After a June 2020 piece in the Baltimore Sun marvels at medical students providing holistic care to Covid patients, a local nurse explains that this extraordinary care innovation has actually been at the core…
Author: Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers
Sandy and Harry Summers are the leaders of The Truth About Nursing and co-authors of Saving Lives: Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk
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NY Post: Covid nurse suspended for wearing little beneath clear gown Post pieces reported that a Russian nurse had been suspended for wearing only her underwear, or maybe it was a swimsuit, under her…
Nurses: Into the Banksy-verse
U.K. street artist’s Covid-19 tribute presents nurse as superhero A new Banksy work hangs in a hospital in southern England. It pays tribute to NHS staff by showing a boy playing with…
“Patients die because nurses are too busy”
Press items report deadly nursing shortage on both sides of the Atlantic A study of European hospitals shows that missed care due to nurse understaffing has increased death rates, according to an…
A very determined nurse practitioner
The Resident features a skilled nurse advocate The Fox hospital drama’s first season highlighted some real problems in the U.S. health care system, including corruption and harmful errors. But the show also…
Physical taxation without representation
New York City settles benefits case about whether nursing is “physically taxing” The New York Daily News reported that the City had agreed to pay almost $21 million to settle claims that…
Nevertheless, they persisted
More strong nursing in season 6 of the BBC’s Call the Midwife The sixth season of the BBC’s Call the Midwife, from 2017, featured more portrayals of expert nurse midwives saving lives and improving…
Making the hospital look bad
April 2020 pieces highlight U.S. nurses advocating for safer practices despite efforts to silence them. Buzzfeed reported that a California hospital had suspended 10 nurses for refusing to care for Covid-19 patients without the N95 masks the physicians got. The nurses later got the masks. And the New York Times ran an op-ed by Theresa Brown about how she was forced to quit a clinical job because of her advocacy for safer practices, a dynamic that is now widespread in the Covid context.
Young Americans
A May 2017 report addressed how “napping pods” can ease the effects of sleep deprivation on high school students. And an August 2017 piece described research finding that many postpartum nurses are ill-prepared to educate new mothers about risks to their health. Both reports show how nursing research can improve health.
We are not heroes
An April 2020 CBS News piece reported that National Nurses United had held a protest in front of the White House about the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE). The union argues that the CDC has weakened its standards for PPE, that OSHA has likewise failed to act, and that Congress and the White House have not mandated the production of enough PPE or testing supplies.
Don’t show up, don’t come out
In April 2020, U.S. nurses appeared in the media to tell the public why Covid-19 must be taken seriously and managed with social distancing measures. An anonymous California nurse did that forcefully in an installment of the Guardian’s “ER Diaries” series, explaining that Covid patients were pushing his hospital to the brink. And on PBS’s NewsHour a Miami nurse manager likewise pleaded for distancing, describing how challenging it is stay safe while providing critical care.
Gotta keep ‘em from killing people
Nurses show skill and some authority in early seasons of Chicago Med The first two seasons of the NBC hospital drama (2015-2017) focus on physician characters who generally direct clinical care. But…
Who could resist being a “rape-kit nurse”?
One Times opinion piece ably explains the need for more sexual assault forensic nurses. Another looks at barriers to men entering nursing. But both items have clickbait headlines that reinforce stereotypes and call into question why anyone would become a nurse.
Life during wartime
ICU nurse tells New York Times readers what it’s like to care for Covid-19 patients In a strong opinion piece, Simone Hannah-Clark took readers inside the day of a New York City ICU nurse….
Nursing Now!
The Pakistan website Geo reports that the nation’s President declared 2019 to be “the year of nursing.” He spoke at the Islamabad launch of the “Nursing Now” campaign, a project of the World Health Organization and the International Council of nurses that aims to advance nursing across the globe.
A huge team effort
Jimmy Kimmel thanks nurses and others who saved his son A May 2017 episode of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live featured a long account of how the host’s newborn had survived his first…
Selfless
New York Post: Nurse at hospital using trash bags as PPE dies of Covid-19 A powerful March 2020 piece in the Post reported that Mount Sinai West nurse manager Kious Kelly had died of Covid-19….
Give nurses secretaries
The key to saving more Covid-19 patients? Offload the clerical work. In the Covid-19 crisis, much has been said about the need for equipment like ventilators and PPE. But we also have…
It’s all about the beds-and-vents
Media alarmed at lack of COVID-19 equipment, but not the nurses needed to run it Physician Aaron Carroll’s March 2020 New York Times piece about what we need to help coronavirus patients has helpful…
The work wife
Dr. Ken refills prescription for nursing stereotypes The final season of the ABC sitcom Dr. Ken presented nurse character Clark as the admiring “work wife” and clinical lapdog of the physician lead character. That portrayal…