if you look at a dictionary nursing is to care and to nurture

There is actually no connection with the word nursing and what

the job does

You think of lawyers - yes, you think of doctors - you know,

strong professional educated people and then you think of nurses

as noble and caring and not understanding theres a significant

amount of education needed in order to become a nurse.

People that I meet on the street, just in casual conversation, other

colleagues, friends, they would always mention - you're a nurse,

what hospital do you work in? Not all nurses work in hospitals.

and the public doesn't really realize that as well. That nurses

don't always work in hospital sectors or acute care.

There's community, research, there's governmental levels

that we work in, occupational health the list could go on and when they

hear that - like myself, I work in administration and they hear

that and they're like - oh, you can do that?

Why wouldn't I be able to do that?

You know, they're like - don't you have to have a business degree?

And I'm like - umm, not necessarily but you know

it's something that they don't know

On our way to work, to school, to the grocery store, our eyes

meet hundreds of other eyes on a day to day basis

Sometimes we meet the same people over and over again.

We don't know what they do or we're they're off to right now

We could only judge by their uniform or their appearance

stereotypes opposed by time and media. We live in a world of humans with jobs

and professions. The importance of or the existence we may not even

be aware.

What is the role of a nurse?

How do we know what nurses do?

or what nurses are?

What is the role of a nurse in this society?

Well she's supposed to be there to take care of the sick people in the hospital.

She's like a doctor's assistant It's important.

Well I'd say administrating drugs...

Bring you food, pills, whatever..

The roles of nurses in society is to assist the ill and to assist doctors

and they have a lot of responsibilities from what I understand but I don't

know too much about it.

I'm guessing the nurse helps out in the hospitals. To me, it's a step

not under doctor, but they just help out doctors and make things run smoother.

No, I couldn't do it. Blood, all that kind of nasty stuff

nope - not qualified at all

Taking care of sick people - no

It's not something I think I'd be good at

No because it's really hard, I don't think I could make it

No, definitely not, I'm not in nursing, no

So who is responsible for the public's passive view?

Nurses themselves? The system? The environment they work in?

How did the public become so indifferent? Is the media at the root

of all this?

[music]

In regards to the media representation, there have

been a lot of negative aspects towards the nursing profession.

Recently the dentyne ice commercial that was out in regards to the nurse

who entered the patient's bedroom and they close the curtains

leaving it up to your imagination to interpret it however you want.

There was the virgin mobile one a couple of years back as well.

Virgin was trying to sell their cellphones and had the nurse

in the very mini skirt with the little cleavage and very buxom.

A lot of the sex shops or even the fantasy novels

depict nurses as that but it could be, primarily

because in some settings like acute care, ICU, long term care

A lot of the times nurses have to be kind of intimate

in that sense where they have to perform procedures

on them where they might be exposed.

And its a little but uncomfortable for patients where you're doing things

It's probably from that way.

However, nurses used to, women used to dress like that

about 50 - 40 years ago. There were some nurses out there

who went into the professions, just to marry

a doctor. Were they a little bit more provocative? Possibly.

I mean, I went to school with a number of girls who went into

nursing just to find themselves a doctor.

When I was going through nursing school, in my undergrad

I've often said that when you open the nursing texts, what you

see - I'm not sure today, but certainly when I was

going through nursing school. The nurse was always a female,

The patient was always a male. And to me that was a big problem

because A) I didn't have a role model to relate to, even from a

picture perspective.

I've constantly seen nurses as females and then when you get

into your practice settings, certainly there's a lot of stereotypes.

The most common one is you have to be homosexual

to be a nurse. Whether that is true or not is irrelevant

but that is the very common one. The other one is you cannot be

as compassionate or empathic as a female, because you're a guy

You're not supposed to, you're supposed to be strong

you can't be sensitive, so certainly these kind of sterotypes

I think, still persist

Not often, but many times I've encountered patients not

wanting a male nurse whether it be a female, even men, because

of these stereotypes. "Well you must be homosexual, as a guy

I don't want you to see me naked.

So yah, it takes time, people don't know what they don't know

unless you experience it and realize the difference.

There's very few individuals who just flat out couldn't have

a man, whether it be religious issues or cultural, we have to respect it.

For most cases, it wouldn't matter but if it was something more

of a male injury then yah I would prefer

a male nurse, I would imagine.

Definitely female, I don't know why...

Female, because I'm a male, That's why.

I don't think it matters I think they both do the same job

have the same education.

Female, maybe for me because I'm a female.

So maybe easier to understand each other, so something between

different pain or worry between men and women

They're all professionals and they each have a role.

And I think it would be great if there were more males in the profession

A female nurse is nice, you know, the stereotypical porno star or whatever

but in reality I don't care. If I'm bleeding or something

just fix me. Who cares?

It doesn't matter. As long as they're qualified

and they're good and they've got good bedside manner

It doesn't matter

Female, I say, Much comfortable, much organized.

I think it's all the same. To me, it doesn't matter.

As long as I'm getting not sick faster, that's great.

It doesn't matter if it's a male or a female, it's

just how well you do your job kind of thing

and if you do it out of your heart, because jobs

like that you have to do from within.

I've actually never had a male nurse So I couldn't say that.

As of the year 2007, 6% of nurses in Canada are male

Quebec has the highest proportion of male nurses.

10%, While Ontario takes second place at 5%.

And these numbers are very close to world averages.

I think men in nursing provide a different aspect

and a different colour and a different diversity

and a different approach to care I think it's absolutely important

We shouldn't miss that boat and I think that will be beneficial

to the patients, to see more than one type of person or

individual or category of people providing care.

Medicine and nursing are not the same - we work within the

same area, within the same milieu, we have the same form

of education as far as science background is concerned,

as far as anatomy, that is very similar and that is where

a lot of the inter-professional education is coming from,

from that similar basis.

It's always been the case, when I go into a patient's room

"Hello Doctor" It's never, you know,

No I have to correct them "No, I'm your nurse"

Oh why didn't you want to go to medical school...

I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing. It opens your mind

to a lot of things you never thought before.

I think what doesn't help the image of nurses - is nurses

who don't take themselves seriously. Who don't take what

they do very seriously. And I think a lot of us may not be doing that

So often enough, you'll hear nurses say "I'm just a nurse"

Don't say that. You're a Nurse. and I've corrected may people with that

and that trickles that stays in your head.

The image of nursing is unique to the individual

We come together as professional. We definitely need the empirical knowledge

we need a solid knowledge base from where we have a very solid

foundation and from this foundation we build a framework.

Wherever you're going within this framework, there's this unique

human connection that makes that contact with that one patient

that one time, a unique image.

You can never accurately stereotype anyone, but as humans, we tend to like

to create categories. Lawyer, Electrician, Musician

Teacher, Nurse, then fit people into them. So do you want to

fit this stereotype of a nurse or help change that stereotype.

It's up to you.