Allison Mentink, Christine Ostendorf, Jessica GumsUniversity of Wisconsin - Eau Claire

PORTRAYAL OF NURSING IN THE MEDIA

We have all heard stories regarding nurses: killer nurses, incompetent nurses, poorly trained nurses and of course the entertainment media have their “naughty nurses”

Negative/derogatory portrayal of nursing in the media has become more prevalent over the past 50 years. This has heightened with more negative images in the past 20 years.

The medias portrayal of nurses is one of the most difficult to compete with

INTRODUCTION

Print adsRadioNews coverageBooksInternetTelevisionMovies

Media

2008 Gallup poll ranked nurses #1 for honesty and ethics

Trust is not the same as respect!

Wait! People Trust Nurses!

Nursing is an autonomous professionTV, movies and news accounts frequently give

credit for the work nurses do to physicians or hospitals

People are affected by what they see and hear – this is why companies and politicians spend millions of dollars on advertising

Entertainment educationIn the 1950s and 1960s, the American

Medical Association asserted control over network television shows, ensuring scripts included heroic physicians

Does it Matter?

In 2008, 39 of 43 major characters on the top 5 U.S. health related prime time TV shows were physicians. In reality, there were 3 million nurses and 700,000 physicians; a 4:1 ratio

Where are all the nurses?

REAL NURSES VS FICTIONAL NURSES

WHAT REAL NURSE DO WHAT TV NURSES DOEducate Answer Phones

Patient Advocate Follow Doctor OrdersTriage Have Affairs with Doctors

Monitor Patients Assist DoctorsProvide Emotional Support Watch Doctors Save Lives

Perform ProceduresSave Lives

2000 survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed:52% of people reported getting information they trust

to be accurate from a prime time TV showGreater than 25% said such shows are among their top

3 sources for health information9 out of 10 regular viewers said they learned

something about diseases from TVAlmost 50% took some action after watching the show

42% told someone the storyline16% told someone to do something or did something

themselves9% visited a clinic or physician

Do people really believe what they see?

How does the media currently view nurses?

From 2003-2005, NBC’s daytime soap opera Passion’s had an orangutan play the role of Precious – a private duty nurse.

Angels of Mercy until end of WWII1920’s to end of WWII – pragmatic, even

heroicA Farewell to Arms (1932)

EARLY IDEAS ABOUT NURSING

1930’s-1940’s – Dr. Kildare films introduced nurses as love interests

1940’s-1960’s – series of juvenile novels about Cherry AmesAdventurous, bright, young nurse crime solver

1950’s-1960’s – AMA asserted control over network televisionHeroic physician characters virtuous, no mistakes

1930-1960

1962-1965: The Nurses series1960’s brought the naughty nurse, balanced

by the senior battle-axQuality of nursing portrayal decreased in

both film and prime time televisionOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

1960-1980

1960’s and 1970’s: increase in portrayal of explicit sexual activityCatch 22 (1970)M.A.S.H. (1972)

Kalischs of University of Michigan Nursing School published multiple studies in the 1980’s

1960-1980

1980’s – 1990’sNurses were shown as peripheral assistants

to dominant physiciansSt. Elsewhere 1982-88 showed occasional

formidable nurse characterChina Beach 1988-91 lead character colleen

McMurphy was competent, tough army nurse but did not generally display much skill

1980’s – 1990’s

TV sitcom Nurses 1991-94 treated nurses with some respect

Nightingales 1988-89 featured sexy nursing students who spent so much time partially undressed that outraged nurses actually managed to chase the show off the air

ER 1994 One of the most influential health care shows in history. Fairly realistic scenes, some of the best depictions of nursing ever to appear on network TV, occasionally showed serious nursing skill and autonomy, but as a whole depicted nurses as the handmaiden, as a skilled physician assistant who must defer to him.

2000 - Present2000-2006 Strong Medicine on Lifetime had a

handsome, articulate nurse midwife Peter Riggs, but other nurses were mute handmaidens

2001-Present Scrubs, main nurse Carla Espinosa at times shows real skill, but also shows doctors starting iv’s and hanging medications and providing virtually all care

House stated nurses were invented to pick patients up when they fall and to get him coffee

Private Practice only has one nurse/receptionist character-male midwife student

Nursing shortagePrevented men from entering nursing Reduced respect and trust in nursingReduced the patient population of nurse

practitioners

How has the Media’s Portrayal Affected Nurses?

Nurses must recognize that they have the power to change the profession

Project a professional imageWrite letters to editors and producersHospital managers can promote nursing just

like they do medicineMedia can consult with nursesHollywood can include characters to reflect

real nursing work

What Can We Do?

“Most people know they can’t get into a hospital without a doctor. What they don’t know is that they won’t get out of one – at least not alive – without a nurse.”

- Nursing Historian Joan Lynaugh

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