Why Are Nurses Given Such A Bad Rap Today?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

In reading the threads regarding the so called nursing shortage our country is under :rolleyes:, I started wondering why is it that we as nurses are given such a bad rap today. Care to share your thoughts on this? :)

Specializes in forensic psych, corrections.

Wow. How strange. I love old ER. After Carol left and Mark died, it all went straight to hell.

ETA: But that's ok. Now I have House. :chuckle

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Specializes in PICU, Nurse Educator, Clinical Research.
I have a very unpopular viewpoint.

I think nurses have done this to themselves. With nurse leaders like Jean Watson, who developed an entire theory of 'caring', and the new Johnson & Johnson promo ads that urge people to 'dare to care'... nursing is downgraded to a league of nurturers and largely unskilled carers, caring both for and about their patients. There is a whole subculture of nauseatingly sweet images of nurses as 'angels of mercy' not to mention all the cutesy little boyd's bear nurses and other figurines that make me want to vomit on a daily basis. This is what the public gets of nurses.

As much as I've grown to loathe ER, at the beginning I thought it was a decent show that portrayed nurses in a favorable and realistic light. Remember Carol Hathaway? She was a charge nurse, extremely knowledgeable, smart, experienced. She had the opportunity to go to medical school and didn't, because she was a nurse, because she liked being a nurse. That was very valuable to me at the time. I remember watching one episode where Carol was trapped inside a store that had been robbed, or something similar, and she confessed that she'd always been disappointed with her level of skills, and always wanted to be more than she was, and the criminal replied in disbelief, "With all you can do? Why?". That also spoke to me. Unfortunately, now Abby has become a doctor and the nurses seem to exist only to have affairs with the new residents.

Sometimes, when I work swingshift, I listen to Loveline on my way home. A couple of weeks ago a female in her 20s called in and was talking about how dissatisfied she is with her life, how she doesn't have any skills, she doesn't do well in school. Adam suggested she go to junior college and become a nurse, the insinuation being that nurses required neither intellect nor education.

Which brings me to my last point, that I think nurses would be better respected as a whole if we had a higher level of education, collectively. Granted, there are scores of nurses with MSNs and PhDs, but I'd like to see more RNs practicing at the BSN level.

I think its our duty, as nurses, to educate the public where we can. Usually when someone asks me what I do for a living, I'll tell them I'm a nurse, and I'll get the same, "Oh, I could never do that." As if nursing is all blood and guts and bodily fluids. I'll usually take a minute to explain my specialty and what I *actually* do, and they're a bit more interested and less repulsed.

Wow! Holy long post, Batman!

CharmcityRN,

Might be an unpopular opinion, but I strongly agree!! I gave a group presentation tuesday in my "Professionalism and Ethics in Nursing" class. We did our presentation on advanced practice nursing. My section of the presentation dealt with the societal need for (and perception of) advanced practice nurses, and nurses in general. One of my arguments was that the jean watson/johnson & johnson view of nurses as sweet, selfless hand-holders, doing not much more than hugging their patients and being nice, is the primary reason that nurses aren't seen as professionals. I said that nurses will have to fight like hell to squash that image before the public will believe that we are accomplished medical professionals.

When my ex-husband told his high-school aged sister that I'd decided to go to nursing school, she said, 'wow, I just can't see rachel running around, taking orders from a doctor and getting him coffee!' :angryfire Where in the WORLD did a 16-year-old get THAT idea??

Of course, my ex and I once got in a fight in the grocery store over nursing...I was explaining the critical thinking papers we had to write in class, and how I thought they were a waste of time for most of us, he said, 'well you know, most of the people that become nurses aren't that smart- it's not rocket science. It's kinda in the same intellectual category as secretaries and preschool teachers.' :angryfire:uhoh3::angryfire

Note the fact that he's my EX-husband.

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Specializes in Community Health Nurse.
CharmcityRN,....................................................

..................................................................................................

Of course, my ex and I once got in a fight in the grocery store over nursing...I was explaining the critical thinking papers we had to write in class, and how I thought they were a waste of time for most of us, he said, 'well you know, most of the people that become nurses aren't that smart- it's not rocket science. It's kinda in the same intellectual category as secretaries and preschool teachers.' :angryfire:uhoh3::angryfire

Note the fact that he's my EX-husband.

Well noted! :rotfl:

My first ex-husband always had something asinine to say about nurses, too. But then again, no matter what I did, it was never good enough for him. Thus...my EX. :rotfl:

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Specializes in Home care, assisted living.

I just decided to give up my med tech status. Why? Because I don't want the liability of passing meds when I don't have the knowledge of a licensed nurse to assess patients, watch them for signs of a drug reaction, etc. Just in the last couple of months I've come to realize just how tough the job of a nurse is, and that you have to be mentally sharp and on top of your game. Anyone who thinks nurses are simply hand-holders and butt-wipers needs to look at a nursing textbook.

When I was in college, by the way, the nursing students always had their nose in the books, and the books were HUGE!

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Specializes in Home care, assisted living.
As much as I've grown to loathe ER, at the beginning I thought it was a decent show that portrayed nurses in a favorable and realistic light. Remember Carol Hathaway? She was a charge nurse, extremely knowledgeable, smart, experienced. She had the opportunity to go to medical school and didn't, because she was a nurse, because she liked being a nurse. That was very valuable to me at the time. I remember watching one episode where Carol was trapped inside a store that had been robbed, or something similar, and she confessed that she'd always been disappointed with her level of skills, and always wanted to be more than she was, and the criminal replied in disbelief, "With all you can do? Why?". That also spoke to me. Unfortunately, now Abby has become a doctor and the nurses seem to exist only to have affairs with the new residents.

