Negative Stereotypes and Nursing

Negative Stereotypes and Nursing

            Negative stereotypes have caused a demeaning perception of what nurses do. According to Baillie and Black (2014), the nurse is often portrayed as the unintelligent and uneducated doctor’s assistant who is only capable of performing simple bedside care tasks. This stereotype impedes the nursing practice because many patients believe that the nurse is incapable of diagnosing and treating them. A patient who views the nurse as an unintelligent and uneducated assistant is likely to reject any interventions applied by the nurse. The patient’s noncooperation impedes the care delivery process. The negative stereotypes have damaged the status of the nursing profession, perpetuated the perception of nursing as an occupation rather than a profession and blurred the boundaries between nursing and medicine. These outcomes have impeded the development of the nursing profession.

            Creating a professional image for the nurse and nursing profession requires the consistent communication of accurate information regarding the roles of nurses and their scope of practice. Reputable professional nursing organizations such as ANA, AACN and NLN should initiate public awareness campaigns that reiterate the core ideas, values and scope of the nursing practice and profession (Lundy & Janes, 2014). The organizations should create and distribute regular press releases, presentations and interviews through their websites, YouTube and popular newspapers and T.V channels. This strategy would ensure that the necessary information is communicated directly to the public with minimal distortion by third parties such as filmmakers. Furthermore, the professional nursing organizations should engage major media companies to ensure that that they create films and shows that depict nurses and the nursing profession accurately. For example, creating a drama series that depicts masters-prepared nurses in leadership and decision-making roles in clinical settings would help to counter the traditional negative portrayal of nurses in the media.