VICE on nurses who spread false information about Covid In March 2023 VICE News reported that Nevada nurse Nicole Sirotek and her group American Frontline Nurses had been spreading disinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines, while…
Category: MEDIA
Submit nominations for the 2022 Truth About Nursing media awards!
These annual awards spotlight the best and worst of media for nursing We are now accepting nominations for the Truth About Nursing awards, which recognize the most notable – best and worst…
“Does nurse BokHee ever speak?”
More good portrayals of nursing are coming on the BBC’s Call the Midwife and Netflix’s Virgin River. But Bob Hearts Abishola (CBS) returns with a nurse who remains determined to become a physician because she believes it has a higher status. And the prime-time landscape is still dominated by physician-centric programming, including Grey’s Anatomy, The Good Doctor, and New Amsterdam.
Doc McStuffins: Physicians are great, nurses are like hippo dolls
December 2022 – The popular Disney preschool show Doc McStuffins aired more than 130 episodes between 2012 to 2020, and it is now available on Disney+, inspiring new generations of girls to…
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 assault forensic nurses, discussing their vital work at the intersection of health care and law.
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 also discusses some enduring threats to nursing practice.
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 nurses hold a professional health care position that includes clinical management of complex health problems and requires at least a bachelor of science degree in nursing.
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, it’s more of the same damaging Hollywood model, with nurses as silent servants to the brilliant physicians who call all the shots and save all the lives.
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 cuts—as well as some of the effects on student health. The piece might have also explored how the shortage affects education, since kids can’t learn as well while they are needlessly sick.
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 viewers that nursing is a challenging science profession.
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 nurse to be an educated, alert, and persistent patient advocate.
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 Tribune Eagle reported on the same day, some school nurses – like the one in Cheyenne who resigned over lax quarantine rules – also face bad Covid policies.
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 on a small number of problematic nurses and do more to highlight the positive contributions of the profession.
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 – for a short time wearing the same naughty nurse outfit – sexually terrorizes and physically disfigures a misogynist U.S. Senator, in a revenge fantasy that fans are meant to admire. And others, we assume, to fear.
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 achievement required her to become a physician. Ratched (Netflix) will likely have more battle-axe and other stereotypes. And otherwise, the prime-time landscape will be dominated by physician-centric shows, including the new Good Sam (CBS) and Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. (Disney+)
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.
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 stroke. A downside was Abishola’s obsession with her young son becoming a physician.
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.
We belong together
News reports by Reuters and others have described strong public protests during early 2019 by Portuguese nurses seeking better pay and working conditions. One union leader even staged a short hunger strike! And in April the New York Times reported that three major New York hospital systems had avoided a strike only by agreeing to minimum nurse staffing ratios, a result that may have wider effects.
The Marvelous Messrs. Mayo
Ken Burns’ two-hour film The Mayo Clinic: Faith – Hope – Science makes a strong case for Mayo physician achievements, highlighting their innovative treatments and progressive financing. But it mainly portrays nurses as good-hearted assistants who couldn’t hope to do as much for patients as the nuns who co-founded the Clinic.