NUR 308 Fall 2018 - Nursing in the Media: Representation Analysis

This report examines the portrayal of nursing in various media outlets, focusing on accuracy, representation, and the ongoing nurse shortage. It analyzes several articles from the Portland Press Herald and The Forecaster, highlighting how nursing is presented or, in some cases, should have been presented. The report discusses the factors contributing to the nursing shortage, such as an aging workforce and increasing healthcare demands, and explores different approaches taken by healthcare institutions and educational programs to address this issue. It also identifies gaps in media coverage, such as the transformative roles nurses play in digital healthcare and their involvement in interdisciplinary collaborations. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for a more comprehensive and accurate portrayal of nursing in the media, reflecting the profession's evolving responsibilities and challenges.

Nursing in the Media
Name
Institution

 Different media portray the nursing profession in varied ways.
 While some of these interpretations paint the image of these
caregivers in ways that are stereotypical, unrealistic and
highly compromising, other media portray the practitioners as
people who are dedicated to providing their clients with
healthcare services that are autonomous and in tandem with
the set medical goal of ensuring that patients are kept safe
and healthy.
 In the current study, I seek to present a summary of the
presence of nursing as a profession in different press media,
its portrayal, accuracy of these depictions, what needed to
have been exposed and how I needed to have been revealed
by analyzing shortage of caregivers.
Introduction

Shortage of Nurses
 The number of nurses in the United States
continues to decrease.
 Factors contributing to this decline include:
◦ Exponential growth of the population
◦ Increasing need for inclusion of better healthcare
services
◦ A decrease in the number of students enrolling for
nursing in tertiary institutions
◦ An aging workforce
 Healthcare institutions across the United States
require more nurses particularly those meant to
avail patients with specialized care (Gray, Wilde
and Shutes, 2018).
Summary from the Editions

Nurse Shortages
 Eichacker (2018) projects that Maine will have about
3000 vacancies for nurses by 2025 as a result of the
aging workforce and an increase in the population of
retirees.
 Currently, over 40% of the registered nurses under
practice are aged over 50 years old.
 According to Ferrer et al. (2014), graduate registered
nurses enter the profession at an average age of 31.
 Therefore, they enter into practice at an older age
 Such a state reduces the number of years they will spend
offering the healthcare system the desired services.
Summary from the Editions

 Different agencies gave taken varied measures to
tackle shortages.
 Press Herald (2018a) reveals that healthcare
institutions such as the St. Mary’s Health System
made the decision of tackling nursing shortages
by sourcing professionals from overseas
economies such as the Philippines.
 On the other hand, institutions of higher learning
have come up with programs aimed at tackling
the problem by increasing the number of spaces
allocated for nursing.
Summary from the Editions

 While the media chosen for analysis reveal the nursing
profession in multiple ways, critical issues such as the
roles played by these caregivers in fostering digital
transformation in healthcare, their job descriptions and
the state of the industry regarding the actual fit of
caregivers in multiple settings.
 The media does not reveal the increasing opportunities
offered by the nursing profession.
 The roles of the current nurse go beyond the bedside.
caring for patients has become complicated with the
revolutionary transformations occurring in the healthcare
system.
A Summary of what was not Portrayed

 There is need for the media to address the
transformative roles taken by nurses as evident
in their involvements in TED talks, publishing
scientific materials, advancing medical
technological applications and activism in
healthcare policies.
 Further, there is need for these sources of
information to look into he essential functions
of these practitioners in fostering institutional
collaborations with other specialists such as
oncologists, social workers, public health
officers and institutional administrators.
A Discussion of how Nursing needed to have been
Portrayed

 Similarly the media needs to address the
effective roles played by nurses in confronting
the increasing cost of health in different
scenarios. For instance, the current professional
environment has seen the emergence of at-
home monitoring systems in which nurses
attend to patients prior to hospital visits.
 Despite the positive images, the media needs
to point out the increasing challenges faced by
nurses as imposed by changing institutional
structures, dynamics in technology, as well as
the effects of politics on the profession
How Nursing needed to have been Portrayed Ctd..

 Different media avenues portray the shortage of nurses in
multiple ways.
 While some avenues look at the profession from a positive
perspective, others view it in a negative way.
 However, it is evident that nurses are widely appreciated
based on their traditional bed side roles and other functions
such as preventing diseases.
 Further, I learned that most of the media platforms only
consider nursing as a profession of women and give minimal
accord to the males that take part in offering their services
as caregivers.
What I Learned from this Experience

Eichacker, C. (2018). UMaine System launching effort to meet growing demand for
nurses. [online] Press Herald. Available at:
https://www.pressherald.com/2018/09/12/umaine-system-launching-effort-to-meet-
growing-demand-for-nurses/ [Accessed 29 Oct. 2018].
Ferrer, J., Boelle, P. Y., Salomon, J., Miliani, K., L’Hériteau, F., Astagneau, P., & Temime, L.
(2014). Management of nurse shortage and its impact on pathogen dissemination in
the intensive care unit. Epidemics, 9, 62-69.
Gray, K., Wilde, R., & Shutes, K. (2018). Enhancing nurse satisfaction: an exploration of
specialty nurse shortage in a region of NHS England. Nursing management (Harrow,
London, England: 1994), 25(1), 26-33.
McKechnie, T. (2016). CALL FOR NURSES: The Multi-Dimensional Manifestation of
Nursing Shortage on Patient Care. QIHI Journal of Healthcare Improvement and Patient
Safety, (2).
McLaughlin, M. M., & Skoglund, E. W. (2015). Drug shortages and patient safety: an
overview of essential information for the infusion nurse. Journal of Infusion Nursing,
38(3), 205-208.
Press Herald. (2018a). Lewiston hospital finds success recruiting nurses from the
Philippines. [online] Available at: https://www.pressherald.com/2018/10/01/st-marys-
finds-success-recruiting-nurses-from-the-philippines/ [Accessed 29 Oct. 2018].
Press Herald. (2018b). Our View: University’s nursing plan is the right way to face a
crisis. [online] Available at: https://www.pressherald.com/2018/09/21/our-view-
References