would have preferred mr. richards to have said? really not trying to be snotty, just don't understand the depth of your apparent displeasure with his comment. :confused:

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · May 12, 2006

Is it totally screwed up that I like it when older men say stuff like that? It's like your grandpa (KEITH RICHARDS??? I know, I know) saying something to you or something.

My dad, who was 74, once said to one of his nurses (he was whacked out on morphine, mind you) that she was much too pretty for him to give her a hard time. (He had become belligerent the night before over them changing the type of O2 mask he'd been using. It was chalked up to the morphine.) She was about 23 (she was a senior RN) and she just smiled at him, patting his hand and telling him he was OK and not to worry. Old men can be quite cute that way, and I don't think offense should automatically be taken.

Richards could have meant "beautiful" in attitude, or manner - not just looks. My DH is a Brit and often refers to people as having been "just beautiful" - meaning they were easy to work with, pleasant, and just generally provided a good experience.

I went to college with a couple of girls from NZ and they referred to themselves as kiwis - as do the Brits. My Australian friends don't take offense to "Aussie" - unless they're being cussed out! (I've been around Brits that make me bristle at the word "American" or "Yank".) I don't think it's necessarily a pejorative term, but again, it's all in the context. :clown:

ETA: I used to be a pharmacy technician at CVS. This old Italian – and I mean dyed-in-the-wool, straight-outta-Rome, purebred, still-got-the-Mediterranean-accent old Italian man – used to come in and flirt almost shamelessly with me. He’d take my hand in his two, and say all that stereotypical Italian stuff….once he asked me if I was married, and when I told him yes, he looked me in the eye and said, “Does he ever tell you how beautiful you are? Because if he doesn’t, I’d be glad to tell you myself.” I’m reasonably cute - and I have strawberry blonde hair, which could have been the catalyst given his Med roots - but I wouldn’t say I was beautiful…but oh man, you couldn’t help but eat it up….he was just a cute, harmless old man whose wife had been gone for many years, and he was just lonely and it made him feel good to get a coy smile out of a woman practically young enough to be his great-granddaughter. He was the sweetest thing. I could be having a lousy day, full of ungrateful customers, and then he’d toddle in in his freshly cleaned khakis and polo shirt, and just make you forget that you could have swatted the last three people who came in. Absolutely adorable. If was about fifty years older and single, I’d be inviting him down to movie night at the retirement home. What a class act. I told my DH about it and he thought it was cute. My heart used to break for him when he’d pick up his meds and go home to what I was sure was a lonely little room at the local retirement center, sitting in front of his TV by himself, even though I was sure he had lots of friends. He had to with that personality. But little old men like him just break my heart. (I never worry about the widows like I do the widowers.)

What in the world could be offensive about THAT? Come on, folks, we need to lighten up a bit here....just my humble - very humble - opinion.