The media has created some pretty controversial images of nurses over the years. Often times, television shows like the hits “Nurse Jackie” and “Grey’s Anatomy” portray RN’s as promiscuous and unethical. Perpetuating the “brainless bimbo” or “naughty nurse” stigma can cause a completely false impression of what members of the nursing community are really like… and yes, every Halloween there’s a “slutty nurse” at the party. In fact, a study from 2008 conducted at Dundee University even found that due to our society’s misconception of the field of nursing, it has caused a fewer number of intellectually advanced students from perusing nursing careers. It even drives debate on whether or not that has been a factor in general under-staffing in the profession. It’s time we address these negative stereotypes in nursing that have certainly played a major role in the industry. Negative Stereotypes in Nursing Negative Nursing Stereotypes in Media More recently, MTV launched a show called “Scrubbing In” which is a reality show that portrays the young nurses as wild partiers (very much like Jersey Shore or the Real World) and has driven many nursing organizations to ask they cancel the program. The show described the young nurses as “hellraisers” and the preview for the show included them jumping nude into a swimming pool. In all honesty, I can safely say I’ve never seen a nurse jump into any body of water in the buff.  However, we all know that the truth is that nurses are highly intelligent, caring people in reality. Nursing Stereotypes For Men TV dramas and Hollywood films are also causing a negative portrayal of men in the nursing workforce. There are currently less than 10% of men who are registered nurses in the United States; is it possible that negative stereotypes for male nurses are a reason for this? However, despite the lower percent of males in the field of nursing, it is not a female-only career. Males were the root of the profession until wartime caused a need for women to fill the rule. (Did you know famous poet Walt Whitman was a nurse?) In films such as “Meet the Parents”, Ben Stiller’s character (who was a male nurse) remained the butt of many jokes. Additionally, they have been portrayed as incompetent, uncaring, or even rapists and murderers. Some other attacks on images...