A strong 2018 item in The Economist discussed the stereotypes that still deter men from nursing, even at a time of critical global shortage. And an NPR report from a few months later offered valuable social science insights that the problem has roots in pervasive male anxiety about manhood. But then the piece seemed to recommend a “real men” approach to nursing recruitment that would reinforce the same regressive gender stereotypes.
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Since mid-2020, Boston nurse practitioner Christina Kim has been posting strong refutations of Covid misinformation on TikTok, as reported in a good Wired piece in September. Kim’s video style is comic, hyper-articulate, and at times brutal; it may not be for everyone. But her TikTok account presents an image of a practicing nurse as a fiercely intelligent, authoritative, and compelling public health advocate.
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As 2020 ends, coverage of nursing in Covid care still depends on who is involved. A recent NBC News piece offered a good quick look at the travel nurses who are trying to cope with the current U.S. surge. In a BBC Newshour report, an NYU physician forcefully affirmed the key role skilled nurses play, especially in ICUs. Yet a long New York Times article on a shortage of “specialists” to run ventilators excluded nurses. And one governor had to defend his health commissioner, an RN, from an MSNBC anchor’s suggestion that an “upgrade” to a physician was needed.
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A September 2018 piece in the Post says a new program in which nurses triage 911 calls has helped some patients get better access to care, although it has not yet greatly reduced needless ambulance trips. Sadly, despite plenty of commentary from D.C. emergency services personnel, the piece fails to quote or even name a single nurse.
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The July 2020 issue honored those on the “new front line.” One cover featured a midwife. And inside, that nurse advocated for more NHS funding. But nurses are not the “new” front line—they have been saving lives for a long time! Yet the editor’s essay did not group them with physicians, the recognized health experts, but with workers who are not in health care at all.
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Recent press items highlight the violence U.S. hospital nurses face today The Atlantic posted a piece in December 2016 on the growing threats from nurses’ patients, and the inadequate support from legislators…
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Jason Silverstein posted a strong report showing that the widespread understaffing of U.S. nurses costs lives and burns out nurses. Commendably, the piece relied solely on nursing scholars and nursing research to make its points. It might have also explained how nurses save lives and addressed potential solutions to the problem.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Washington Post report on nursing in Covid era offers unusually deep look at profession A long April 2020 piece in the Post had information from a diverse group of nurses. Of course,…
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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…
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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….
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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.
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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….
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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…
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