Nurses can improve the professional image through investing in presenting nursing and increasing local involvement

The media and Hollywood can have a major impact on how society views nursing as a whole, whether it be negative or positive. I would personally say overall nursing is portrayed negatively through media. Nurses have an obligation to step up and prove them wrong through the everyday nursing care provided. Even if the nurse is off duty and is helping someone out, usually that person is going to ask “what do you do for a living?” And when you reply by saying “I am a nurse” it might change the way that person perceives nursing as a profession.
I believe social media has portrayed nursing in a positive way many of times. I have seen many different videos and advertisements through social media that make nursing look like a great profession. I have come across Johnson and Johnson adds and one that stands out the most, is the video add I have seen starring NICU nurses. This add in particular caught my eye because it had families talking about the care that was provided for their infants and on the other hand it also had the nurses talking about how compassionate they are about their career. In this video, not only is the nurse getting to speak up about the care they provide but it is backed up by the families that the care was provided to, which I think shows a lot.
On the other hand nursing can be portrayed negatively through the media and Hollywood. I recall a while ago there was a nurse with many years of experience who had fell asleep holding a baby on a night shift, and unfortunately dropped the baby. This nurse had never had any incidents in her long nursing career and was portrayed as a very caring, loving, and compassionate nurse from fellow nurses. The media and news on the other hand portrayed this nurse very negatively, as if she was careless and did not know or care about what she was doing. In societies eyes, after seeing the story from the news, would not think of the nurse any other way and would only have bad things to say about her. When in all reality the nurse had made one mistake in many years and was trying to sooth the fussy, crying baby so the mom could get a few more hours of sleep. As you can see she was just looking out for the mother of that baby and just trying to rock the baby to help soothe him. Society would never see it another way because of the initial image that was set, and I am sure the nurse would not be able to provide care to patients how she had done already for many years because patients would not want her to care for their babies.
Friberg & Cresia state, “Public perceptions of different professions are strongly influenced by the media, and in the past the way that nurses have been represented in featured films has often been at odds with the way nurses perceive their profession” (Friberg&Cresia, 2015). This is very true in today’s world. Nurses can come together whether it be in nursing school or at work and have seminars or presentations to help show what nursing is all about to the lay person. It can show that nurses are compassionate, caring, and the biggest advocate for their patients. Friberg & Cresia say, “Their expertise can be shared with the public. Nurses can improve the professional image through investing in presenting nursing and increasing local involvement” (Friberg&Cresia, 2015).