Changing how the world thinks about nursing


News on Nursing in the Media

February 2, 2018 edition

MarySue HeilemannRatched or Wretched?

Netflix Should Support Women, Not Damaging Stereotypes

Dear Nurses and Allies,

I'm writing because the Nurse Ratched show in development at Netflix has not been canceled. Production is scheduled to begin soon in 2018. This means that Netflix will be creating what has been called a "monster" nurse character working in the American mental health system. This negative portrayal denigrates nurses... ...read Dr. Heilemann's full letter explaining why the planned new Ratched show is potentially very devastating for nursing...and then please take action and sign the petition! Thank you for your help!

Love heals all things

A message to nurses from Angel Williams, the woman at the center of the 2010 Dr. Oz naughty nurse segment

January 28, 2018 -- We recently received a phone call from Angel Williams, the woman who appeared on a 2010 episode of The Dr. Oz show to demonstrate how she was able to lose weight by dancing. The Truth About Nursing and many supporters objected to the segment, in which the show had Ms. Williams and fellow dancers dress in naughty nurse outfits and tell host Mehmet Oz that they would be his "nurses." The show refused to really acknowledge our concerns until our campaign had generated global press coverage. Then the show did begrudgingly apologize, and in late 2011, it did a segment entitled "NURSES' SECRETS That Can Save Your Life," which may have been in part an effort to make amends. Ms. Williams called us a few days ago and apologized to Sandy Summers, our executive director, for her role in this 2010 Oz episode. ...read the entire gracious letter from Ms. Williams...

$3 for seven days of night shift

Zimbabwe articles show lack of resources for nursing

May 2015 -- This month news items from Zimbabwe showed that the salaries of nurses in some settings are still absymally low. On May 6, a short Associated Press piece reported that night shift nurses at the nation's public hospitals had gone on strike in protest of a pay rate of "$3 for a seven day nightshift"—really. The striking nurses were asking for a raise to $150 per week. Normally, a 5,000% raise might seem like a lot, but... The nurses' union representative Enock Dongo said that nursing students had been forced to "fill in" during the strike, which had lasted a week at that point. Of course, nursing students are not yet licensed nurses, and so they really can't adequately "fill in." Ten days later, on May 16, the New Zimbabwe website reported that the nationwide strike had been resolved. See how!...more...

Speaking Engagements:

OSNA logoSee Truth executive director Sandy Summers on February 3 in Portland Oregon!

Sandy will deliver the Keynote and Endnote presentations at the Oregon Student Nurses' Association's Annual Convention at the Holiday Inn Portland (Wilsonville) on February 3, 2018. Keynote: How the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Patients at Risk. Endnote: Increasing Public Understanding of Nursing to Strengthen the Profession and Protect Our Patients. ...see the flyer...

FalmouthSee Sandy on May 31 on Cape Cod!

Sandy will speak at Saint Anselm College's 26th Annual Conference for Nurse Educators at the Sea Crest Beach Hotel in North Falmouth, Massachusetts on May 31, 2018. The conference title is "Clinicians and Educators: Partnering to Develop Competence." Sandy's presentation is "Power of Persuasion: Challenging Media Portrayals of Nurses," and she will speak from 12:30 - 2 pm. ...see the flyer...

Please help the Truth help nursing!

We are working hard to address different fronts in the effort to challenge negative depictions of nursing. Our small staff could really use your help. Here are just a few ways you can help us improve global health through better understanding of nursing:

We rely on your help to move forward on our mission. Thank you!

Sandy SummersHaving an event? Book Sandy today!

Let Sandy Summers empower your nurses and help them fully embrace their autonomy!

Patients deserve better protection. Let Sandy help your nurses and students fully embrace their autonomy to strengthen nursing care, reduce errors and improve care! Sandy recently spoke in Washington DC, Manitoba and Vancouver, and gave the graduation speech at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She speaks widely to a variety of international nursing groups. Click here to see details and book her today!

Publications:

Think about the future

New international text Nurses and Nursing leads off with chapter by Truth leaders

The exciting new textbook Nurses and Nursing: The Person and the Profession includes a chapter on nursing's image by Truth leaders Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers. Edited by Pádraig Ó Lúanaigh, RN, EdD, the thought-provoking new textbook from Routledge "draws on international contributors with a range of backgrounds to explore, engage with and challenge readers in understanding the many aspects and elements that inform and influence contemporary nursing practice." Our chapter is "Nursing's public image: Toward a professional future." We thank Dr. Lúanaigh for the opportunity to be a part of this important new project. Please consider this book for your classes in professionalism, nursing and society, and nursing leadership. Click here to request a free copy for review now! See more about the book here...

Saving LivesImagine a world where nurses were fully empowered to protect patients

Get an author-signed copy of Saving Lives for you or a friend

Saving Lives is the transformative book acclaimed by nurses, nursing leaders, scholars, and the media. It can help your friends, colleagues, and students be the strong nurses our profession needs to protect patients from errors, injuries, and disease. See praise for Saving Lives: Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk by leaders in nursing and the media as well as the awards it has earned, including three Book of the Year awards from the American Journal of Nursing and an award from Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing. The updated second edition from Oxford University Press is now available! All donations and royalties go directly to support The Truth About Nursing, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Thank you for your support!

Click here to order now!


THE TRUTH ABOUT NURSING challenges stereotypes and educates the world about the value of nursing. Better understanding that nurses are autonomous, college-educated science professionals will strengthen nursing care, education and research, allowing nurses to save more lives.


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Please support The Truth About Nursing

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The Truth About Nursing is an international non-profit organization based in Baltimore that seeks to help the public understand the central role nurses play in health care. The Truth promotes more accurate media portrayals of nurses and greater use of nurses as expert sources. The group is led by Sandy Summers, co-author of Saving Lives: Why the Media's Portrayal of Nurses Puts Us All At Risk.


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book cover, Saving lives

Get a copy of Saving Lives with every $30 donation!

Donate $30 to the Truth now, and we will send you a copy of our leaders' newly released book Saving Lives: Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk. Both editions have won American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Awards and Saving Lives has also won an award from the international nursing honor society, Sigma Theta Tau. The book was written for nurses, the media, and members of the public around the world. Many nursing professors use it as a text to discuss nursing in society. The authors donate all royalties to the Truth About Nursing. Order today--paperback or digital--and we will send a copy out to you!