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News on Nursing in the Media from the Center for Nursing Advocacy
Can any idiot be a nurse? Don't forget the sponge
baths and happy endings!
February 8, 2005 -- Tonight's episode of NBC's "Scrubs," entitled "My
Quarantine" and written by Tad Quill, is a good example of the "just trying
to help" school of inaccurate and harmful television nursing depictions, a
school epitomized by an
October 2003 "ER"
episode
. Such shows often involve nurse characters confronting difficult
situations or negative attitudes in a way that show creators may think is
promoting respect for nursing, but which in fact sends even more powerful
damaging messages because of the sympathetic intent. In this "Scrubs"
episode, the most striking example is a surgeon character's affirmation
that "any idiot can be a nurse." We see that the nurse to whom
this surgeon is married strongly disagrees--but we never see why. The
obvious conclusion: he's rude, but maybe he's right.
more...
"Scrubs" has been refusing to set up a telephone call between the Center and its Executive Producer Bill Lawrence. Please call and ask them to schedule a call between Bill Lawrence and the Center. Call 1-818-623-1880, ext. 104. (9-5 Pacific time.) Then please email us at nursing@truthaboutnursing.org to let us know that you called so we can keep track of how many calls went out. Thank you very much!
JibJab refuses to remove naughty nurse images from its products--PLEASE
CALL 310-586-1576 NOW
February 10, 2005 -- Thank you to all who called JibJab to request that the
company discuss with the Center its many products featuring an image of
President Clinton and two "naughty nurses." The Center has now spoken with
Gregg Spiridellis, one of the two brothers who run JibJab. Mr. Spiridellis
expressed support for our campaign to
improve nursing's image, acknowledging that fictional media products like
NBC's "ER" affect the way people think about nursing. However, he does not
agree that JibJab's more light-hearted media could have any effect on the
way people think about nursing. Accordingly, JibJab has refused to remove
any naughty nurse images from its media or merchandise products. However,
research has shown
that even less "serious" media products such as
sitcoms and soap operas have a significant effect on the public's
health-related views and actions. The Center believes that, given the
historic association of nursing and sex in the public mind, JibJab's
naughty nurse images do in fact damage the nursing image at a time of
global crisis, and we strongly urge the company to reconsider.
See our original JibJab campaign
.
Please flood JibJab with phone calls, send our instant letter and protest the use of nursing images in their products. Please call 1-310-586-1576 and voice your concerns. (9-5 Pacific time.) Thank you! If the letter link doesn't work, please paste this URL into your browser: www.truthaboutnursing.org/action/letters/2005/jibjab/form.html
Tickle: Is
the best thing about nursing "meeting hot doctors?" Ha ha! Just joking!
February 8, 2005 -- Tickle, the "leading interpersonal media company" now
owned by Monster, is offering a 15-question online test called "Who's Your
Inner Nurse?" The test, a sly vehicle to direct nurses
and others into the site's employment services, invites us to choose from
a series of stereotypes that, despite being lighthearted, reflect ignorance
of the real nature and value of nursing. Some of the potential answers are
presumably "jokes," like "meeting hot doctors" as an option for "the best
thing about nursing." Others reinforce stereotypes through positive
choices, such as the one inviting respondents to report that patients find
them gentle, cheerful, dependable, or selfless (as opposed to skilled,
innovative, or hard-working). And some questions simply invite people to
think of nursing as trivial, such as the one that gives test takers the
chance to specify that they wouldn't "make [their] rounds without" their
"[s]tickers and lollipops." None of the questions reflects awareness that
nurses are highly skilled professionals with years of college-level
training who save and materially improve lives daily. After discussions
with the Center, Tickle grudgingly agreed to remove the "Inner Nurse" test,
but
declined to substitute the revised test the Center helpfully provided. On
the upside, the company did not issue a statement assuring us that it never
meant to offend nurses, because they're so cute, kind and selfless.
more...
"I should be thinking of the future of our kids"
February 3, 2005 -- Today National Public Radio's Morning Edition ran a
very good report by Michael Sullivan, "Number of Philippine Nurses
Emigrating Skyrockets." The balanced, comprehensive piece includes audio
clips from a Manila hospital nursing executive, a senior nurse who is about
to emigrate, the physician who directs the
Philippines' National Institutes of Health, and government officials. The
Philippines has long relied on remittances from workers abroad. But the
fact that the nation is now exporting 15,000 nurses each year to developed
nations like the United States, where they can make 20 times what they do
in the Philippines, reportedly poses a serious long term threat to an
already fragile and overburdened local health system.
more...
February 3, 2005 -- Today The
Tennessean
ran Larry Bivins' Gannett News Service piece about the St. Louis-based
Nurses for Newborns program, which
provides vital home care to low-income, at-risk mothers and newborn
infants. The medium-length piece provides a generally good look at this
program, with quotes from a local patient, a physician who co-directs the
local program, supportive Member of Congress Jim Cooper (D-Nashville), and
two of the program's key local patrons, Tennessee Titans football player
Fred Miller and his wife Kim. Can you guess the one relevant category not
represented with a quote in this otherwise commendable piece about "Nurses
for
Newborns?" We thought so.
more...
January 30, 2005
-- Today the
Guardian
(U.K.) web site posted a balanced piece by Jamie Doward, "Row erupts over
secret filming of hospital filth," about a Channel 4 documentary based on
the work of two nurses with hidden cameras who captured "appalling
conditions" at two British hospitals, including poor sanitation and
infection control practices in the care of elderly patients. Key issues
raised by the documentary, "Dispatches: Undercover Angels," include the
responsibility of nurses and other staff for the poor
conditions, the appropriateness of the use of undercover cameras by
caregivers on duty, and when the mass media will stop calling nurses
"angels."
more...
Are nurses "blue-collar" workers?
February 4, 2005 -- Today CBS radio commentator Charles Osgood included in
his regular radio piece an item called
"High Demand for Blue Collar Workers"
(scroll down). In this category he included the construction trades,
electricians, HVAC, auto repair, landscaping, and nursing.
The item was very positive about the jobs, making clear that these workers
are "skilled" and that community colleges train them, but it also had a
quote from one business owner suggesting that such blue collar workers
should be proud in part because "[y]ou're not weird if you don't want to go
to college." All of the above are skilled, important jobs requiring
significant post-high school training. However, we don't believe any but
nursing has granted close to a million bachelor's degrees and hundreds of
thousands of graduate degrees, and has thousands of doctorally-prepared
members working on the cutting edge of scientific research. Thus, we are
concerned that nursing's inclusion may not convey to job seekers or the
public the full nature of the profession. Center supporter Mary Dominiak,
RN, MSN, MBA, sent Mr. Osgood a letter to register her objection to him.
See the letter, send one of
your own or post your thoughts on our discussion board
.
New Center FAQ:
A: No. Whether you see a physician, nurse or some other primary care professional, you should go to the "advanced practitioner's office," "primary care provider's office" or the "health provider's office." Today, non-physician practitioners are increasingly assuming primary health care duties that used to be the exclusive province of physicians, and doing a great job. Our language should reflect this important change in modern health care. more...
Please remember our letter-writing campaigns. If you agree with them, please join them!
JibJab ; "Scrubs" ; Smart Money ; Bras 'n Things ; "ER" ; 3 Wishes Lingerie ; "Passions"
Please help us make this work. Thank you!
Sandy Summers, RN, MSN, MPH
Executive Director
The Center for Nursing Advocacy
203 Churchwardens Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21212-2937
office 410-323-1100
fax 410-510-1790
ssummers@truthaboutnursing.org
www.truthaboutnursing.org
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