EDITOR’S COMMENT

'Stop the nurse bashing and recognise the heroes'

6 September, 2011 | By Jenni Middleton

If the Olympic committee is looking for new sports that Britain could excel at in London 2012, they’d do well to consider nurse bashing.

I reckon it’s something that many Britons could get a podium place for.

Last week’s Daily Mail “exposé” of the do not disturb tabards at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust unleashed the latest round of sound and fury

Many things bother me about this story -. first, it’s not news but something that many hospitals have been trying out for a while. In addition, it’s intended to improve patient safety. Imagine the headlines if a nurse made a drug error - if you’re a nurse, it seems you can’t win.

The issue of the tabards is a thorny one - there are arguments for and against them. But one thing we are all united on is that the perception of nurses is generally poor - and unjustly so.

Why, as a nation, must we concentrate on the bad apples, always looking for horror stories about nursing?

It’s not as if there is any shortage of good nursing stories - such as the heroic nurses in Libya, or, 10 years after September 11, the nurses who saved hundreds of lives in New York on that awful day. Closer to home, this year’s Nursing Times Awards show there are hundreds of outstanding nursing doing exceptional work.

I’ve interviewed two nurses who helped those injured in the World Trade Center attacks. Both maintain that, while the experience changed them, it confirmed exactly why they became nurses. What they saw was horrific and, despite facing danger, they carried on.

These are not the “stupid” or “uncaring” nurses we are led to believe populate the profession. And, if compassion became an Olympic sport, I’m pretty sure nurses could take on all comers and clinch gold, despite what the media would have us believe.

Readers' comments (45)

Peter Thompson | 6-Sep-2011 1:40 pm
The Daily Mail is a filthy rag full of venom, spite and hatred on so many counts; not just for nurses, but many other section sof society too! However, it seems to particularly delight in denigrating nurses and nursing. I wish people wouldn't buy the damn thing; or if they do, use it instead of Andrex because that's all it is fit for.
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mike | 6-Sep-2011 2:08 pm
Peter it isn't just the Mail though is it, it is the Telegraph, numerous TV 'programmes', a wholly disrespectful and ungrateful general public perception ...

I agree with Jenni, this is getting beyond a joke and quite frankly I am getting really sick and tired of it. I do not think however, that just carrying on as we are and celebrating the quite frankly 'heroic' to use Jenni's term work that we do is enough any more.

It is about time everyone, from the general public to the media and the government, starts showing our profession the respect it deserves.
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Anonymous | 6-Sep-2011 3:45 pm
What is the RCN doing about all this bad press to defend the profession?
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mike | 6-Sep-2011 6:45 pm
Anonymous | 6-Sep-2011 3:45 pm two words, sod all. Two more, as usual.
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Anonymous | 6-Sep-2011 8:16 pm
Peter Thompson | 6-Sep-2011 1:40 pm

come on what about hygiene? you would get patients coming in with all sorts of nasty complaints if it was used it to replace Andrex!
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Anonymous | 6-Sep-2011 11:52 pm
Anonymous | 6-Sep-2011 8:16 pm

We are getting totally off the subject, but you are not old enough to remember newspaper cut up and threaded on string in the 'bog' at the bottom of your garden...not in a hospital I agree. Just thought I'd enlighten you to times in the lifetime of a nurse still young enough to practice. That comment was for information only, not to spark off a debate.

