Nursing image is important as it impacts recruitment, public and professional views, and self-esteem. Historically, nursing image has shifted from "Angel of Mercy" to "Girl Friday" to "Mother" and more recently to "Careerist." Nurses themselves can impact image through demonstrating pride in their work, expanding public understanding of nursing roles, and engaging in activities to educate the public and improve their profession's representation. Strategies like media engagement, research, and political involvement can help enhance nursing's image.

1. IMAGE OF NURSING
BY-TANOJ PATIDAR

2. INTRODUCTION
 Nursing image is very important for nursing profession, it is the way the profession
appears to others including to general public.
 Image of the nursing profession impacts to the recruitment of students, the view of
the public, funding for nursing education and research, relationships with
healthcare administrators, other health care professionals, government agencies
and ultimately, the profession self identity.
 Image is defined as a mental picture representing a real object or a more or less
accurate likeness of a thing or person.
 The most important is that image can influence nurses themselves, just like nurses
may feel depressed or less effective if others view them negatively, how nurses view
their professional self-image has an impact on professional self-esteem.
 Nursing image is likely seen to be assistant to physicians and committed to
housekeeping duties rather than devoted to caring.

3. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF NURSING IMAGE
 Credit is given to Florence Nightingale for the written history and development of
modern nursing.
 The image of nursing may also have its roots in the Victorian Age during which she
lived.
 At that time nursing perceived as ‘’women’s work’’.
 The expectations of nurses were altruism, sacrifice, submission and its not just
encouraged but demanded.
 The usual image of Florence Nightingale is self sacrificing young women with no
desire or need for money, rest or recognition.
 Even today, the image of Florence Nightingale as the ‘’Lady with the lamp’’ remain
perhaps the most popular public image of the founder of modern nursing.

4. PERIOD 1: ANGEL OF MERCY (1854-1919)
 In the early 1900s nurses were viewed as
honourable , moral, spiritual, self-sacrificing
and ritualistic.
 World war 1 media representations continued
the ‘’angel of mercy’’ image.
 Nurses appeared in a substantial literary
endeavour's, nurses heroines were characterized
as being involved in dual search:
1) success and meaning through nursing.
2)Happiness and fulfilment through love and
marriage.

5. PERIOD 2: GIRL FRIDAY(1920-1929)
 Women's Entered in new domains of professional
endeavours and activities.
 1918s influenza epidemic created a vast need
for nurses.
 As a results of all these factors, efforts toward
increased regulation of nursing education were
hampered.
 Nursing students were exploited as a cheap
labour, literally staffing entire hospital.
 Nurses were described as faithful, dependent,
cooperative, long-suffering and subservient.
 In films of this era, nurses were not cast as
career nurses.

6. PERIOD 3: HEROINE (1930-1945)
 Nursing was acknowledged as a worthy and
important profession that enabled women to
earn an honourable living.
 Nurses were identified as educated, courageous,
fearless, reasonable, clear-headed and
humanitarian.
 The only feature-length film ever produced that
focus entirely on the nursing profession, these
film stressed the education and work of
professional nurses.
 Film on nursing profession, nominated for the
1934 Academy Award for best picture, the
heroine of the film reject a millionaires offer of
marriage to continue her career as a nurse.

7. PERIOD 4: MOTHER (1946-1965)
 It may have been natural development after
world war 2 that a major goal for many
American women was to stay home and care for
children.
 Nurses during this period were chronicled as
maternal, compassionate, unassertive,
submissive and domestic.
 During the 1950s television programs usually
portrayed nurses as worthy of respect and
appreciated for their skills.

8. PERIOD 5: SEX OBJECT (1966-1982)
 After 1966, mother image of the nurse is
changed to sex object image.
 Nurses were increasingly depicted as being
sexually, promiscuous, self-indulgent, superficial
and unreliable.
 Nurses became ‘’sexual mascots’’ for health
care team and were seen in X-rated movies.
 Eventually nurses were portrayed as cold,
uncaring, power-hungry and unmotivated
persons.
 in films of these years, nurses were
undervalued and poorly represented, their
contribution to health care were not addressed.

9. PERIOD 6: CAREERIST (1983-PRESENT)
 The careerist has became the new image for the
mid 1980s and 1990s , portraying as intelligent,
logical, progressive, sophisticated, empathetic
and assertive.
 Men and women both are dedicated to providing
the highest standards of healthcare.
 Each one of us holds the responsibility and the
privilege of making this image the common
place awareness in every household.
 An international production of a television series
has helped nurses connect with other nurse
using the media to assist in improving care.
 Collaborative practice.

