Nurses and the profession have been stereotyped all along the history of the career. One of the widespread fallacies is that nurses have to be female, and this has resulted in the stereotyping of male nurses as not masculine. Such generalized notions of nursing have created a distorted image of nursing in the media (Clow, Ricciardelli, & Bartfay, 2015). The media is characteristically portraying the image of nurses as youthful, single females who are over-sexualized and reduced intellectually; this notion is then spread through television stations and other forms of media. Such nurses are usually called naughty nurses and are depicted as sex symbols. Negative stereotypes of nurses have led to most students shunning away from the nursing career, which has resulted in inadequate nurses.
Nurses and the profession are increasingly being undermined with their representation in the media becoming progressively belittling. The negative stereotypes of nurses weaken genuine nurses’ demands for sufficient resources to enhance their medical practice, research, and education. The fact is that nursing represents a valuable contemporary health career for brilliant and caring females and males. Moreover, this profession has a scientific scope and foundation of practice where professional nurses continue to save many lives and help patients recuperate daily (Hoeve, Jansen, & Roodbol, 2014). Nevertheless, many people who do not understand this fact spoil the reputation of nurses and the profession. For instance, the portrayal of nurses as unintelligent sex objects is greatly discouraging learners at the primary school level from pursuing the career. Consequently, most nurses have continued to struggle with the problem of under-staffing and the international nursing shortage has become a public health crisis. Additionally, in most nations across the globe, the salaries of nurses do not reward the training, knowledge, and efforts it costs to guarantee high quality care. The existing problems mainly have their source in the undervaluing of nursing through negative stereotypes.
To build a more professional image for the nurse and the profession, the government and health professionals must create awareness to assist every person to comprehend that nurses and the profession are valuable in caring for patients and saving lives. People ought to be advised to offer their friends and family members a positive impression of nurses and the career (Clow et al., 2015). The people who create public policies and media content ought to be enlightened on the skills of nurses and the value of the profession to prevent them from propagating negative stereotypes. It is just the comprehension of the accurate value of the nursing career that will make sure that the negative stereotypes are eliminated, and caring nurses are adequate and available when needed.
Moreover, action has to be taken to address negative stereotypes of nurses and the profession by creating laws against them and cautioning media stations against giving an inaccurate impression of nurses and nursing. The people who break such laws ought to be charged in a court of law. The government should also ensure that nurses are paid well to encourage many male and female students to pursue the profession and motivate already existing nurses. Media content should be created to portray nurses as intelligent, smart, caring, and highly skilled (Hoeve et al., 2014). Nurses should also be encouraged to attend media interviews to present nursing as a valuable and rewarding profession.
Negative stereotypes of nurses and the profession result in undervaluing nursing, and this makes students to not pursue the career. The government and health professionals ought to harness the negative stereotypes in the media to support a positive image. They should also raise awareness on the value of nurses to protect this profession from unwarranted negative stereotypes and promote nursing in a positive light.
References
Clow, K. A., Ricciardelli, R., & Bartfay, W. J. (2015). Are you man enough to be a nurse? The impact of ambivalent sexism and role congruity on perceptions of men and women in nursing advertisements. Sex Roles, 72(8), 363-376.
Hoeve, Y. T., Jansen, G., & Roodbol, P. (2014). The nursing profession: Public image, self‐concept and professional identity. A discussion paper. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(2), 295-309.