Join our Facebook group

News on Nursing in the Media

 

Mayday

April 8, 2007 - Today the Sunday Mail (U.K.) ran an article about the May Day for Nurses campaign, which asks U.K. football (soccer) stars to donate one day's pay to what the Mail calls "a hardship fund that can be claimed by the poorest nurses across the U.K." Steve Dineen's piece is mostly about the involvement of the football stars. And the supportive but vague quotes from them and the campaign founder, political economist Noreena Hertz, do little to explain why U.K. nurses are so desperate, or how this campaign might help in the long term. But the piece does direct readers to the May Day campaign web site, which explains the campaign's hope that "the awareness raised will hopefully make the government give nurses their due." That site also argues that nurses are severely underpaid relative to other public workers, and even goes beyond the standard "nurses are noble"-style rhetoric of the Mail piece to note that lower nurse staffing means worse patient outcomes. We thank the Mail for its coverage and Noreena Hertz for this innovative campaign to highlight some key nursing issues. more...

 

"Swaziland is dying. Will the last nurse on duty please turn off the lights?"

December 11, 2006 -- Recent articles by IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks) highlight the deadly interaction between the HIV/AIDS crisis and the lack of resources for nurses in sub-Saharan Africa. "Malawi: Health worker shortage a challenge to AIDS treatment," posted on November 17, describes how that nation's acute shortage of nurses and other key health staff impedes ambitious efforts to expand anti-retroviral treatment. Today's "Swaziland: Nurses fleeing the HIV/AIDS frontline" focuses more on the nursing shortage. In Swaziland, the shortage reportedly stems from a combination of emigration for better opportunities and attrition caused by HIV/AIDS itself--an estimated 38% of the nation's remaining public and mission sector nurses are HIV positive. Both pieces effectively show how the AIDS crisis and the nursing shortage exacerbate each other. We thank IRIN for this coverage. more...

 

McSteamed

In response to our item about the January 25, 2007 episode of "Grey's Anatomy," entitled "Great Expectations," a nurse has submitted a great script idea. Our analysis focused on a scene in which attending Mark Sloane punishes two surgical interns by giving them what is presented as the trivial, grotesque task of treating bedsores, suggesting that he's not asking the nurses who would normally do it because he likes them. Please see below for a powerful idea for the scene written by Mandy Mayling, RN. Ms. Mayling envisions what might have happened if Seattle Grace actually had nurse managers. Click here to see the script...

 

American Academy of Nursing Gives 2006 Media Awards

November 11, 2006 - Tonight the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) presented its 2006 Media Awards at the group's annual ceremony in Miami. The four Media Award winners were: "Critical Care: The Making of an ICU Nurse," an extensive series about Massachusetts General Hospital nurses published in The Boston Globe in October 2005; "13 Weeks," an Internet "reality" show about travel nurses created by Access Nurses; "Kids' Health Matters," a public health publication created by the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP); and "Nurse shortage puts school kids at risk," a long article about the school nurse crisis published in USA Today in December 2005. The Globe and USA Today pieces also won Golden Lamp Awards from the Center. The Center congratulates all the winners. more...

 

Does nursing require a college degree?

Many nurses have contacted us about the PARADE article from April 15, 2007, stating that nursing requires no college degree. We will address it in next week's news alert. In the meantime, if you have comments on the article, please send them to Parade at Rebecca_Geroulo@parade.com and copy us at letters@truthaboutnursing.org. Thank you!

 

Please place RN patch orders for May graduations now

Over the last few weeks we have taken a number of orders for bulk "RN" and other nursing patches for upcoming nursing graduations. Many schools are giving out patches to their graduates instead of flowers. If you would like patches, please order them in the coming week so we can guarantee delivery in time for May graduations. Thank you. The regular member price for an "RN" patch is $1.50, but in bulk of 50 patches or more, patches are just $1.00 each. Click here for more information or call us at 1-410-323-1100.


Join all our campaigns!

Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian physician sentenced to death in Libya

"LIVE with Regis and Kelly"

Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières

Johnson & Johnson

Grey's Anatomy

House

ER

Scrubs

Heart Attack Grill

American Medical Association


Help...us...please

The Center promotes better understanding of nursing, so nurses can do their work. But just like nurses, we need financial support to do our work. The long-term sustainability of the Center depends on it. If you appreciate our work, would you be able to chip in to help us continue? Our current situation requires that key staff donate many hundreds of hours to the Center every year, at great cost to themselves and their families. Please do your part to help us out. Thank you!

The Center's global media monitoring, analysis and advocacy is a huge challenge. It takes extensive research, writing, communication, and Internet efforts. We must pay for office equipment, supplies, transportation, Internet products, insurance, postage and telephone costs. Our office is donated by our staff. And our staff can undertake only a small part of the work that needs to be done to improve nursing's image.

So we urge you to make a donation to help us continue and expand our work. Just click here to learn about the great gifts you can receive for joining or renewing your Center membership, including our cool t-shirts and the Archie McPhee nurse action figure! It's quick and easy! And because the Center is a 501(c)(3) charity, your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.

Thank you for all of your support over the past year. You are the reason we've had a real impact on public understanding of nursing worldwide. Together, we can strengthen nursing, and give patients the kind of health care they deserve in 2007 and beyond!

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

 

==========================================================

Please circulate this freely. If this was forwarded to you, you can sign up for free news alerts here.

To change your email address for news alerts, please send your old and new email addresses to info@truthaboutnursing.org

 

 


Truth About Nursing Blog logo



book cover, Saving lives


A Few Successes —
We Can Change the Media!

Educate the world that nurses save lives!


Save Lives. Be a Nurse. bumper sticker