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ROUGH DRAFT 3-medical professionals in the media

Medical professionals in the media

Medical professionals such as, nurses and doctors have been depicted on television for many years. Earlier TV shows such as M*A*S*H which was based on a best-selling novel about a medic’s experience in the Korean War, were realistic and believable, according to Elliot B. Tapper who is an author from the Baylor University Medical Center. Newer television series like Grey’s Anatomy and House may look very realistic in the fact that the characters are performing realistic jobs such as surgeries and making diagnoses. In contrary are the nurses and doctors in those shows following the same exact guidelines and being held to the same standards that would be in place in a real hospital? Obviously for viewer entertainment producers up the drama in the storyline of the show which is understandable to an extent, but nurses and doctors should still be depicted in the truest form. There is a fine line between making something more dramatic for entertainment and making something look like something it is not. Are the depictions of medical professions changing and improving or getting worse? How have depictions changed over time? Or have they at all?

Stereotypes

Stereotypes and nurses have gone hand in hand from the start. Nurses from older times to newer times seem to always have a stereotype following them around. The most often misconstrued idea about nurses is that all nurses are women. Then some media takes that a step further to sexualizing the nursing profession and even in some instances dumbing down the female characters. The Nursing Standard journal says, “...female nurses in film and television have highlighted stereotypical figures such as the battle-axe, naughty nurse and handmaiden.” This supports the fact that there is a certain stereotype that comes along with being a nurse and a lot of the time it is a sexualizing stereotype. Another intriguing piece from the Nursing Standard Journal mentions that men may feel driven away from the career of nursing due to the fact that, “They were subject to questions about their masculinity, sexuality and choice of career…” The stereotype that television is putting out about nurses is scaring men away from what could be their dream career. Margaret Whittock and Laurence Leonard from the Journal of Nursing Management supports the fact that men are not common in nursing, “Despite legislation and recruitment drives, the proportion of men entering and working in the UK’s nursing profession remains low with most recent reports indicating a slight rise to 10.2% (Nursing Standard, October 2002, p. 13).” The nursing industry needs all type of people to be nurses and without males and females hospitals wouldn’t function as smoothly. These statements just support the evidence that nursing comes with a stereotype and that these stereotypes could potentially effect a nurse personally.

Professionalism

Shows like Grey’s Anatomy and House have done a mediocre job of illustrating the importance of professionalism in the hospital, but they do support the fact that any job in the medical profession is tiring and takes a lot of dedication. It can be not only physically exhausting but also emotionally exhausting as a nurse or doctor in the medical field. Eric Deggans who is a writer for the Tampa Bay Times explains that there are new medical television series known as “Nurse Jackie and “Hawthorne” that are going to be coming out soon. He promotes how they depict modern nurses on television. Deggans then proceeds to explain the many wrong things she (Nurse Jackie) does like being addicted to pain killers, sleeping with her boss, and foraging a patient’s signature. All of these things that this nurse does in this medical television show would never be tolerated in a realistic hospital setting and are absolutely not professional in any situation. Another downfall of medical television is that they don’t show realistic hospital situations. For instance Nikki Stamp who is a cardiothoracic surgeon in Australia rants, “Hollywood likes to play fast and loose with facts and science.” She then proceed to give examples of procedure mistakes and unrealistic events from different medical television series such as House MD, and Grey’s Anatomy. After she explains in detail the event she then lays out how it would be handled in a realistic hospital setting. Stamp also mentions how it is common for television shows to dramatize how a nurse or doctor would speak to a patient and the employee lifestyle (such as the employee being on drugs or what not). Nurses and doctors are under strict protocol throughout the hospital and one mistake in protocol they are either fired or on the verge of being fired. Medical television does a poor job of illustrating the importance of protocol within a hospital setting. Stamp also emphasizes the fact that most shows misconstrue the importance of specialist.

