The Roots of Nursing's Image Problem
- What are the roots of nursing's image problem?
- Media ignores nurses
- Media gives physicians credit for nurses' work
- Media's belief that physicians know everything and that they control nursing
- Woodhull Study finds nurses cited in only 2% of articles!
- The media stereotypes nurses. Main stereotypes:
- Unskilled loser
- Handmaiden
- Naughty nurse
- Job for yesterday's girl
- Angel
- Battle-axe
- Advanced practice nurse as cut-rate physician substitute
- Power of the media
- How the media affects our thinking
- How the media affects nursing
- Is the media really a problem? You bet. Here's the research.
- How "jokes" about nurses aren't really jokes
- What is the status of nursing in the media today?
- Television
- Film
- Music
- Literature
- News media
- Advertisements
- Billboards
- Undervaluation —› Inadequate patient care —› because it leads to
- Underfunding, which leads to:
- Nursing professors are stretched too thin and undercompensated, which leads to a faculty shortage
- Overlooked and ignored
- Nurse researchers have ideas about how to improve care but can't get funded
- Excluded from decision-making bodies
- Understaffing. What can't nurses do when they are understaffed?
- Care is left undone: Nurses don't have time to educate patients
- Inadequate holistic therapies that nurses recommend
- Nurses don't have time to advocate for patients or do other nurse-prescribed work
- Nurses don't have time to do adequate surveillance so patients deteriorate and die
- Underempowered (nurses want to improve care but administrators, physicians and insurance companies disregard their ideas
- Evidence underfunding leads to inadequate quantity and quality of nursing, which harms patients
- Health care errors — the third leading cause of death
- Physicians undervalue, misunderstand and don't listen to nurses
- Health administrators undervalue, misunderstand and don't listen to nurses, short-staff them and fail to invest in nurses as individuals and autonomous nursing care
- Patients don't listen to nurses so they don't become educated about their health conditions and fail to change their health behaviors so they suffer a calamity or setback
- Nursing voice is mostly absent from health policy debate, often leaving patients without an advocate
- The third leading cause of death!Health care errors
- Nurses are the professionals most likely to identify and prevent health care errors
- We need 3-4x as many nurses!The massive global nursing shortage
- Underfunding —› Inadequate quantity and quality of nursing harms patients
- SOLUTIONS: What we've been doing
- Educating the public
- Oxford University PressSee our book Saving Lives: Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk
- See our global press coverage
- Educating the media
- Never doubt nurses have powerThe media we've gotten changed
- Helping nurses understand the power of the media
- Explaining why the media matters
- Journal of the American Academy of NursingSee our op-ed on in Nursing Outlook
- Monitoring and Analyzing the Media
- The best! The worst!Analyzing the media. See our blog!
- Countering negative depictions of nursing
- Dispelling stereotypes and wrong information about nursing
- Pushing back on negative depictions with our campaigns!
- Creating positive images of nursing
- Presenting nurses as college-educated science professionals
- Recruiting the best and brightest to nursing
- Plans for expanded outreach
- Creating a positive image
- Creating books, TV, radio and more
- Funding research on nursing in the media
- Educate the media
- Developing media expertise
- Getting media training
- Learning to become an advocate
- Book a workshop for hospital nurses
- Book a workshop for academics
- Book a workshop for nursing students
- Book a workshop for nursing managers
- Book a workshop for public relations professionals
- Reaching out to members of the media
- Pushing back against negative depictions
- Reaching out and establishing relationships with the media
- Hollywood symposia
- Journalist outreach
- Hosting roundtables with news organs
- Educate everyone about the nature and value of nursing
- Educate the public
- Educate the next generation
- Be a nurse!
- Educate guidance counselors
- Information for potential nurses
- Educate hospital executives
- Educate public relations officials
- Educate IT professionals
- Educate physicians
- Educate insurers
- Educate legislators
- Teach the public about various health topics--establishing nurses as health experts
- About the Coalition for Better Understanding of Nursing
- 1-minute video introduction to the Coalition
- Written announcement
- Our members
- Contact us
Solutions:
See more:
Proposed Solutions
that address the unhelpful thinking that undermines nursing.
Educate the world that nurses save lives!
