Nurses call for an end to “sexy nurse” costumes
In late October 2023, the Guardian ran a good item on calls by the Spanish nursing council for an end to the naughty and killer / zombie nurse costumes that appear at Halloween. The piece had good quotes from nursing leaders. It might have dug deeper into how these stereotypes undermine the profession’s efforts to get adequate resources and respect.
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October 31, 2023 – Today the Guardian ran a strong item reporting that the Spanish nursing council had asked the public to reconsider Halloween outfits that reinforced “sexy nurse” and other harmful stereotypes. The piece by Sam Jones provided quotes from the council’s statement and its president. In particular, it highlighted some problems with “naughty nurse” imagery, which sexualizes and trivializes a skilled modern profession, as well as with killer-nurse and zombie-nurse costumes, which associate a caring profession with malevolence. The piece noted that nurses in Québec had made similar calls a year earlier, including a quote from the president of the Québec Order of Nurses. More could have been said. The naughty nurse image, by associating the profession with female sexuality, contributes to the high rates of sexual abuse that real nurses experience and deters many career seekers from considering nursing. The piece itself sounds a curious note on gender, saying that the Spanish council represents “330,000 male and female nurses”—as if male nurses were such an oddity that readers might wonder if they had their own council, or if they even existed. Yet two of the three nursing leaders quoted here seem to be men. In any case, it’s also important to say that the killer and zombie images play into the battle-axe stereotype, which associates nursing authority with oppression and abnormality. Of course, we realize only so much can be done in a short report, and we thank the Guardian.
Sexualized, trivial and frivolous

The piece’s headline is “Calls in Spain to stop selling ‘sexy nurse’ Halloween costumes.” However, the nursing council is not only asking retailers to stop selling the costumes but also urging people to stop buying them. The council pointed out that the naughty outfits perpetuated a “sexualised, trivial and frivolous” image of the profession that had, in the report’s words, “no place in a modern and egalitarian society.” Council president Florentino Pérez Raya explained that such outfits “damage the public image of a profession whose dedication demands not only top-tier academic and university qualifications but which is also recognised as a bastion of healthcare quality.” These comments get at much of what is harmful about this imagery. In more concrete terms, the stereotype also undermines nurses’ claims to adequate resources, as well as tending to perpetuate a world in which nurses experience high levels of sexual abuse. The council statement also asked retailers to stop selling “zombie” and “killer” outfits, which it said have become “entrenched” among the young during Halloween, and which “paradoxically link death and murder” with professionals who actually save lives. Again, at a deeper level, they also reinforce the battle-axe stereotype, which suggests that a nurse with power is unnatural and threatening.

The item stressed that the Spanish council’s call went well beyond Halloween retailers. It reportedly made a special appeal to parents not to buy such costumes, with council vice-president Raquel Rodríguez Llanos stating: “We’re calling on all mothers and fathers not to dress their sons and daughters in costumes that are offensive to the profession because that’s how these practices become normalised and are carried on into adulthood.” A council statement echoed the idea that there had been a “proliferation” of degrading costumes. The comments from Llanos also stated that the council’s concerns extended beyond Halloween to “parties, stag parties, private parties and carnivals” where such costumes might also appear. Including these elements is very helpful, as it shows the depth and breadth of the problem, as well as how it might be addressed through attention to messaging that the young receive.
Finally, the piece noted that Canadian nurses had made similar statements about naughty nurse Halloween costumes the year before, describing them as part of an unacceptable “eroticisation of the profession.” The article quoted Luc Mathieu, the president of the Québec Order of Nurses, as saying that “the profession has evolved but stereotypes persist. Nurses practise a scientific profession and their expertise must be better known and valued.” This element of the item is also helpful, as it shows nurses around the world advocating for a more accurate public image.

Please help us teach our children, other family, and friends that this issue matters to nurses, as it affects the health of our profession. Change begins with us talking to the people in our lives. Please encourage others not to dress as a naughty nurse for Halloween, and if they do, please educate them. If we all do this, sales should decrease, and we hope to see fewer of these costumes for sale. Thank you!
In addition, please write to some of the largest sellers of problematic “nurse” costumes: Amazon and Spirit Halloween. And please blind-copy us on the letter at letters@truthaboutnursing.org so that we can follow your advocacy. Thank you!
See the article “Calls in Spain to stop selling ‘sexy nurse’ Halloween costumes: General nursing council say outfits perpetuate negative stereotypes of profession and link death to a job that’s about caring,” by Sam Jones, published in The Guardian on October 31, 2023.