10. NURSING IMAGE OF ITSELF
 our greatest advocate is the client, as we reach out to care for them heart to heart,
they will reach out to work with us hand in hand.
 Individuals attitudes, feelings and perception are reflected in one’s appearance,
behaviour and outcomes of interaction with others including clients, peers and
public.
 Collectively, these individuals nurses attitudes, behaviour and interaction constitute
nursing self-image.
 Nurses who verbalize comments such as ‘’I am only a staff nurse’’ or ‘’I was just
following the physician orders’’ are not improving the image of nursing.
 It is the challenge for each nurse to extend the best image possible and offer the
utmost by substantiating the value of that service.

11. CONT…
 SELF IMAGE PSYCHOLOGY:
 Late Martha Rogers made a major contribution to nursing through her
presentation of principles regarding self-image psychology.
1)The law of belief:
- Known as self-fulfilling prophecy.
-Everything an individual subconsciously believers becomes reality.
2)The responsibility/achievement relationship:
-Individual experiences a confident self-concept.
-Nurses must believe that they are meritorious professionals willing to accept
accountability for their lives and practice, no matter what external factors are
present.

12. CONT…
 PROFESSIONAL PRIDE:
 Nurses frequently become trapped in one particular image, they may believe to
be a ‘’real’’ nurse one must work in hospital.
 Nurses must begin to educate the peer, public and nursing students that ‘’real’’
nurses are involved in variety of settings.
 Real nurses engage in;
Research, conduct deliveries in hospital, consultation, participate in ministry,
administer anaesthesia, provide psychotherapy, collaborate with administration,
working in jail, homes, clinics, hospice setting, colleges, industries, flights etc.

13. NURSE-BEST TITLE FOR THE PROFESSION?
 In past years various nursing organizations have discussed appropriateness and
validity of the title nurse.
 Nurse is derived from the Latin word nutricus, meaning that which nourishes,
fosters, and protects.
 Fagin and Diers suggest that nursing is a metaphor, and its influence language,
thought and action.
 They believe that nursing not only symbolizes women's struggles for equality, but
that the profession itself represent the typical figure of the ‘’underdog’’ in its
struggle to heard, approved, recognized and appreciated.
 The title nurse is presently all inclusive, and incorporates many positions, registered
nurse, vocational nurse, nurse assistant, nurse practitioner and others.
 Nurses approving of a name change believe that the title nurse is sexist and
connotes subservience and passivity.

14. MEN AND THE IMAGE OF NURSING
 The literature indicates that the nursing profession would benefit from a large influx
of men into the profession , but if a man decides to enter the profession he is
plagued by social stereotypes.
 Male nurse are often considered social misfits, unable to fit into a ‘’real mans’’ job.
 Barrier for men seeking to enter nursing and for those already working as a nurse
are the public perception of nursing profession, social values, professional
organization, nursing culture and patient preferences.
 One of the major obstacles dissuading men from choosing nursing as a career is its
traditional female image.
 Men who choose a traditional female oriented career are perceived as socially
demoted.
 Our understanding of the image of nursing has been mainly based on other
perspectives, such as the public or media rather than nurses themselves.

15. STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING THE IMAGE OF
NURSING
 The nursing profession faces some difficult issues and challenges as it relates to
image building.
1) Collective bargaining.
2) Computer technology.
3) Elimination of internal sexism.
4) Development of internal media.
5) External media committees.
6) Education.

16. NURSING RESPONSIBILITIES
 Recognize that an image problem does exist and that each individual nurse has a
responsibility to improve the profession’s image.
 Provide all nurses the opportunity to become salaried staff rather than hurly wage
earners.
 Become politically active and politically knowledgeable; nurses should run for
office.
 Document activities.
 Write and submit feature stories on nurses for local media.
 Demand that nurse authors to considered for editing health columns.
 Provide technical assistance to media.
 Provide ongoing public service announcement.
 Create a public forums, ‘’spend a day with a nurse’’.

17. CONT…
 Have nurse presents educational talks at local malls, public education series.
 More participate in TV shows, talk shows, and publish more research.
 Improve the community image; be a volunteer for community-sponsored activities.
 Revise and update nursing career literature.
 Become more active as authors.
 Increase staff involvement in scholarly activities.
 Establish school of nursing as research and information centres for people
experiencing critical health issues.
 Never allow the nursing profession to be portrayed as physicians handmaidens
instead insist that nurse be portrayed as physicians peers.
 Be self-confident; self-confident behaviour commands respect.
 Be positive; complaining does not create a good impression and rarely solve any
problems.

18. CONT…
 Share the positive aspects of the nursing profession with others.
 Learn to describe responsibilities of nursing in clear, no technical terms.
 Continue to develop alternative nursing education programs.
 Critically assess the actions you take, that might impact the image of nursing.
 Maintain dress standards that communicate a professional image. Healthcare
organization need to review and revise dress codes and enforce them.
 Consider what you say when you complain about work in the work settingand in your
personal life.
 Remember nursing image is you.