Nurses vs Doctors

Television shows have a really bad reputation for making nurses look like they don’t have very much skill or intelligence. Some shows make a nurses job look easy like they are simply the doctors assistant, and other shows make nurses look like they do the same jobs as a doctor does when in reality a doctors job and a nurses job are both very different. Doctors and nurses specialize in certain areas, not all nurses do the same thing and not all doctors do the same thing. It takes a team of many nurses and doctors to care for one single patient. Often times television shows depict one single doctor and one single nurse doing everything for a patient. Sometimes it goes from a doctor giving open heart surgery to in the next scene the same doctor giving anesthesia to a patient. There are many different types of specialist in a hospital setting doctors, nurses, surgeons, and many more occupations that all play a key role in how well a hospital flows.

Depictions of nurses then vs now

How have depictions of medical professionals changed over the years on television shows and in movies? In the earlier movies nurses and doctors were portrayed as strong and heroic figures. Catherine Crawford an author from the British Medical Journal says, “Career women in general were portrayed rather positively in films of the 1930s and 1940s, and nurses were among the toughest and most dedicated of heroines...” This supports the fact that nurses were depicted with respect and honor in older films. Then the sexualizing and gender stereotypes of nursing started to come along with the “naughty nurse” popping up everywhere. Most of the time in these situations the naughty nurse was paired with a doctor to make the nurse only look like their assistant and not their own deserving occupation. How nurses and other medical professionals are depicted in the media has continued to change… some argue for the better and others claim not too much. What needs to be realized bottom line is that nursing and any job in the medical field requires knowledge, patience, and persistence. Also in conclusion the newer shows and movies do not depict correct procedures for realistic hospital situations. So now nurses are important, strong, and independent on the big screen but they also have other unrealistic problems such as drug abuse. When in reality medical professionals are watched carefully and drug tested to ensure the safety of every single patient.

Sexual harassment in the hospital

Being a nurse or doctor in a hospital also puts them at risk for sexual harassment by patients. Medical TV dramas fail to emphasize this as a problem in the medical field. While some may show a patient acting out toward a nurse, they don’t show how their actions affect the nurse personally. Sexual harassment not only occurs from a patient to a medical professional but can also occur in other places in the medical field. Yuri Hibino from the Journal of Nursing Scholarship concludes that, “Registered nurses were at a much higher risk of sexual harassment than were nurse assistants.” This can be scary to anyone working in the medical field. No one truly knows what a nurse goes through, and with the inaccurate depictions on television patients could be getting the wrong idea of how nurses are supposed to be treated. This can also happen to not only female nurses but also male nurses in the hospital. Most of the time males are viewed as dominant to females and people think that sexual harassment in the workplace simply could not happen to a male because they are too strong.

Conclusion

What needs to be realized bottom line is that nursing and any job in the medical field requires knowledge, patience, and persistence. It is not a job that should be overlooked in any way, these individuals are savings lives day in and day out. They go through years of training and practice to earn the respect that they deserve all around. All television shows are not the same when it comes to how accurately and respectfully they portraying the given medical career. Some shows do better than others but all have their mistakes. These mistakes are probably overlooked by producers and made out to seem like they are “no big deal”, but in some cases to certain people they are a huge deal. Nurses probably get frustrated when they see something inaccurate on a medical show especially if it is repeated again and again numerous times. There should be a TV show invented for nurses and other medical professionals to set the record straight once and for all. Then everyone would understand that yes there are misconceptions about nursing due to how nurses are depicted on television shows and no, not all medical professional jobs are the exact same. Or instead the media should educate the public about nursing and how shows are just a dramatization of the actual protocols, standards, and procedures nurses perform. In some way shape or form the public should be informed that medical television shows are not one hundred percent realistic and that a lot of ideas and stereotypes come from the dramatization of the particular show.

