Weaver, R., Ferguson, C., Wilbourn, M.,

From Digital Culture & Society

Weaver, R., Ferguson, C., Wilbourn, M., & Salamonson, Y. (2013). Men in nursing on television: Exposing and reinforcing stereotypes. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(4), 833-842.

Megan Johnson

The deeper issue that this article dives into is that of certain stereotypes being present and prevalent in popular television programs, and how they shift viewer’s choice to go or not go into, a certain profession. This article does this by specifically looking into the stereotype of male nurses presented in popular medical television dramas (mtd). This is a large issue in today’s society as a certain stereotype that may or may not be true can severely shift a young adolescents decision on their future career choice. Male nurses in medical dramas, if even represented, are often the minority, made fun of for being “only” a nurse, or are often seen as dumb, and those depictions can alter a ever so fragile teen male’s choice to pursue that certain profession.

The main argument of this article is to decipher how men in nursing on medical television programs are portrayed, and the stereotypes that follow them. For many decades, mtd have been the most popular type of television program, therefore, their portrayals of certain professions may have an impact on the way society views them. One stereotype that is often completely skewed is that of a nurse. Nurses are often the backbone of the hospital; they are they ones that are with patient’s majority of the time, at their bedside when they call for help, and are the one’s most familiar with a patients habits. Though, often on these programs “nurses have tradition-ally been represented in a series of stereotypical images: as angel of mercy, naughty nurse, battle-axe, bimbo and the doctor’s handmaiden” (Weaver et al., 2013). One of their aims was to decipher whether or not male nurses faced the same scrutiny as female nurses. Given that these negative stereotypes can bend recruitment and retention in the profession, these stereotypes can be detrimental to society. A key finding in the article was that male nurses were often subject to questions of their career choice, their sexuality, and were seen as a minority. Their masculinity was also a key factor noted in their findings. They were often made fun of for wearing pink scrubs, or for doing a females ‘job’. Male nurses were often seen as less smart than their physician Dr. counterparts, this sometimes lead to a decrease in their self-esteem in the workplace.

This article is definitely home to many strengths and weaknesses. What I really liked was that the authors conducted a qualitative study over 3 seasons of 5 different popular mtds. This allows for credibility as the 5 mtds chosen are the most prevalent and popular mdts currently. Another aspect I really found beneficial was the fact that the authors did an in-depth textual analysis of these episodes. All of the episodes that they used were up to date; this is a strength as it allows for recent and credible data. Each program was watched by the 4 authors, this is beneficial as it ensures that there are no discrepancies or bias’ when watching the episodes. Having 2 females and 2 males conducting this study also allows for minimal bias when analyzing these programs. Analyzing 5 popular mtds is a great contribution to current scholarship in the area, as it provides an insightful view on the current stereotypes being presented in these programs. What some may see as a weakness in this study was that there was no process that involved human interaction and their insight on the subject. Some may argue that male nurses should have been used to explain their thought process or whether or not they agree that these mtd’s reinforce present day stereotypes of male nurses. On the contrary, I believe that their study did the research justice, as one does not need to be completely immersed in the profession to understand the stereotypes displayed in these programs, and whether they are valid or not. Bringing in a popular theory used to study this phenomenon – cultivation theory, may have done some benefit to their study.

This article did a wonderful job articulating the stereotypes of male nurses that continue to be reinforced by medical television dramas. These stereotypes may have an impact on male teenagers and their decision to pursue a career in the nursing field. They may feel if they do so, their masculinity may be lowered, they could be viewed as “taking the easy way out” among other stipulations. The authors in this article did a fabulous job disseminating the stereotypes among these medical television dramas. The one thing that could have been done to strengthen their argument would be to include male nurses and their perceptions on how they are portrayed and viewed within conjunction with these 5 programs, and if that had any impact on their decision of entering the nursing profession.