Nurses: Come Out of the Woodwork

Although Nurses Week is long over, the public face of nursing still needs a regular shot in the arm so that the public knows what nurses actually do. As nurses, do we describe our work in a way that gets the point across? Does the public know that we ' re more than the media makes us out to be?Photo by Dmitry Ratushny on UnsplashA few years ago, I reviewed the documentary, "The American Nurse" on this blog, andthat post (and our interview with the filmmakers onRNFM Radio) affirmed that this film contributes greatly to broadening the view of who nurses are and what they do. From birthing to home care, from hospice to nurses in the military, the film paints a larger vision of nursing in the 21st century.And just this past week, I attended the New Mexico premier of "The Providers" , a new film about NPs, PAs, and MDs in Las Vegas, New Mexico who fight the good fight against the poor health outcomes related to rural poverty. What an eye-opener this would be for so many people who need to see more deeply into what nursing and healthcare can really accomplish.Even to this day, when I tell someone that I ' m a nurse, they almost consistently say, "So, do you work at the hospital? " The public ' s general ignorance that we nurses do anything outside of the hospital is understandable, especially since they rarely hear about nurses who do anything else. That said, it ' s our duty to inform them of the vastness that is the nursing profession, and I do my part in educating...
Source: Digital Doorway - Category: Nursing Tags: healthcare healthcare delivery nurse nurses nursing nursing identity Source Type: blogs