We need to stop blaming the press, the government, the RCN, the NMC for the public perception, but celebrate good practice and put our efforts into being heard in a positive light. Use your local radio, press, etc. We don't have to rely on them to do it for us. We are not supplying what is being read at the moment. Celebraties do it, so it can be done. Nurses should be celebraties in their own right.
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mike | 7-Sep-2011 3:01 am
Anonymous | 6-Sep-2011 11:52 pm whilst I agree in principle, I really do, I have to disagree in practical terms as this is already happening, and IT DOESN'T WORK!!! Just look at the stories of the Nurses in NYC at 9/11, or the programme on 'super nurses' (I think it is called that or something similar) about MacMillan Nurses; ignored by the vast majority of the mainstream media and shunted off to some godforsaken timeslot on TV. The work of Nurses in Haiti, or the Sudan, or any other disaster zone or trouble spot, how about the minor miracles we perform every day in keeping the NHS running? All ignored! Nurses all over the country quite frankly perform miracles on a daily basis, we all know the fantastic work we do in extremely challenging circumstances, we have been doing it for a long, long time. If it was as simple as simply celebrating that just by virtue of us doing the job, then we would all be getting parades to celebrate our achievements daily! The media just do not care about the good stories; all the good we do is wiped out by horror stories that are 99% of the time down to the NHS culture, not Nurses. But we are the easy scapegoat aren't we because we all too often keep quiet and hope our good work will speak for itself. The good stories alone are not enough to combat the bile that is coming from the mass media and the general public. We need to stop turning the other cheek and hoping that the good jobs we do will be picked up by the mass media and transform the public perception of us into a tidal wave of goodwill. It won't. We need to be much more ready to fight fire with fire. If the general public want to blame us for the failings of the NHS, then we need to remind them that without us they would get no decent care at all and they should be more bloody grateful if they want to keep receiving it! If these patient groups start moaning that they are getting offended again because Nurses are trying to improve safety standards with tabards on med rounds, then they should be told in no uncertain terms to be quiet because concentration equals patient safety and that trumps their delicate sensibilities. If Nurses get blamed for lack of care on the wards we need a strong and sustained campaign turning that anger back on the general public and reminding them that it is the bloody governments/trusts fault for not putting enough of us out there and putting the blame exactly where it belongs! In short, we need to be less understanding in the face of such unjustified criticism.
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Jodie's mate | 7-Sep-2011 7:58 am
Hmm...

Celebrate the good things nurses do, force the public to see how professional we are.. yet 70% of us accordingto NT don't even bother to hav ethe flu jab-which is free- to protect ourselves and our patients.

We really are own worst enemies
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Anonymous | 7-Sep-2011 8:04 am
For the record, a nurse, Marianne Barthelmy-Kaufmann jointly with a doctor, Rolf Maibach, who had retired from practice in Switzerland, won the Swiss Award of the Year 2010 in the category 'Society' for their services at the Albert Schweizer Hospital in Haiti, following the last earthquake.
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Anonymous | 7-Sep-2011 8:31 am
JENNI

Why has there been no response from the RCN? Does this mean that they, and especially Mr. Carter, condone all the negative press on the profession, and nurses in general?

Although you can contact the President of the United States of America and many other celebrities by e-mail, it appears that the chief of the RCN is too important as I failed to find it anywhere on the RCN website, but only a Twitter address which is of no use for my purpose. I wished to ensure Mr. Carter had seen the articles last week in DT by Ms Odone and those in the Mail and ask for some feedback. I don't think a few uninformed journalists, or anyone else, should be allowed to walk all over us. Whether it matters or not what the general public thinks (as we know ourselves how good or bad we are), negative attitude towards the whole profession, influenced by the media, is highly contagious among a gullible readership.
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Anonymous | 7-Sep-2011 3:27 pm
Viz comment regarding lack of nurse uptake for the flu jab, just as a matter of interest.....is there any scientific evidence that any patient died from, or even caught flu from a nurse. I don't have the jab because a. i am not in the high risk group b. i've had it before and therefore have immunity to som extent, c. a high percentage of my colleagues that have, have side effects that have ranged from a very sore arm to feeling so unwell they couldn't work anyway. It would be good to know the facts. Also, we all know a nurse who makes us wonder why they chose the profession but they are so rare it's not worth mentioning. Work hard, stay late, go without food/drinks/toilet, always try to 'be there' for your patients. Give us a break, literally!
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mike | 7-Sep-2011 6:18 pm
Geeze that is a ridiculous way to attempt to measure our professionalism and has nothing at all to do with the debate.
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Mags | 7-Sep-2011 6:40 pm
mike | 7-Sep-2011 3:01 am

