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Responding to ‘The View’

Nursegrid team member Zach Smith, RN provides a thoughtful response to recent comments made by hosts of The View about nurses.
Nursegrid Blog

As many of you have heard, comments were recently made on The View that offended a number of nurses across the country. Add us to that list.

We are nurses too. So when Joy Behar says “Why is she wearing a Doctor’s stethoscope?” it offends us deeply. There has always been an underlying form of discrimination against nurses. While we are continually rated as the most trusted profession, there is also a common misunderstanding of what we do. Our stethoscope is not a prop. It is a tool that we use in combination with our intuition, knowledge, and talent.

Yes—our talent. See, nursing is so much more than just a job. It requires a special talent that not everyone has. Nurses must know when to be compassionate when to be composed, when to be assertive, and when to take action. These things and more make nursing a talent that requires more than just 2-4 years of schooling.

Our stethoscopes have heard the first heartbeats of new or unborn babies. They’ve also heard the last heartbeats for millions of people. It’s not always doctors on the other ends of the stethoscopes too. Doctors, just like nurses, play an important role in providing medical care. But assuming that they are the only ones with the knowledge, skill, or talent to do so is just plain ignorant. This sort of discrimination is getting better in our society, but it is still prevalent. We no longer have to wear skirts and hats, yet the hosts on The View still call it a costume. We no longer have to stand when a doctor enters the room, but there are too many that still think it’s ok to degrade or yell at us. TV shows still misinterpret what nurses do as well. The ladies on The View probably still think that all we do is clean up poop.

All we can do is remain united and educate the world on what nurses actually do. Consider this an opportunity to access our talent; remaining composed in the face of ignorance while being assertive in reaching out to educate. This is one scenario where we don’t need a stethoscope to assess a situation. Nurses are knowledgeable, talented individuals with the chance to change lives. Now it’s time to change opinions.

#NursesUnite
#ThisIsMyStethoscope
#ThisIsNotACostume

— The Nursegrid Team

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