Nurses see borders in "Doctors Without Borders"

Nurses are urging the Nobel Prize-winning Doctors Without Borders to modify its name so as not to exclude nurses, noting that they are more numerous than their physician colleagues, who monopolize the group's name.

The Center for Nursing Advocacy and more than 200 hundred supporters from around the world have been asking the aid group to consider a minor change, which the Center says would have no significant impact on its operations. One proposal is to change the original name, "Médecins Sans Frontières," to "Soins Sans Frontières," which means "Health Care Without Borders."

"We salute MSF for its vital work, but its continuing use of the name 'Doctors Without Borders' sends an inaccurate message about who is doing that work," said Center executive director Sandy Summers. "The name seems to reflect the undervaluation of nursing that drives the global nursing shortage, most notably in the developing nations MSF tries to help."

The Center says it understands MSF was founded in 1971 by French physicians and journalists. But the international nursing group says nurses are now the most numerous health professionals among the different types of workers on the diverse MSF team, and that nurses have held leadership positions in the group. MSF won the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize.

In a December 2006 letter to the Center, MSF-U.S. executive director Nicolas de Torrente and board president Darin Portnoy agreed that nurses make crucial contributions to MSF's global efforts. But they argued that a change in the group's recognized "name, logo, and identity" would hamper its efforts to provide aid in volatile environments.

The Center countered that it was not asking for a change that would have any significant impact on the MSF logo or its identity. The nursing group pointed out that many other large organizations had made far more drastic name changes than it was requesting.

The Center also urged MSF to consider how not changing the name may undermine the work of millions of nurses.

"When nurses do not get fair public recognition--when physicians continue to get credit for nurses' work--it inhibits our ability to get clinical and educational resources," said Summers. "It is a big factor in the nursing crisis that is taking lives worldwide."

Summers added that MSF itself might have more appeal to potential nurse volunteers and others with a more inclusive name. "We know nurses who want to serve overseas but will not volunteer with MSF because of the name," she said.

See the Center's full analysis of the initial events and the show's attempt to make amends.

Background:

The Center for Nursing Advocacy, founded in 2001, is a Baltimore-based non-profit organization that seeks to increase public understanding of the central, front-line role nurses play in modern health care. The focus of the Center is to promote more accurate, balanced and frequent media portrayals of nurses and increase the media's use of nurses as expert sources.

See the Center's Board of Directors or Advisory Panel or About us pages.

For more information, please contact:

Sandy Summers, MSN, MPH, RN
Executive Director
The Center for Nursing Advocacy
203 Churchwardens Rd.
Baltimore, Maryland, USA 21212-2937
office 1-410-323-1100
fax 1-443-705-0260
cell 1-443-253-3738
ssummers@truthaboutnursing.org
www.truthaboutnursing.org