Interview

After interviewing with a woman who worked at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida for most of her life. She shared her views on how she think medical television is influencing the nursing world and how she feels about medical television in general. She responded to the question, “Do you feel like a nurse’s job is depicted well in modern television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy or House?” with a very intriguing answer. She said, “I feel that portions of the truth are depicted adequately, however in order to appeal to a larger audience and create a “drama” they focus on the interrelationships of the characters – while only general references are made real life situations such as current advances in medical research or methods.” This response illustrates a small portion of how medical professionals feel about medical television dramas. Her response to the question of, “Do you think that the career of nursing comes along with a stereotype attached with it?” was, “In my grandmother’s generation – nurses were viewed as women who went to college to get their “Mrs.” Degree. Today, the stereotype is far more generalized but no less cutting “You just didn’t have what it takes to be a Dr.” Overall I think student today have the ability to pursue their nursing career without frequent stereotypes.”

Overall from the interview it can be concluded that medical professionals do see the problems with medical television dramas. It is acknowledged that times are changing and the stereotypes seem to be changing with it. Before it baffled people for a man to be a nurse because a nurse was seen as such a feminine job. Now, men are encouraged to be nurses by some but at times feel discouraged due to the consequences of being labeled a “murse” (male nurse). In conclusion the interview provided insight from a medical professional who has been in the field for a number of years and allowed her to share her views on various subjects regarding medical television

WORKS CITED:

Tapper, Elliot B. “Doctors on Display: The Evolution of Television’s Doctors.” Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center) 23.4 (2010): 393–399. Print.

Deggans, Eric. “Hawthorne’ and ‘Nurse Jackie’ give a different view of nursing.” Tampa Bay Times. (2009). Web.

Stamp, Nikki. “The problem with medical TV shows. A surgeon sets the record straight.” medpagesToday’s KevinMD.com. (2015). Web.

Beck, Julie. “Health Care in the Time of Grey’s Anatomy.” The Atlantic. (2014) Web.

Rojas, Arenas. “The Role of Cinema and Television in People’s Perception of Medicine and Healthcare-related Topics.” Medicas uis. 26.3 (2013). Web.

Kirzner, Amanda. “‘Grey’s Anatomy’ vs. real-life residency: You already know how this turns out.” The Do. (2014). Web.

No author found. “How Nurses are Portrayed in Film and Television.” Medicalbag.com. (2014). Web.

Hitti, Miranda. “Nurses' Images in Movies Improving.” WebMD Health News. (2008). Web.

Crawford, Catherine. “Nursing Movies” British Medical Journal 298.6684 (1989). Web.

No author found. “Men could be deterred from nursing career by television stereotypes” Nursing Standard Journal 28.33 (2014). Web.

Whittock, Margaret, Leonard, Laurence. “Stepping outside the stereotype. A pilot study of the motivations and experiences of males in the nursing profession.” Journal of Nursing Management 11 (2003): 242-249.

Hibino, Yuri. “Exploring Factors Associated With the Incidence of Sexual Harassment of Hospital Nurses by Patients.” Journal of Nursing Scholarship 41.2 (2009), 124-131.

McDonald, James. “Conforming to and Resisting Dominant Gender Norms: How Male and Female Nursing Students Do and Undo Gender.” Gender, Work, and Organization 20.5 (2013)

Short assignment 1- research proposal

I haven’t decided on a specific topic yet with my major being nursing I have a few ideas in mind. The first idea is talking about the television series Greys Anatomy and how the show relates to actual hospital settings, protocols, and behaviors. Another angle I could write about is how fitness is a growing fad right now in the fashion industry “strong is beautiful”. Although this topic doesn’t directly talk about nursing, overall health and fitness is still related to my major. The third topic I have thought about is how nurses are depicted in the media. For instance are nurses respected or made to look like they aren’t as smart as doctors are or are nurses discriminated against due to gender roles? Many nurses are women but guy nurses are now becoming more and more popular. My favorite of the three are the first two, but researching them could become a challenge. I plan on exploring this topic through the research engines in the library, any relevant television shows, and articles about nurses in pop culture. I absolutely love nursing and I am excited to further research the topic within the pop culture arena. I plan on interviewing a nurse at a local hospital, if this is possible. I intend on asking them their opinion on the chosen research question. There might be some limitations on my interview due to the fact that the interviewee may have not seen any Greys Anatomy, so then they could not give a good statement about their opinion on the realness of the show.

