Nurse stereotypes

The profession of nursing is stereotyped. Nurses are commonly expected to be female and so male nurses are stereotyped as effeminate and homosexual.^[1][2] In forms of low humour such as get-well cards, nurses are commonly portrayed as bimbos and, in medical drama and novels, nurses are commonly portrayed as young, female, single, childless and white.^[3] Studies have identified several such popular stereotypes including:^[4][5]

1. Angel, exemplified by the popular accounts of Florence Nightingale — The Lady with the Lamp^[6]
2. Battleaxe or harridan, exemplified by Nurse Ratched^[6]
3. Bimbo or airhead, exemplified by Nurse Betty^[6]
4. Alcoholic, exemplified by Nurse Sarah Gamp
5. Stuff up or mistake maker, exemplified by Nurse Greg Focker
6. Handmaiden — the assistant of a doctor, who would be usually stereotyped as male.^[6]
7. Sex symbol or nymphomaniac^[6]
8. Torturer^[6]
9. Woman in White^[6]

Angel

The lady with the lamp — Miss Nightingale at Scutari in 1854 painted by Henrietta Rae

The image of a nurse as a ministering angel was promoted in the 19th century as a counter to the then image of a nurse as a dissolute drunk, exemplified by Dickens' Sarah Gamp. The model nurse in this image was moral, noble and religious, like a devout nun — chaste and abstemious — rather than an unpleasant witch. Her skills would be practical and her demeanour would be stoic and obedient. Florence Nightingale promoted this image because, at the time, the idea of having female nurses attending the British army fighting the Crimean war was controversial, being thought immoral and revolutionary.^[7]

See also

Nursing portal

• History of nursing
• List of fictional nurses
• Nurse paintings

References

1. ^ Christine L. Williams (1991), "Masculinity in Nursing", Gender differences at work: women and men in nontraditional occupations, University of California Press, p. 107, ISBN 9780520074255 
2. ^ T. G. Mashaba, Hilla Brink (1994), Nursing education: an international perspective, p. 322, ISBN 9780702126208, "...nurses are stereotyped as females ... stereotypes of nursing still have a hold on society" 
3. ^ Janice Rider Ellis, Celia Love Hartley (2004), Nursing in today's world, p. 164, ISBN 9780781741088 
4. ^ Philip Darbyshire (2009), "Heroines, hookers and harridans: exploring popular images and representations of of nurses and nursing", Contexts of Nursing, pp. 51–64, ISBN 9780729539258 
5. ^ Kay Kittrell Chitty (2005), "Influence of the Media on Nursing's Image", Professional nursing, p. 79, ISBN 9780721606958 
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Philip Darbyshire, Suzanne Gordon (2005), "Exploring Popular Images and Representations of Nurses and Nursing", Professional Nursing, Springer Publishing Company, pp. 69–92, ISBN 0826125549 
7. ^ Mary Chiarella (2002), "The nurse as a ministering angel", The legal and professional status of nursing, Elsevier Health Sciences, pp. 39–55, ISBN 9780443071911 

Further reading

• Catherine Judd (1998), Bedside seductions: nursing and the Victorian imagination, 1830-1880, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 9780312177058