As seems to happen often, I couldn't agree more. Well said!
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Anonymous | 7-Sep-2011 7:42 pm
Geeze | 7-Sep-2011 7:58 am

? ? ?

perplexed
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Anonymous | 7-Sep-2011 8:46 pm
the media, government (and police) are in an uneasy alliance, the gears of which are oiled by bribery, wedding invitations and the foreign office arranging photo opportunities like gaddafi and blair in a bedouin tent to pander to racist tabloid stereotypes.

it's easy for an editor to nudge a jounalist in a certain direction. or look up the archive to promote outdated stories that become either frontpage or near the front that otherwise wouldn't have made the cut. it's not only the major stories but the little ones clustered around them, comment and opinion features that would normally get binned. not much effort for an editor given the wink that they'll be first in line to report on the next u-turn or tax bombshell.

yes, the nursing profession might be prepared to take on the government. but how strong will our resolve be when the public start throwing bricks at the picket line?

by the time we get round to voting on a strike action ballot, our public reputation will be somewhere between estate agents and investment bankers. only nurses aren't as thick skinned as estate agents or living a life as far removed from the hoi-polloi as investment bankers.

unless the rcn gets it's public relations act together we can kiss goodbye to that final salary scheme.
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Mags | 7-Sep-2011 10:32 pm
Anonymous | 7-Sep-2011 8:46 pm

"but how strong will our resolve be when the public start throwing bricks at the picket line?"

That remains to be seen. Personally, I am well past caring what "the public" thinks about this profession. They are happy to stand by and do NOTHING whilst the NHS is torn apart by idiots and mad men/women. They are happy to stand by whilst the agreements about our pay and mythical 'gold-plated' pensions are attacked illegally, our colleagues are made redundant, posts disappear and, we who are left, struggle daily to prop up this ailing institution. Protect the Nurses and you will protect the NHS. It cannot operate without us. The public needs to wake up, realise that and get on side.
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mike | 7-Sep-2011 11:30 pm
Anonymous | 7-Sep-2011 8:46 pm

"but how strong will our resolve be when the public start throwing bricks at the picket line?"

How strong will the publics resolve for throwing bricks be when we remove our services and they realise they have no one to care for or treat them when they are sick and injured? And they realise we will not return until we get the respect we deserve?

To coin the old phrase don't bite the hand that feeds you, or more accurately, don't piss off those that save your lives and treat your sick and injured, comes to mind.
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Anonymous | 7-Sep-2011 11:54 pm
@ mike, you're a tough guy, and although i don't agree with all you say, i'd happily stand with you at the barricade. but i remember the ambulance dispute, in the middle of winter it makes a big difference if passers by throw coins in the bucket and give you the thumbs up, or if they they throw coins in your face and give you the v-sign. we only had the former, but i can imagine how hard the latter would be. we really need the rcn to get to grips with the media issue now, before public confidence in us is eroded further. remember when the miners were the most powerful union in the country, and how thatcher's tabloid bulldogs mauled them, just as the police put the boot in? public support really will make a HUGE difference to each and every nurses' resolve.
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Anonymous | 8-Sep-2011 0:19 am
If we continue to view the public and the media as against us, we have become victims. We won't win a sympathy vote, so that is not the way to go. We have to rise above it, hold our heads high and show our professionalism. Striking will only add more ammunition to those who seem to be pulling us down, we can't let that happen. The public happen to be our patients and give us the opportunity of working in this profession.
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mike | 8-Sep-2011 0:21 am
Anonymous | 7-Sep-2011 11:54 pm I do agree with you, I really do. I am just getting sick and tired of the constant barrage from all sides when all the profession as a whole seems to be doing is turning the other cheek.

I agree the RCN needs to get off its arse and start fighting our corner, and the public support would certainly help our cause, but the public and the media in general really have it in for the public services, and they need to be reminded, forcefully if need be, exactly where this country - and they - would be without us. They need to realise you cannot go on constantly attacking vital services and expect them to be there for you when you need them.
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