SHORT ASSIGNMENT 2-annotated bib

Tapper, Elliot B. “Doctors on Display: The Evolution of Television’s Doctors.” Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center) 23.4 (2010): 393–399. Print.

In this article posted in Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center), Elliot B. Tapper discusses how doctors are depicted in television shows and how the outlook has changed over the last fifty years. He draws conclusions from older television series like M*A*S*H which was a show that was based off of a best-selling novel about Dr. Richard Hornberger’s experiences as a medic in the Korean war according to Tapper. Then also uses Grey’s Anatomy which is a more modern day television series about a doctors and nurses that includes drama in their day to day life in the hospital. In conclusion this article illustrates that older television shows depict doctors differently than newer television shows. Newer television shows might not be completely accurate in how the medical professionals handle the medical situations, but they are a lot more realistic than some of the older television shows used to be.

Deggans, Eric. “Hawthorne’ and ‘Nurse Jackie’ give a different view of nursing.” Tampa Bay Times. (2009). Web.

In this particular article posted in the Tampa Bay Times by Eric Deggans he discusses an exact example of just how nursing is evolving in the Medias eye. Deggans claims that there are not one but two new television series that depict nurses realistically. He also talks about how the focus is starting to become less on doctors and more revolved around nurses in the newer television shows. Although the nurses do have their downfalls like Nurse Jackie’s main character is addicted to pain killers according to Deggans. This characteristic may not be realistic in an actual hospital setting for nurses, but their job is taken seriously and is not sexualized or dumbed down for television purposes.

Stamp, Nikki. “The problem with medical TV shows. A surgeon sets the record straight.” medpagesToday’s KevinMD.com. (2015). Web.

This article that is posted by Dr. Nikki Stamp is more of a rant about how medical television shows do not accurately portray real life situations as they would be handled in an actual hospital setting. Instead medical television producer’s amp up the drama just to entertain the audience and draw in more and more viewers. She illustrates the inaccuracy by giving several examples from different medical television shows such as House and Greys Anatomy. She takes the situation of what is shown on the show and then proceeds to explain how each of the situations is wrongly shown and then explains into further detail why and how they are wrong. A specific example is where the main character of House is knowingly addicted to painkillers and is somehow still employed by the hospital, she says “The medical profession takes substance abuse pretty seriously,..”(Stamp) In conclusion she thinks that medical professionals and their situations are not portrayed correctly or realistically on medical television shows.

Beck, Julie. “Health Care in the Time of Grey’s Anatomy.” The Atlantic. (2014) Web.

In this article posted in The Atlantic, Julie Beck explains how medical television shows can give us a misconstrued perception of medical professions and what they entail. She takes different questions that suggest how do the perceptions that these television shows produce affect the actual doctors and nurses of today. Some people might claim that it is just for entertainment and that it couldn’t hurt anyone right? But Julie Beck puts it into the perspective of what if the perceptions actually do bother today’s medical professionals. Beck says, “Studies of modern medical shows have found fictional doctors’ professionalism disappointing at best.” She then proceeds to conclude that after an analysis of fifty episodes of Greys Anatomy and House studying situations regarding patient consent that the situation is handled well only forty three percent of the time (Beck). This just shows how as a whole medical television shows can lead to a false perception of realistic medical situations. In conclusion how certain television shows depicts health care professionals in the media can not only affect the perception of doctors and or nurses, but can also affect nurses and doctors in their every day jobs. Medical professionals uphold a high standard to live up to by being pressured to save lives every day and how they are depicted in the media just isn’t helping their case. If medical television shows are showing medical situations being handled wrong how are their patients supposed to fully trust them with their life?

Rojas, Arenas. “The Role of Cinema and Television in People’s Perception of Medicine and Healthcare-related Topics.” Medicas uis. 26.3 (2013). Web.

