July 2019 — The Truth About Nursing

What the heart wants

Posted on July 26, 2019February 14, 2020 by Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers

NBC’s Heartbeat featured expert physicians, with a nurse as skilled handmaiden The 2016 NBC show Heartbeat focused on a female cardiac surgeon and other physicians. It did have a recurring nurse character,…

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Professional

Posted on July 26, 2019October 29, 2019 by Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers

New York Times Crossword shows RNs some respect Today the prominent puzzle sought the answer “RNS” with the clue “Pro caregivers, for short.” That at least suggests that nurses are experts with…

4,229 total views, 2 views today

Tiempos de Amor

Posted on July 25, 2019October 29, 2019 by Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers

The Netflix show Morocco: Love in Times of War offers only a limited look at Spanish wartime nursing in the 1920s. But the Spanish series, released in the U.S. in 2018, does…

9,491 total views, 2 views today

These are the pros

Posted on July 18, 2019October 29, 2019 by Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers

AARP re-affirms support for NPs after strong NP advocacy In March 2019, the AARP Bulletin ran a piece with advice from a variety of “pros.” The piece relied on several physicians, but…

3,168 total views, 2 views today

Truth director to appear at online African nursing conference!

Posted on July 8, 2019October 29, 2019 by Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers

On July 9, Truth About Nursing director Sandy Summers will speak at “The African Nurse: Breaking Boundaries 1.0,” a Nursing Innovation and Media Storytelling Event July 7, 2019 — On Tuesday, July…

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They get the job done

Posted on July 7, 2019October 29, 2019 by Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers

Powerful New Yorker piece highlights the work of a veteran hospice nurse The long 2016 report by Larissa MacFarquhar describes the work of hospice nurse Heather Meyerend, who provides skilled physical and…

