Reviews and Advance Praise for Saving Lives: Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk

     "In the new book Saving Lives: Why the Media’s Portrayal of Nurses Puts Us All at Risk, co-authors Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers explore the dated and false images of nursing that still persist in the media, ranging from popular television shows to the crossword puzzle. ... Saving Lives is an important book because it so clearly delineates how ubiquitous negative portrayals of nursing are in today’s media... They argue that these images of nursing degrade the profession by portraying nurses as either vixens, saints or harridans, not college-educated health care workers with life and death responsibilities. The problem with how nurses are portrayed in the media is that it has the potential to devalue the way we view nurses in the real world."

-- The New York Times, Theresa Brown, from "Why Nurse Stereotypes Are Bad for Health," in Tara Parker-Pope's "Well" column, July 1, 2009.  
 

      "Saving Lives has a serious point, that the devaluation of nursing--both by overlooking nurses' contributions to positive outcomes for patients, and more subtly by emphasizing their devotion, compassion and self-sacrifice over their lifesaving skills--discourages students from the field and contributes to a critical nursing shortage."

-- Newsweek, Jerry Adler, Senior Editor, in his March 9, 2009 article "The Nurse Will See You Now."
 

     "Written with the general public in mind, but with a lot of valuable information for nurses, Saving Lives outlines all the damaging images of nursing in the media including in popular TV dramas and comedies. The naughty nurse, the battle-axe nurse, they’re all described in this must-read book. Then the Summers duo discuss why and how these images minimize the highly scientific, fast-paced, demanding profession of nursing and what that means to patients. ... Chapter 11 is the meat of the book. It is chock full of great tips for nurses, media, authors, general public, e.g., patients, bloggers and Internet aficionados on how to promote a better, more accurate image of nursing. Every nurse should read Saving Lives and then pass it on to their family and friends to read as well." 

-- ADVANCE for Nurses, Gail Guterl, editor, May 20, 2009 in her review.

     "Every nurse should recognise the damage that negative portrayals of nursing in the press, films, television and even books can do to our image. ... This well-researched text explores the negative effects of adverse publicity and how it inhibits our professional growth. ... The book deserves wide reading. Hopefully some firebrand may even be driven to duplicate this study in the UK."

-- Nursing Standard (UK), Dame Betty Kershaw, April 29, 2009.
 

"The pervasive problem in [news and entertainment] media ... is that they almost never accurately portray the important, science-based work that registered nurses do and instead reinforce damaging stereotypes of RNs, argue Sandy and Harry Summers in their persuasive book, Saving Lives."

-- Registered Nurse, Lucia Hwang, editor, July/August 2009 in her review.

      "Saving Lives provides a stunning exposé of the media's inaccurate portrayals of nurses and their work, and documents the impact this has on public health. It should be mandatory reading for journalists, script writers, producers, physicians, policymakers, the public, and anyone who perpetuates nursing invisibility and the often blasphemous representations of nurses' everyday heroism. There's no longer any excuse for media creators to fail to speak truth about the exquisite skill and essential contributions of nurses to safe, humanistic, intelligent health care."

     -- Diana J. Mason, RN, PhD, FAAN, Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Nursing, and co-host, HealthStyles, WBAI Radio

 
     "This wonderful book hits the reader in the heart and the mind. As a clinician it hit me hard, with a 'yes, I've been there' feeling. It still hurts. As an educator it struck me in a different way. Will my brilliant nursing students have to endure the same stereotypical images over and over again? But the book is not only evocative and educational; with a strong sense of hope, it points the way forward."

      -- Claire M. Fagin, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor Emerita, Dean Emerita, and Interim President Emerita, the University of Pennsylvania

 
     "Saving Lives is a fascinating in-depth look at how Hollywood and other media undermine nursing by feeding the public damning myths and derogatory views of nurses decade after decade. The book instills an awareness that will forever change the way the reader views nurses in the media. Reader take warning: you may be left with a strong desire to do something to change the system. Luckily, the authors tell you how."

     -- Echo Heron, RN, author of Intensive Care: The Story of a Nurse; Tending Lives: Nurses on the Medical Front; and the Adele Monsarrat medical mystery series

 
     "Why is watching Grey's Anatomy bad for you? Why is House a public health problem? Read this book and find out. Sandy and Harry Summers provide an insightful and often witty guide to the media's 'nursing problem.' They help us understand the consequences of the media's love affair with physicians and its failure to appreciate the critical work of nurses. This book is an important contribution to the study of nursing and health care."

     -- Suzanne Gordon, author of Nursing Against the Odds: How Health Care Cost Cutting, Media Stereotypes, and Medical Hubris Undermine Nurses and Patient Care, co-author of From Silence to Voice: What Nurses Know and Must Communicate to the Public

 
     "In this irreverent tour of the popular health media, Sandy and Harry Summers lift the cloak of invisibility from the health care professionals who are the front line of healing."

      -- Andrew Holtz, MPH, former CNN Medical Correspondent and author of The Medical Science of House, M.D.

 
     "Nurses are health scientists who save our lives every day, in countless ways. But most people, unless they've been hospitalized for an extended period, don't know that fact -- thanks to media portrayals of nurses as nothing more than bedpan jockeys, backrub dispensers, and passive handmaidens of brilliant physicians, in whose shadows nurses wilt. This important, long-overdue book vividly illustrates the dynamism and rigor of the nursing profession -- and explains in sobering detail how flawed media images of nursing affect the health of us all."

     -- Ronnie Polaneczky, Columnist, Philadelphia Daily News

 
     "I did not just 'read' Saving Lives; I could not put it down. With compelling prose and examples, the book reveals how the media has failed at portraying the profession of nursing. If you are a nurse you should be infuriated. If you are in the media you should be ashamed. Fortunately, the authors have included a 'tool box' that provides many ways to seek change."

     -- Richard Kahn, Independent Filmmaker and Producer, Lifeline: The Nursing Diaries; In Our Midst: The Long-Term Impact of Neonatal Intensive Care; and Frontline: Street Cop.

     "Saving Lives is a powerful indictment of how the media portrays nursing today. With astute yet playful analyses of products ranging from Hollywood sitcoms to elite news pieces, this book shows why the media has contributed to poor understanding, which has in turn fueled the global nursing shortage. But the authors also offer a compelling vision for the future, showing how everyone can help nurses lead the way to a new world of health and well-being. The change starts here."

     -- Nancy King Reame, RN, PhD, FAAN, Professor of Nursing, Columbia University, former contributor, iVillage, and co-author, Our Bodies, Ourselves

See Jerry Adler's larger quote from Newsweek

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