News on Nursing in the Media

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April 24, 2005 -- Today the Washington Post's female-taunting Gene Weingarten devoted his "Below the Beltway" column to a mock list of the circumstances under which he would decline to be kept alive with "extraordinary measures." He asked that, following any removal of his feeding tube, he be "lovingly asphyxiated by a buxom honey-blonde nurse in a short skirt and one of those cute little caps." This comment and others suggest that Mr. Weingarten is already in a persistent vegetative state, and may explain why the rest of his column shows little evidence of voluntary brain activity. Of course, we would not presume to offer a definitive evaluation at this distance, but we would urge his family to consult their nurse practitioner immediately. Read our full analysis or go straight to our letter-writing campaign!

BBC: "Nurses say reform prostitute law"

April 26, 2005 -- Today the BBC News web site posted a fairly good piece by Caroline Ryan reporting that the "overwhelming majority" of nurses at a Royal College of Nurses (RCN) conference had supported a call to end criminal prosecution of prostitutes, arguing that this would greatly increase the vulnerable population's access to health care. This is a striking example of patient advocacy, especially in view of the 19th century association of nursing with prostitution and the profession's ongoing struggle against "naughty nurse" stereotyping. more...

Correction

It has come to our attention that our review of the "House" premiere overstated to some extent the likelihood that a nurse would have been able to diagnose neurocysticercosis through bedpan analysis, and we regret the error. Please see our revised review reflecting this technical correction. However, our larger point that nurses are often critical to such diagnoses remains valid, and on the whole "House" continues to present an inaccurate, utterly physician-centric vision of health care to 17 million U.S. viewers each week.

Letter-writing campaigns

Please send our two most important instant (or your original) letters: "Grey's Anatomy" letter #5; and our "ER" sponsors campaign.

Thanks for all that you do to improve nursing's media image. We depend on you to circulate our news and reach out to your corner of the world to increase public understanding of nursing. Thank you.

Sandy Summers, RN, MSN, MPH
Executive Director, The Truth About Nursing
203 Churchwardens Rd.
Baltimore, MD USA 21212-2937
office 1-410-323-1100
fax 1-410-510-1790
ssummers@tansandbox.org

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