- Conference
- 2009 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 10 December 2008
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that some commentators have this year argued that the public has lost confidence in nurses, even to the point of suggesting that nursing has lost its way. These sentiments, if left unchallenged, are likely to taint policy developments, such as the Next Steps Review and associated activity to develop metrics to better evaluate the quality and impact of nursing.
Media representations of nurses are not politically neutral. They have variously been denigrated as hyper-sexualised ‘naughty’ nurses or idealised as self-sacrificing embodiments of kindness, with many different depictions in between. We have had the nurse as: battleaxe, doctor’s handmaiden, the complete spectrum of sexualised images, and finally, that old stalwart, the Angel. None of these images does nurses any favours for their public image.
The ‘naughty’ nurse has in the extreme been linked with acts of violence and sexual assault against women. Nurses have been variously portrayed in films, television shows, advertisements and other media, including pornography, in ways that are challenging to say the least for an occupational group wishing to demonstrate its value and professionalism.
Angelic nurses may seem more wholesome than their scantily clad alter-egos but this image can also have negative effects. It suits employers and policy makers to project an image of vocational selflessness, rendering nurses passive and malleable in the face of threats to their autonomy. A more powerful and attractive image is the caring, confident, assertive and knowledgeable nurse, conscious of her rights and organised to deliver high quality care, not afraid to challenge something if it’s wrong but supported when they do so.
There is a real need to engage the profession in a debate about its image to ensure that nurses are valued and respected but also that individuals who are interested in entering the profession clearly understand the diversity of roles and make informed career decisions. We are professionals with a sense of humour, which is often used to get us through a difficult shift. Value us as individuals do not denigrate our image.
UNISON must take action to present a positive and progressive image of nursing and urge its members to support this.
We call on the SGE to:
1.Promote the esteem in which the public hold nurses and nursing (and other health care workers) as a counterpoint to claims that the public has lost confidence in staff;
2.Articulate a positive and progressive nursing identity and communicating this in the output of the union, particularly the work of the Nursing sector;
3.Challenge unhelpful or derogatory representations of nurses as and when they arise;
4.Contribute to the development of appropriate nursing metrics in ways which do not undermine the nursing role, standards of care, or the public image of nursing.