Close

https://global.oup.com/academic/covers/pop-up/9780199337064

Saving Lives

Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk

Updated Edition

Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers

Details media's role in reinforcing stereotypes that fuel the global nursing shortage and impact public health
Offers practical ideas to improve understanding and perception of nursing
Highly current case-study examples from popular media (TV's Nurse Jackie, The Mindy Project, House, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; musical group the White Stripes) that are perpetuated in every new class of television and film

New to this Edition:

Examines the portrayal of nursing in news, entertainment, and advertising media in an era of massive change in health care
Coverage of nursing shortage and the implications for public health and health care
Examples of evolving portrayal of nursing across new media

Saving Lives

Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk

Updated Edition

Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers

Description

For millions of people worldwide, nurses are the difference between life and death, self-sufficiency and dependency, hope and despair. But a lack of understanding of what nurses really do -- one perpetuated by popular media's portrayal of nurses as simplistic archetypes -- has devalued the profession and contributed to a global shortage that constitutes a public health crisis. Today, the thin ranks of the nursing workforce contribute to countless preventable deaths.

This fully updated and expanded edition of Saving Lives highlights the essential roles nurses play in contemporary health care and how this role is marginalized by contemporary culture. Through engaging prose and examples drawn from television, advertising, and news coverage, the authors detail the media's role in reinforcing stereotypes that fuel the nursing shortage and devalue a highly educated sector of the contemporary workforce. Perhaps most important, the authors provide a wealth of ideas to help reinvigorate the nursing field and correct this imbalance.

As American health care undergoes its greatest overhaul in decades, the practical role of nurses -- that as autonomous, highly skilled practitioners -- has never been more important. Accordingly, Saving Lives addresses both the sources of, and prescription for, misperceptions surrounding contemporary nursing.

Saving Lives

Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk

Updated Edition

Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers

Foreword by Echo Heron
Introduction

Part One: Dangerous Ignorance: Why Our Understanding of Nursing Matters

Chapter 1: Who are Nurses and Where Have They Gone?
Chapter 2: How Nursing's Image Affects Your Health

Part Two: The Great Divide: The Media versus Real Nursing

Chapter 3: Could Monkeys Be Nurses?
Chapter 4: Yes, Doctor! No, Doctor!
Chapter 5: The Naughtiest Nurse
Chapter 6: Who Wants Yesterday's Girl?
Chapter 7: You Are My Angel
Chapter 8: Winning the Battle-Axe, Losing the War
Chapter 9: Advanced Practice Nurses: Skilled Professionals or Cut-Rate Physician

Part Three: Seeking Better Understanding of Nursing-and Better Health Care

Chapter 10: How We Can All Improve Understanding of Nursing
Chapter 11: How Nurses Can Improve Their Own Image

Saving Lives

Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk

Updated Edition

Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers

Author Information

Sandy Summers is the founder and executive director of The Truth About Nursing. She practiced nursing for many years in the emergency departments and intensive care units of major U.S. trauma centers. Ms. Summers has master's degrees in nursing and public health from Johns Hopkins University. A native of Connecticut, she lives with her family in Baltimore.

Harry Summers is the senior advisor of The Truth About Nursing. A lawyer who practices in Washington, DC, his background includes international development work in Cambodia and a Fulbright scholarship in New Zealand. Mr. Summers has degrees from Columbia and Georgetown. A native of Pennsylvania, he lives with his family in Baltimore.

Saving Lives

Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk

Updated Edition

Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers

Reviews and Awards

Recipient of the American Journal of Nursing 2015 Book of the Year Award in the following subcategories: Consumer Health and History and Public Policy.

"Invoking stereotypes about nurses is easy, sloppy, and all too common. Summers and Summers challenge us to imagine a world where nursing is fully recognized, funded, and supported. Saving Lives is a media activism roadmap crucial for reaching this destination." --MarySue V. Heilemann, PhD, RN, Associate Professor, UCLA School of Nursing

"Saving Lives explains in painstaking detail how our society's chronic trivialization of nursing as a profession diminishes the quality of health care for all patients, creating ripple effects with sometimes dire consequences. This book should incite a demand for a cultural shift in which nurses are valued as the indispensable and highly-trained health care professionals they are." --Claire M. Fagin, PhD, RN, Dean Emerita, Professor Emerita, University of Pennsylvania

Featured in Doody's Life Sciences Book Review

"A valuable resource for nursing students and professionals." -- Choice

Saving Lives

Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk

Updated Edition

Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers

From Our Blog

Overcoming the "angel" perception of nursing

Most of us have vaguely positive sentiments about nurses, but at the same time, nursing is plagued by feminine stereotypes that continue to undermine the profession. These double-edged views are never more striking than in efforts to honor nurses, which often rely on emotional 'angel' images rather than recognition of nurses' health skills or tangible contributions to patient outcomes.

Posted on July 10, 2015

Read the blog post

What do nurses really do?

Nurses play a huge role in hospitals, clinics, and various care facilities throughout the world. But, there are some misconceptions about what responsibilities nurses have. Nurses are saving lives and making a difference every day in health care with little recognition from the media or the world at large. Test your knowledge and see how much you really know about what goes into the job of being a nurse.

Posted on December 26, 2014

Read the blog post

How much are nurses worth?

If you ask many people about nurses, they will tell you how caring and kind nurses are. The word 'angel' might even appear. Nursing consistently tops the annual Gallup poll comparing the ethics and honesty of different professions.

Posted on October 22, 2014

Read the blog post