Factors for Developing Theory

The image of nursing has changed through history. The negative and positive portrayals of nursing in media is reinforced by media in a variety of forms, including but not limited to television, movies, newspapers, and radio advertisements. The past and current images of nursing has changed. The current nursing profession has a more accurate public and ethical image of nursing proven by the comparison of “She’ll be a good baby, Mrs. Brown” (Procter & Gamble Company, 1932) and “Name Game” (Johnson & Johnson, 2011).

The nursing profession has shifted away from caring for the ill and has focused its attention on health promotion. The nursing profession has disassociated from such notions as the “handmaiden” persona to a profession that can stand apart. The implications of this shift on the healthcare profession, and the patient itself was evaluated. This shift occurred when nurses attempted to define, legitimatize, and increase the social standing of nurses. Many nursing organizations have defined the competencies of nursing to centre around education, research, and policy, however they have failed to mention the patient or their illness. This article gives an enlightened view of the nursing profession and provides a further understanding of the history

Media has an immense effect on societal views, and cultural norms. It is not surprising then, that media influences the public view of the nursing profession (McHugh, 2012). Negative portrayal of nursing in media is detrimental, these stereotypes undermine the profession which leads to less resources and a negative image of nursing among nursing students (Anonymous, 2010). For these reasons the image of nursing in media is something that needs to be explored, to understand how the nursing image in media affects both public and personal perception of the profession (Anonymous, 2010). Nurse Jackie is a controversial television show about an Emergency room nurse named Jackie (Hudis & Zisk, 2009). In this series Jackie is middle aged, married, mother of two, and while she is depicted as being loving with her family, she is having an affair with the pharmacist for her department. As a nurse Jackie is caring, and compassionate towards her patients, while also exhibiting unethical and inappropriate behaviours both within and outside of her working environment (Sorrell, 2009). Jackie is a complex character who exhibits both positive and negative nursing behaviours.

When people think about nurses, many ideas come to mind. They think of the hideous old starched, white uniforms, a doctor’s handmaiden, the sexy or naughty nurse, or a torturer. The media and society have manipulated the identity and role of nurses. None of these ideas truly portray nurses and what they do. Nurses are with the patients more than the doctors. People do not realize how little they will encounter the doctor in the hospital until they are actually in the hospital. People quickly realize how important nurses are. Because nurses interact with their patients constantly, nurses are the ones who know the patients best.

As evidenced by her accomplishments in founding programs to help others, her willingness to advocate for the patient, an awareness of the need of community care, the foresight to document patients and hospital conditions, and her desire to be educated at a higher level than most, there is little doubt she would have not only met expectations of nurses in regards to the legal and ethical standards set forth by state and federal guidelines. She perhaps would have been standing in front of legislature petitioning change to improve the standards of medical care

The media is known to have immense influences on the public perception from body images to what kind of car people should buy. And the nursing image is not immune to these influences. What Hollywood transmits to the public about nurse’s works much like an advertising industry. Television has represented nurses in varying degrees and not all of them are flattering. We have been portrayed as

The image of nursing is portrayed in several ways with all different types of media. One of the longest-running and most popular medical drama television shows, Grey’s Anatomy, appears to offer an accurate interpretation of the profession of nursing. However, the fictional show, created by Shonda Rimes, actually degrades nursing along unrealistic practices and representations. The show gives an impression to the viewers that doctors do it all, the physicians control nurses, and the word nurse is an insult. This portrayal is not accurate and is extremely damaging to the nursing community.

“Dorothy Orem was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1914. She received her diploma in nursing in 1934 from

Dorthea Orem based her nursing theory on a holistic approach. She believed that emotional, mental and physical balance were three parts of a whole in which individuals and healthcare providers needed to focus on in order to provide the best quality of life possible. Orem described much of her theory by defining self-care, self-care deficit, self-care requisites, and agency. Self-care is the care taken by an individual in order to meet his or her self-care demands. Agency refers to a person’s ability to care for their self (Hood, 2014). In Orem’s theory, there is a deficit when the agency cannot perform the necessary actions to sustain their self-care demands, which are, “all self-care activities required to meet existing self-care requisites” (Berman & Snyder, 2014, p. 44).

Dorothea Orem’s theory of nursing focuses on independence of the patient, but also focuses on the patient’s responsibility of healing. The patient is the one who has to be determined to be healthy and get well again. His or her family also has responsibility of caring for the patient because they have an impact on the environment. “It is also the environment and the society that directly affect the nurse-patient relationship and self-care agency, which are all interconnected into achieving, restoring, and maintaining health.” (Komento, 2012) Orem’s theory is very relevant to mine because she focuses on independence on the patient to become healthy

Nurses are skilled and educated professionals. As caregivers they take care and educate patients on improving their quality of life. Unfortunately, the image depicted in the media has not always been accurate or flattering (ONA, 2013). According to McNally (2009), “Whether nurses like it or not, modern media, and especially popular television drama, has shaped society’s perception of nursing” (p. 19). In this paper I will be talking about how the image shown in the media impacts the image of nursing. Firstly, in this paper I will assess the television show Nurse Jackie and write about how nurses are portrayed in the media. Secondly in this paper I will compare what is found in Nurse Jackie to academic peered reviewed scholarly articles that

Throughout the years, the practice of American nursing has gone through extensive significant changes. Nursing evolved from an unrecognizable profession to a recognizable and respectable career choice for women. After World War II, nurses had to transition from working in private homes to working in public hospitals. There was a dire need for nurses in the hospitals because of the different communicable diseases that were around. In addition, “the rise of feminism in the 1960’s influenced public attitudes toward women, their work, and education.” In Susan Gelfand Malka’s Daring to Care: American Nursing and Second-Wave Feminism, she analyzed that second-wave feminism gravely impacted the nursing education and practice. The public

Betty Neuman was one of the many Nursing Theorist who impacted the Nursing profession in a way that would encourage Nurse’s to symbolize what we are today. Betty believed in the taking the total approach to healthcare seeing the whole picture when dealing with a patient. Betty Neuman was a very brave motivated Nurse in her day. She went from an Associates Degree Nurse to her BSN; finishing with two separate Doctorate Degrees in 1998. Betty was not afraid to step away from the normal day to day work that went along with being a nurse; and chose to try her best to find ways to be better than average. She realized over forty years ago the importance of seeing the patient as a whole, and not just focusing on the negative issues the

People may wonder who established nursing, led efforts to improve the standards of care, and education of nursing for the future. Would the medical profession be this far in its studies, development, and care without the person who improved it? Without Florence Nightingale, the nursing profession would not be as far developed as it has become. Nightingale is known to be self-sacrificing, caring, devout, and passionate because of her dedication to change the care in hospitals and the battlefield for the better and overall improved the nursing profession dramatically. Florence Nightingale strove to improve the care for others and to advance the education of nursing up until the end of her life.

Often when a person thinks of a nurse, they think of a female angelically smiling, wearing brightly colored scrubs assisting a brand-new mom care for her baby, lending a soothing hand to a patient or family in a time of need, and always calm and soft spoken. The majority of screen appearances by nurses on television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and ER portray nurses as useless assistances, sexy vixens, or cranky battleaxes causing a general disregard for the profession. The nurses in these shows are not portrayed as the important health care workers that they are, which often lead to the misconception of what their