I used to love ER, too. Every Thursday night, I was in front of the TV at 10 PM. Now I can't get into the show for some reason. Who knows? Maybe I'll buy some of the original episodes on DVD someday.

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I have a very unpopular viewpoint.

I think nurses have done this to themselves. With nurse leaders like Jean Watson, who developed an entire theory of 'caring', and the new Johnson & Johnson promo ads that urge people to 'dare to care'... nursing is downgraded to a league of nurturers and largely unskilled carers, caring both for and about their patients. There is a whole subculture of nauseatingly sweet images of nurses as 'angels of mercy' not to mention all the cutesy little boyd's bear nurses and other figurines that make me want to vomit on a daily basis. This is what the public gets of nurses.

As much as I've grown to loathe ER, at the beginning I thought it was a decent show that portrayed nurses in a favorable and realistic light. Remember Carol Hathaway? She was a charge nurse, extremely knowledgeable, smart, experienced. She had the opportunity to go to medical school and didn't, because she was a nurse, because she liked being a nurse. That was very valuable to me at the time. I remember watching one episode where Carol was trapped inside a store that had been robbed, or something similar, and she confessed that she'd always been disappointed with her level of skills, and always wanted to be more than she was, and the criminal replied in disbelief, "With all you can do? Why?". That also spoke to me. Unfortunately, now Abby has become a doctor and the nurses seem to exist only to have affairs with the new residents.

Sometimes, when I work swingshift, I listen to Loveline on my way home. A couple of weeks ago a female in her 20s called in and was talking about how dissatisfied she is with her life, how she doesn't have any skills, she doesn't do well in school. Adam suggested she go to junior college and become a nurse, the insinuation being that nurses required neither intellect nor education.

Which brings me to my last point, that I think nurses would be better respected as a whole if we had a higher level of education, collectively. Granted, there are scores of nurses with MSNs and PhDs, but I'd like to see more RNs practicing at the BSN level.

I think its our duty, as nurses, to educate the public where we can. Usually when someone asks me what I do for a living, I'll tell them I'm a nurse, and I'll get the same, "Oh, I could never do that." As if nursing is all blood and guts and bodily fluids. I'll usually take a minute to explain my specialty and what I *actually* do, and they're a bit more interested and less repulsed.

Wow! Holy long post, Batman!

I agree with you here. That's what I was trying to say about the overall image of nursing. Even in NICU lots of people have the idea that all I do is cuddle babies, they just happen to be tiny. And that I must have the best job in the world. When I try to inform them (them = friends and family) what I actually do and just how sick those babies can be they can't believe it. It's like "OMG a baby on a breathing machine..." Well yeah! Do you think the 2 doctors that we have are there 24/7? NO!!!! Since I've become a nurse my family has been better educated on what nursing is. Now my mom can't wait to brag to her friends about what I do:rolleyes: And she mentions all the critical things to.

Shoot...when I became a nurse even I was shocked at all nurses did (never really exposed to it until I started working and going to school) Before school my only image of nursing what MASH and ER:rolleyes:. Boy was I in for a shock!

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Count me as another nurse who dislikes the 'carebear angel' image of nursing. What is so wrong about portraying our career choice as academic, intellectual, and technologically challenging?

Remember when the ANA came out with the slogan "If caring were enough, anybody could be a nurse' ?? I believe they were trying to combat this 'carebear angel' image. I don't think it has helped much unfortunately. The public enjoys their sterotypes of nurses too much; and the media exploits this.

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just had 2 friends over today and they just kept saying it seems like it is taking forever for you to be a nurse. DUH! it's not a 9 month certificate! They also can't believe when they see my books the info that I am responsible for and just think well the doctor should know that so why do you have to? sigh.... they also keep asking why i need to take classes like foreign languages, womens studies etc.. They never asked our friend who went to accountin school why she had to take classes like these that didn't relate to her major. It all boils down to they don't see nursing as a professional career, so all the extra general education courses for the degree seem silly to them and they really just didn't think nurses were that educated. It's sad.

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Count me as another nurse who dislikes the 'carebear angel' image of nursing. What is so wrong about portraying our career choice as academic, intellectual, and technologically challenging?

Remember when the ANA came out with the slogan "If caring were enough, anybody could be a nurse' ?? I believe they were trying to combat this 'carebear angel' image. I don't think it has helped much unfortunately. The public enjoys their sterotypes of nurses too much; and the media exploits this.

I wish they would revive it. It could go head to head with the J&J "essence of caring". Although, I do have to admit, the J&J nursing commercial that ran on TNT during 14 hours was much better than that "dare to care" thing they had before. I am SO glad they got rid of that one.

I agree with you. It would be nice to get rid of the "carebear angel" image. However, how can we expect the public and the media to let go of this image if many nurses are unwilling to let it go?

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I can live with the carebear angel images more than the stilettos, fishnets, and miniskirt crap.

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I can live with the carebear angel images more than the stilettos, fishnets, and miniskirt crap.

I think both are equally damaging. They diminish our education and professionalism and lead people to believe that nurses are just hand-holders and maidservants (or sluts) rather than educated professionals.

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I can live with the carebear angel images more than the stilettos, fishnets, and miniskirt crap.

Amen to that Marie! :Melody:

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