This article by Arenas Rojas discusses the role that television plays in portraying healthcare related topics such as big diseases like cancer. Cancer is very common among movies like My Sisters Keeper and The Bucket List. Rojas says that there are pluses to topics like cancer being depicted in the media such as awareness and reminding the public about risk factors and what not. He then proceed to explain that even though television and cinema can influence our perspectives of a certain healthcare topic it doesn’t always mean that the depiction is one hundred percent correct about the given topic. This article illustrates that not only can the nursing profession be wrongly depicted in television shows and movies, but also big health care topics as well. In conclusion this article supports the fact that medical professionals and topics aren’t always shown correctly in the movies or in the media. Someone could end up taking offense if the wrong thing is shows as something that is correct.

Kirzner, Amanda. “‘Grey’s Anatomy’ vs. real-life residency: You already know how this turns out.” The Do. (2014). Web.

This article by Amanda Kirzner explains how different Grey’s Anatomy is from realistic residency. Kirzner says, “I understand that “Grey’s Anatomy’s producers have to sometimes sacrifice realism to engage their audience and garner ratings. But I dislike the way the show overgalmorizes the lives of the residents and often presents false medical information.” This has been consistent with the other researched sources that claim that Grey’s Anatomy doesn’t give realistic standards or reactions to actual medical situations. She then claims that she understands the show is for entertainment so in the end she cannot blame them for the amount of incorrect data, but that there is a reoccurring error on the show that really bothers her. This error has to do with how a tube is positioned into a patients mouth without tape, Kirzner claims, “In real life, we always use tape because the tube can easily slip from its correct position.” This is a prime example of how Grey’s Anatomy is not exact with its medical procedures.

No author found. “How Nurses are Portrayed in Film and Television.” Medicalbag.com. (2014). Web.

This article discusses the evolution that nurses have made on film and television over the years. The author says, “There’s no doubt that the way nurses are portrayed in feature films and on television has an impact on the public’s perception of nurses, as well as on a recruitment to the profession. The article suggests that nurses used to be portrayed as heroes like in World War II and then all of that changed when the media decided to sexualize the nursing profession. The media also made nurses to look like lesser of a person than a doctor. Now although a doctor does have a higher degree than a nurse it doesn’t mean they are better than them in all ways. The author says, “Early television shows portrayed nurses as sympathetic characters but never showed them as having any real skills.” Also the author adds, “Newer TV medical dramas cast nurses in the forefront of the story, nut still carried similar negative connotations that include heavy personal baggage and tawdry affairs…” This illustrates that nurses have made little improvement over the years in getting the recognition they deserve, and will continue to carry different types of negative characteristics along with the nursing label in future television shows.

Hitti, Miranda. “Nurses' Images in Movies Improving.” WebMD Health News. (2008). Web.

In this article by Miranda Hitti posted on WebMD the topic of how nurses’ images in movies are changing for the better. Miranda says, “Fictional nurses in movies are going through an image change, and this time, it’s a positive one.” Miranda also states that, “Earlier films tended to portray nurses as angelic women.” This image according to Miranda hasn’t completely gone out of style yet but seems to have improved from the older films to where it’s not as strong. “More recently, movie nurses are “intelligent, strong, and passionate characters,” Stanley writes.” (Hitti) In conclusion this article illustrates that slowly but surely the reputation that nurses uphold is changing in the Medias eye. Although, they may feel the need to exaggerate the nurses and their medical situations in newer movies, but at least nurses are making a stride towards being respected professionals in cinema.

Short assignment 3- interview

1. Do you feel like a nurse’s job is depicted well in modern television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy or House? I feel that portions of the truth are depicted adequately, however in order to appeal to a larger audience and create a “drama” they focus on the interrelationships of the characters – while only general references are made real life situations such as current advances in medical research or methods.

2.Do you think that the career of nursing comes along with a stereotype attached with it?

In my grandmother’s generation – nurses were viewed as women who went to college to get their “Mrs.” Degree. Today, the stereotype is far more generalized but no less cutting “You just didn’t have what it takes to be a Dr.”. Overall I think student today have the ability to pursue their nursing career without frequent stereotypes.

3.Do you feel that male nurses are discriminated against? I feel that up until recently the Nursing field was viewed as a predominately female role, however in our current market I feel that Male Nurses are more in demand.

