Stereotypes of nurses

A stereotype is a widely held and fixed notion of a specific type of person and is often oversimplified and can be offensive.

[6][7] Along with these common stereotypes, studies have identified several other popular images used in media such as handmaiden, angel, torturer, homosexual male, alcoholic, buffoon and woman in white.

there was conflict between the idea of nursing as woman's work and as skilled labor requiring immense training.

Post establishment of Nurse Training Programs, concerns became apparent relating to race and socioeconomic class.

nurses began to be portrayed as sexy pin-up versions of what was earlier described in other media, television and books.

[9] Images seen in modern and pop culture show still sexualized ideals of nurses while attempting to dismantle the misrepresentation and go against the stereotype.

Images today still show a sexualized ideal when the "sexy nurse" costume comes back every year for Halloween.

Don Imus, in a 1993 broadcast following his recovery from surgery, admitted during his hospitalization he saw the reality of those employed in healthcare as immigrant orderlies and middle-aged women in hospital scrubs, and joked "not many girls gave up modeling careers to go to nursing school".

The nurse in this image is depicted as a moral, noble and religious being who was devout like a nun—chaste and abstemious - as opposed to the resemblance that of a witch.

Florence Nightingale also known as The Lady with the Lamp, promoted this image due to the fact that during the Crimean War, she was known to make rounds at night, treating wounds and giving care to soldiers.

The idea of female nurses attending the British Army fighting in the war was controversial, due to it being thought immoral as well as revolutionary.

The ignorance of and disrespect for nurses' work hinders their ability to do their jobs and puts lives at risk.