3,538 total views, 2 views today

Set up to fail
NPR on RaDonda Vaught National Public Radio has run fairly good items about Tennessee nurse RaDonda Vaught, who was recently convicted of a homicide charge in the accidental death of a patient....Read More »
Message from RaDonda Vaught
RaDonda Vaught provides guidance on those offering letters of supportRead More »
Push
Chicago Tribune highlights pioneering work of local nurses In November 2019 the paper had two good pieces about nurses improving health in innovative ways. First, it ran a substantial obituary of Vivian Meehan, a ground-breaking national leader in addressing anorexia nervosa and related conditions. And a later article profiled sexual …Read More »
What is it good for?
The Truth About Nursing stands with the people of Ukraine We support the nurses of Ukraine and everyone affected by the Russian invasion of February 2022. We call on all involved in the conflict to avoid harming health workers and facilities, and we urge anyone who can to support relief …Read More »
Living up to this superhero image is impossible
Washington Post aims to debunk myths about U.S. nursing A fairly good February 2022 feature, “Five myths about nursing,” addresses some misconceptions about the profession. The piece focuses on ideas that have only arisen during the Covid era, such as that nursing is “lucrative” and that nurses are “superheroes.” But it …Read More »
A meeting with Epic
Our January 2022 discussion with the leading charting software maker focused on ways to improve nursing care Truth About Nursing director Sandy Summers and colleagues recently met with representatives of Epic. They discussed how charting software might be improved to reduce the burden on nurses and allow them to give …Read More »
Yeah, not really
NYT: “Your Head of H.R. Is Now Basically the School Nurse” A January 2022 New York Times report says Covid has forced corporate human resources personnel to manage new health-related tasks, including testing and vaccination procedures. But that does not mean, as the headline suggests, that they are now “the school nurse.” School …Read More »
Progress and Regress
New Amsterdam pushes reform—but through the same old physician-centric narrative. On the NBC drama’s first season (2018-19), maverick medical director Max Goodwin and a half dozen physician colleagues shake up conventional care at an overburdened public hospital. But aside from a few plotlines involving the minor nurse character Casey Acosta, …Read More »
The school health scandal
CBS News report highlights crisis of too few nurses in U.S. schools The 2019 piece explains that only three in five schools have a full time school nurse and that this presents serious risks to students. It does a good job consulting nurses, who describe the cause of the problem—budget …Read More »
Could charting software be improved?
We started meeting with Epic in January 2022 - please weigh in!Read More »
Submit nominations for the 2021 Truth About Nursing media awards!
Submit nominations for the 2021 Truth About Nursing media awards! These annual awards spotlight the best and worst of media for nursingRead More »
Nurses’ public image undermines their claims for clinical support
December 2021 MSNBC op-ed by Truth leader argues that nurses need assistantsRead More »
Jane the…Daughter of a Nurse
As Jane the Virgin ends, Xo finds her way—to nursing school! On the final season of The CW’s popular telenovela Jane the Virgin, ending in 2019, the main character’s mother Xiomara finally decided on a career path that held promise: nursing. In general, the plotline tracing Xo’s decision-making and nursing school application process told …Read More »
Nursing mysteries
Washington Post highlights a nurse’s diagnosis of her mother’s mysterious disease A 2019 “Medical Mysteries” column tells how a new pediatric nurse discovered the rare disease that had been causing her mother pain for years after seeing a lecture that referred to the condition in passing. The piece shows the …Read More »
Bottomless wells
Reports show Covid is overwhelming school nurses nationwide As students are back at schools across the U.S., school nurses are confronting real challenges. Most obviously, they face a huge expansion of their already excessive workloads, as explained in a September 2021 piece in The Philadelphia Inquirer. But as the Wyoming …Read More »
Serving and saving lives
Malawian nurses urge media to provide more balanced coverage of the profession In late October 2021, the Nyasa Times reported that the National Organization of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi had hosted a media workshop to improve relations with the press. The group’s leader Harriet Chiomba urged journalists to change their focus …Read More »
The Artist Currently Known as Martha
In October 2021, Martha Stewart Living reprinted an image of a Halloween costume Stewart had created in 2016. She wore an old-timey nurse outfit and was covered in blood, as a tribute to Richard Prince’s nurse paintings. This image isn’t very naughty, with limited cleavage, nor very battle-axey, as Stewart …Read More »
A very cheeky display
In June 2021 Megan posted photos of herself in a naughty nurse outfit on Instagram to promote a new song that was about “shakin’ ass.” That imagery, which has been reproduced in many prominent places, is damaging to nursing in a fairly standard way. But in the video Megan also …Read More »
Slaying: “Paris Hilton Is a Naughty Nurse”
Two roads diverged in the woods of Halloween 2020, and celebrity mogul Paris Hilton took the one too much traveled, with a tired naughty nurse outfit that undermined real nurses’ efforts to get resources during the pandemic. Meanwhile, Katherine Schwarzenegger kneeled in scrubs with her rescue dog and homemade box …Read More »
Unidirectional sexual healing
Unidirectional sexual healing--MSNBC publishes Truth leaders’ op-ed on naughty nurse Halloween costumesRead More »
Sex candy
Yahoo report on naughty nurse Halloween costumes relies on Truth director and advisorRead More »
Buckets and Dollies
More good portrayals of nursing are coming on the BBC’s Call the Midwife and Netflix’s Virgin River. On the new Ordinary Joe (NBC), a nurse is one of the lead character’s three alternative personas. But Bob Hearts Abishola (CBS) will return with a nurse who decided last season that high …Read More »
Orchids
CNET reported that the Doodle marked the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Its piece also noted that the Panamanian-American nursing pioneer stressed cultural awareness in care, founded the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, and became the first Hispanic nursing dean at New York University.Read More »
Nurses Make America Great
The sitcom’s first season (2019-20) focused on the relationship between the Nigerian-born nurse Abishola and Bob, the head of a small Detroit sock company. Culture clash was the main theme, but Abishola was also shown to be a tough, skilled patient advocate, notably in helping Bob’s mother recover from a …Read More »
Cancel that culture
Robert Pearl's piece argues that physicians undermine health by focusing on lucrative short-term interventions rather than primary and preventive care. But the piece itself reflects a culture that ignores the key role of nurses, who have long had the same holistic practice model that Pearl favors.Read More »

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