Changing how the world thinks about nursing


News on Nursing in the Media

January 5, 2018 edition

Let them eat cake -- from some other hospital!

Wealthy nurse, now in Congress, says EDs should be able to turn patients away

Major media reports that Member of Congress Diane Black is relying on her emergency nursing background to support a proposal to repeal a 1986 law that requires hospitals receiving Medicare to treat all patients regardless of their ability to pay. read more... and send Congresswoman Diane Black a message to remind her of her ethical obligation to patients...

Angels and advocates

The nurses of Fox's Red Band Society

Fox's Red Band Society was a teen hospital drama with three somewhat stereotypical nurse characters, and the show generally conformed to the standard Hollywood view that expert physicians run the show. But each nurse did display some health care ability. ...read our full series review and send your comments to the show's creator...

Let's get to a better future...by showing our NPs more respect

UnitedHealth ads suggest NPs need physicians to solve health problems

UnitedHealth ads have boasted that their nurse practitioners "visit a patient in the home and communicate in real time with a doctor to solve health problems before they become a crisis." But NPs ably manage health issues without any special need for physician consultation. ...read more...

Who's who

AARP magazine sends mixed messages on nursing roles

One excellent piece in AARP The Magazine focused on nurse practitioners' care for underserved populations. But another item, titled "Who's Who in Your Doctor's Office," wrongly placed not only physicians but even medical students above nurses. ...read more...

Nurse Ratched, Sarah PaulsonTake Action!
Please sign and circulate the petition to stop Netflix's Nurse Ratched show.

We need your help to stop this plan before it becomes a show!

Over 1,800 supporters have signed our petition to cancel the new young Nurse Ratched show planned by Ryan Murphy (Glee) and Netflix, but to really have an impact we need your voice! Please sign the petition and ask all your colleagues and students to sign and share it. Please ask your school, organization or workplace to share this. Also, please call Jonathan Friedland, Chief Communications Officer at Netflix, at 1-310-734-2958 and let him know your concerns. Thank you very much!!

Speaking Engagements:

OSNA logoSee Truth executive director Sandy Summers on February 3 in Portland Oregon!

Sandy will deliver the Keynote and Endnote presentations at the Oregon Student Nurses' Association's Annual Convention at the Holiday Inn Portland (Wilsonville) on February 3, 2018. Keynote: How the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Patients at Risk. Endnote: Increasing Public Understanding of Nursing to Strengthen the Profession and Protect Our Patients. ...see the flyer...

FalmouthSee Sandy on May 31 on Cape Cod!

Sandy will speak at Saint Anselm College's 26th Annual Conference for Nurse Educators at the Sea Crest Beach Hotel in North Falmouth, Massachusetts on May 31, 2018. The conference title is "Clinicians and Educators: Partnering to Develop Competence." Sandy's presentation is "Power of Persuasion: Challenging Media Portrayals of Nurses," and she will speak from 12:30 - 2 pm. ...see the flyer...

Please help the Truth help nursing!

We are working hard to address different fronts in the effort to challenge negative depictions of nursing. Our small staff could really use your help. Here are just a few ways you can help us improve global health through better understanding of nursing:

We rely on your help to move forward on our mission. Thank you!

Sandy SummersHaving an event? Book Sandy today!

Let Sandy Summers empower your nurses and help them fully embrace their autonomy!

Patients deserve better protection. Let Sandy help your nurses and students fully embrace their autonomy to strengthen nursing care, reduce errors and improve care! Sandy recently spoke in Washington DC, Manitoba and Vancouver, and gave the graduation speech at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She speaks widely to a variety of international nursing groups. Click here to see details and book her today!

Publications:

Think about the future

New international text Nurses and Nursing leads off with chapter by Truth leaders

The exciting new textbook Nurses and Nursing: The Person and the Profession includes a chapter on nursing's image by Truth leaders Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers. Edited by Pádraig Ó Lúanaigh, RN, EdD, the thought-provoking new textbook from Routledge "draws on international contributors with a range of backgrounds to explore, engage with and challenge readers in understanding the many aspects and elements that inform and influence contemporary nursing practice." Our chapter is "Nursing's public image: Toward a professional future." We thank Dr. Lúanaigh for the opportunity to be a part of this important new project. Please consider this book for your classes in professionalism, nursing and society, and nursing leadership. Click here to request a free copy for review now! See more about the book here...

Saving LivesImagine a world where nurses were fully empowered to protect patients

Get an author-signed copy of Saving Lives for you or a friend

Saving Lives is the transformative book acclaimed by nurses, nursing leaders, scholars, and the media. It can help your friends, colleagues, and students be the strong nurses our profession needs to protect patients from errors, injuries, and disease. See praise for Saving Lives: Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk by leaders in nursing and the media as well as the awards it has earned, including three Book of the Year awards from the American Journal of Nursing and an award from Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing. The updated second edition from Oxford University Press is now available! All donations and royalties go directly to support The Truth About Nursing, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Thank you for your support!

Click here to order now!


THE TRUTH ABOUT NURSING challenges stereotypes and educates the world about the value of nursing. Better understanding that nurses are autonomous, college-educated science professionals will strengthen nursing care, education and research, allowing nurses to save more lives.


Please donate now
Please support The Truth About Nursing

We need your help so we can pursue this mission together. We would be very grateful if you could make a donation--even if it is $5, $10 or $25. Any amount would be so helpful. Please click here to donate. Thank you!




The Truth About Nursing is an international non-profit organization based in Baltimore that seeks to help the public understand the central role nurses play in health care. The Truth promotes more accurate media portrayals of nurses and greater use of nurses as expert sources. The group is led by Sandy Summers, co-author of Saving Lives: Why the Media's Portrayal of Nurses Puts Us All At Risk.


Educate the world!


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book cover, Saving lives

Get a copy of Saving Lives with every $30 donation!

Donate $30 to the Truth now, and we will send you a copy of our leaders' newly released book Saving Lives: Why the Media's Portrayal of Nursing Puts Us All at Risk. Both editions have won American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Awards and Saving Lives has also won an award from the international nursing honor society, Sigma Theta Tau. The book was written for nurses, the media, and members of the public around the world. Many nursing professors use it as a text to discuss nursing in society. The authors donate all royalties to the Truth About Nursing. Order today--paperback or digital--and we will send a copy out to you!