4.Do you feel like a nurse’s job is any less important than a doctor’s job in a practical hospital setting? Explain. No, I feel that they are equally critical. These professionals work together to take the utmost care of their patients. This end goal could not be accomplished without the entire team’s participation.

5.How accurate are medical television dramas when it comes to professionalism? I think Medical Drama’s portray outlandish professionalism blunders that if occurred in real work environment would wind up being reported to HR or terminating someone’s employment.

6.How do medical television dramas affect today’s real life doctors and nurses inside of a realistic hospital setting?

I feel like some medical television dramas can give patients the wrong idea when coming into a realistic hospital setting.

7.Do you think that in the future medical television dramas will improve when it comes to the accuracy of how medical emergencies are handled? I do not feel much will alter – when the current recipe is so successful.

8.What do you think the biggest surprise will be for students who are pursuing their nursing career when they enter the workforce? I feel that the students will be surprised at market saturation of the general nursing skill set and need to focus on developing not only the basics – but also a specialty area.

9.What major trends to have you witnessed within nursing in the past 5-10 years? Male nurses are not only expected – they are in high demand.

10.What skill sets or capabilities do you feel are paramount to be successful in the field of Nursing? I feel that being able to consistently reprioritize based upon the situation is a skill that will be key to success; another would be having a sense of urgency and empathy.

ROUGH DRAFT 2

Medical professionals in the media

Medical professionals such as, nurses and doctors have been depicted on television for many years. Earlier TV shows such as M*A*S*H which was, according to Tapper based on a best-selling novel about a medic’s experience in the Korean War, were realistic and believable. Newer television series like Grey’s Anatomy and House may look very realistic in the fact that the characters are performing realistic jobs such as surgeries and making diagnoses. In contrary are the nurses and doctors in those shows following the same exact guidelines and being held to the same standards that would be in place in a real hospital? Obviously for viewer entertainment producers up the drama in the storyline of the show which is understandable to an extent, but nurses and doctors should still be depicted in the truest form. There is a fine line between making something more dramatic for entertainment and making something look like something it is not. Are the depictions of medical professions changing and improving or getting worse? How have depictions changed over time? Or have they at all? Some sources say that they are improving while other sources say they are just deleting older stereotypes and replacing them with new ones.

Crawford says, “Career women in general were portrayed rather positively in films of the 1930s and 1940s, and nurses were among the toughest and most dedicated of heroines...” This supports the fact that nurses were depicted with respect and honor in older films. There are relatively newer television shows that have tried to illustrate realistic nursing, but those shows have their problems as well. According to Eric Deggans, there are two new TV shows Hawthorne and Nurse Jackie that are more realistic and go against a number of the older stereotypes that nurses use to carry around with the name. Deggans claims, “TV is beginning to catch up to that reality.” That reality being that nursing is a hard job to handle, although Deggans also mentions that even though the shows are contrasting older stereo types they may also begin creating new ones. Deggans then proceeds to explain the many wrong things she does like being addicted to pain killers, sleeping with her boss, and foraging a patient’s signature. All of these things that this nurse does in this medical television show would never be tolerated in a realistic hospital setting. Shows like Grey’s Anatomy and House have done a mediocre job of illustrating the importance of professionalism in the hospital, but they do support the fact that any job in the medical profession is tiring and takes a lot of dedication. Also it can be not only physically exhausting but also emotionally exhausting in the medical field as well.

