Eliminating 3 Nurse Stereotypes

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Many of us get our first ideas of what nurses are like through media. Your first vision of a Nurse could have come from the television show M.A.S.H. with Nurse ‘Hotlips’ Hoolihan; she was strong yes, but still secretly “needed a man.” She was portrayed as competent, but only so long as she got the feedback, she was somewhat secretly in need of—yes, a stereotype.

Where Do Nursing Stereotypes Come From?

Most of us develop our ideas about all professions from stories and while this is good sometimes and allows us to step into others’ lives a bit, it can also be damaging in that real people are so much more.

Nurses it seems, have a surplus of stereotypes from the Naughty Nurse, who fulfills the patient and/or doctor’s fantasy, to the caring calm provider. It is important to eliminate such stereotypes wherever possible. Having unrealistic expectations of anyone, leads to misunderstanding.

One stereotype typically ascribed to nurses is the Florence Nightingale type. A pulled together competent and caring nurse, whose only desire is to be compliant and heal patient. This stereotype can be truly damaging to the psyche of nurses because it is very often close to the truth. Nurses do care and most are competent and caring. However, not everyone, regardless of his or her desire to be a nurse, automatically comes equipped with supernatural empathy. Believing so may make a nurse feel she is not cut out for a job. It can also cause people in his or her care to require too much of their services.

The Truth About Nursing Stereotypes

In the book “What Nurses Stand For.” Author Suzanne Gordon states:

“In our high tech medical system, nurses care for the body and soul. No matter how sensitive, caring and attentive physicians are, nurses are often closer to patient’s needs and wishes. That is not because they are inherently more caring, but because they spend far more time with patients are more likely to know them better.”

The idea that one must inherently be empathetic could dissuade and individual who has the skill set for the job and would learn to work with patients over the course of the job.

A second stereotype that can be more damaging is the Doctor’s Helpmeet. That is to say that nurses cannot do any of their work without the supervision of a doctor. This particular stereotype can cause patients to not put their trust in nurses and second-guess their care. In reality, nurses are on hand and providing most of the day-to-day care for patients and have no need of supervision from doctors. Doctors have a completely separate job and have very little to do with the workings of nurses. A nurse also is trained in an area of expertise, so a psychiatric nurse is going to be competent to provide care for psychiatric patients while a maternity nurse would be less able to do so, having more training in the care of mothers in delivery.

The third stereotype of nurses that need elimination is of the Battle Axe. The idea of a hard-nosed nurse who brokers no resistance, this stereotype affects both male and female nurses and can make their job harder by instigating either fear or resistance from patients. In addition, this stereotype typically carries with it an image, which is less than appealing. Therefore, any nurse not meeting the sexy nurse stereotype may be relegated to the category of Battle Axe. Sizing a person up based on their image is damaging both to the individual and to the patient who needs to trust their caregiver.