Image of Nursing
Chinedu Remigius Udu
ITT Technical Institute
Course Number (NU100)
09/21/2015

According to the authors Rezaei-Adaryani, Salsali, Mohammadi (2012) one of the many challenges contemporary nurses would have had to overcome is the concept of the image of nursing. According to the findings of the research that was conducted in the past based on the review of retrieved integrative Internet English Literature published from 1980 – 2011, it was shown that Nursing Image is a multi- dimensional, all-inclusive, paradoxical, dynamic, and complex concept. 1. Furthermore, the image of nursing as perceived from a cultural perspective can be very challenging. According to the authors Valizada, Zamanzadeh, Fooladi, Azadi, Negarandeh, Manadi (2014) the term “Nurse” in Iranian language called “Parastar” is a word that evokes the image of a duty maid, household maid or low-income laborer. Nurses are seen as someone with limited or no educational background. This negative profiling of the nursing profession in the Iranian society has made it extremely necessary for nurses to redefine themselves in areas of specialized health care with the intent of improving their social status and public image. Another negative image of nursing is the flirtatious perception the public has of female nurses. Female nurses are stereotyped as slim, attractive and full bosomed, who wear tight knee length uniforms with high heel shoes. This readily creates the impression that female nurses are more interested in their physical looks than caring about their patient. However, despite some of these negative profiling mentioned above, there are also some advantages the image of nursing can be attributed with. For instance, nursing has a gendered and religious history which invokes ideas of duty and servitude which are always present and shape its professional identity. The profession