In contrary nurses time and time again have been depicted wrongly in television shows of today in many different aspect. This false depiction is done on purpose by medical television show producers to simply entertain the audience some might say. Some shows make a nurses job look easy like they are simply the doctors assistant, and other shows make nurses look like they do the same jobs as a doctor does when in reality a doctors job and a nurses job are both very different. Also doctors and nurses specialize in certain areas, not all nurses do the same thing and not all doctors do the same thing. It takes a team of many nurses and doctors to care for one single patient. Television shows have a really bad reputation for making nurses look like they don’t have very much skill or intelligence. Also another downfall of medical television is that they don’t show realistic hospital situations. For instance Nikki Stamp who is a cardiothoracic surgeon in Australia rants, “Hollywood likes to play fast and loose with facts and science.” She then proceed to give examples of procedure mistakes and unrealistic events from different medical television series such as House MD, and Grey’s Anatomy. After she explains in detail the event she then lays out how it would be handled in a realistic hospital setting. Stamp also mentions how it is common for television shows to dramatize how a nurse or doctor would speak to a patient and the employee lifestyle (such as the employee being on drugs or what not). She also emphasizes the fact that most shows misconstrue the importance of specialist. Often times television shows depict one single doctor and one single nurse doing everything for a patient. Sometimes it goes from a doctor giving open heart surgery to the same doctor giving anesthesia to a patient. There are many different types of specialist in a hospital setting doctors, nurses, surgeons, and many more occupations that all play a key role in how well a hospital flows.

Another discrepancy against nurses is that all nurses are women. Then some media takes that a step further to sexualizing the nursing profession and even in some instances dumbing down the female characters. The Nursing Standard journal says, “...female nurses in film and television have highlighted stereotypical figures such as the battle-axe, naughty nurse and handmaiden.” This supports the fact that there is a certain stereotype that comes along with being a nurse and a lot of the time it is a sexualizing stereotype. Every Halloween it never fails that someone is dressed up as a sexy/naughty nurse. Another intriguing piece from the Nursing Standard Journal mentions that men may feel driven away from the career of nursing due to the fact that, “They were subject to questions about their masculinity, sexuality and choice of career…” The stereotype that television is putting out about nurses is scaring men away from what could be their dream career. The nursing industry needs all type of people to be nurses and without males and females hospitals wouldn’t function as smoothly. These statements just supports the evidence that nursing comes with a stereotype and that these stereotypes could potentially effect a nurse personally.

Stereotypes and nurses have gone hand in hand from the start. The stereotypes of nursing run the gamut when it comes to assumptions about the professions expectations. Nurses from older times to newer times seem to always have a stereotype following them around. How have depictions of medical professionals changed over the years on television shows and in movies? In the earlier movies nurses and doctors were portrayed as strong and heroic figures. Then the sexualizing and gender stereotypes of nursing started to come along with the “naughty nurse” popping up everywhere. Most of the time in these situations the naughty nurse was paired with a doctor to make the nurse only look like their assistant and not their own deserving occupation. When in reality a nurse and a doctor do very different jobs in which they are both specialized in. Now the depiction of nurses are starting to subvert the older stereotypes but newer stereotypes are coming into question. Also in conclusion the newer shows and movies do not depict correct procedures for realistic hospital situations. So now nurses are important, strong, and independent on the big screen but they also have other unrealistic problems such as drug abuse. When in reality medical professionals are watched carefully and drug tested to ensure the safety of every single patient.

How nurses and other medical professionals are depicted in the media has continued to change… some argue for the better and others claim not too much. What needs to be realized bottom line is that nursing and any job in the medical field requires knowledge, patience, and persistence. It is not a job that should be overlooked in any way, these individuals are savings lives every single day. They go through years of training and practice to earn the respect that they deserve all around. All television shows are not the same when it comes to how accurately and respectfully they portraying the given medical career. Some shows do better than others but all have their mistakes. These mistakes are probably overlooked by producers and made out to seem like they are “no big deal”, but in some cases to certain people they are a huge deal. Nurses probably get frustrated when they see something inaccurate on a medical show especially if it is repeated again and again numerous times. There should be a TV show invented for nurses and other medical professionals to set the record straight once and for all. Then everyone would understand that yes there are misconceptions about nursing due to how nurses are depicted on television shows and no, not all medical professional jobs are the exact same. Or instead the media should educate the public about nursing and how shows are just a dramatization of the actual protocols, standards, and procedures nurses perform. In some way shape or form the public should be informed that medical television shows are not one hundred percent realistic and that a lot of ideas and stereotypes come from the dramatization of the particular show.