- October 1,2022 | ISSN 1940-6967
- American Society of Registered Nurses ®
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Stop Treating Nurses Like Selfless Mothers
By Mackenzie Bean
Advocating for better working conditions is an especially challenging task for nurses, as they are battling a long history of sexism and false notions about the profession, Stephen Mihm, PhD, wrote in a recent op-ed.
"A century's worth of sentimental blather about nursing as selfless women's work has left Americans ill-equipped to grasp the severity of the current crisis," said Dr. Mihm, a professor of history at the University of Georgia in Athens.
The modern nursing profession ties back to the Civil War, when women volunteered to care for wounded soldiers, he said. In the decades after, formal nurse training schools gained prominence, and few — if any — admitted men. Typically, female nursing students spent two to three years training on the job in hospitals and lived in dormitories that were run like convents. After graduation, few went into hospital nursing, as most of the work was done by students — who were unpaid, according to Dr. Mihm.
"This arrangement helped cement a public perception that nursing was less a conventional job and career than a selfless endeavor akin to motherhood," he wrote.
Now, amid prevalent staffing shortages, nurses strikes are gaining traction nationwide. Nurses are not just fighting for better working conditions and pay, but also public support, according to Dr. Mihm.
"The history can help us understand why, unlike workers at Amazon.com or Starbucks Corp., nurses must confront decades of sexist attitudes that have condemned them for being anything other than tireless, self-sacrificing caregivers," he said.
COMMENTS
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Lena Selbrand
November 9, 2022 12:27 58I agree with previous comment! Brilliant! Being licensed and registered in 4 countries, I am baffled how nurses in the US are treated. No unions to protect you, 12 hr shifts in hospitals, without breaks (I was starving for 3 months!), plenty of unpaid work in home care... even had a supervisor telling me that "If you have chosen this job for the money, you have chosen the wrong career!" Was told this when I said that being paid per visit, does not in any way reflect the time I spend with the patient, the documentation and-travelling time (I had calculated that I was down to $4/hr for a visit!!). Still people wonder why nurses leave the profession!! Time to rethink the system!
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virginia adair
October 13, 2022 16:43 35Brilliant headline and could not be more accurate. After decades of nursing and with two advanced degrees, I believe the profession is still not considered a profession by the average person and frankly much of the health care establishment. Poll after poll shows nurses are "trusted", but our treatment does not show that we are respected. It's changing but much too slowly as evidenced by poor retention, which I might add has been characteristic since the day I started nursing.
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virginia adair
October 13, 2022 16:42 50Brilliant headline and could not be more accurate. After decades of nursing and with two advanced degrees, I believe the profession is still not considered a profession by the average person and frankly much of the health care establishment. Poll after poll shows nurses are "trusted", but our treatment does not show that we are respected. It's changing but much too slowly as evidenced by poor retention, which I might add has been characteristic since the day I started nursing.
Articles in this issue:
- Stop Treating Nurses Like Selfless Mothers
- Fauci: New Emerging Variant Could Drive Another Winter Surge
- All I Ever Wanted To Be Was A Nurse
- I Was Allergic to Cats. Until Suddenly, I Wasn’t.
- The Catch-22 Of The Nursing Shortage
- CDC: Record Numbers Of Children Hospitalized With Colds
- New Study Says Antidepressant Use Is Safe During Pregnancy
- Study: Crohn's Disease Risk May Be Linked To Norovirus Infection
Featured Sponsors
In This Issue
- Stop Treating Nurses Like Selfless Mothers
- Fauci: New Emerging Variant Could Drive Another Winter Surge
- All I Ever Wanted To Be Was A Nurse
- I Was Allergic to Cats. Until Suddenly, I Wasn’t.
- The Catch-22 Of The Nursing Shortage
- CDC: Record Numbers Of Children Hospitalized With Colds
- New Study Says Antidepressant Use Is Safe During Pregnancy
- Study: Crohn's Disease Risk May Be Linked To Norovirus Infection
Archives
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Editor-in Chief:
Kirsten Nicole
Editorial Staff:
Kirsten Nicole
Stan Kenyon
Robyn Bowman
Kimberly McNabb
Lisa Gordon
Stephanie Robinson
Contributors:
Kirsten Nicole
Stan Kenyon
Liz Di Bernardo
Cris Lobato
Elisa Howard
Susan Cramer
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Lena Selbrand
November 9, 2022 12:28 38I agree with previous comment! Brilliant! Being licensed and registered in 4 countries, I am baffled how nurses in the US are treated. No unions to protect you, 12 hr shifts in hospitals, without breaks (I was starving for 3 months!), plenty of unpaid work in home care... even had a supervisor telling me that "If you have chosen this job for the money, you have chosen the wrong career!" Was told this when I said that being paid per visit, does not in any way reflect the time I spend with the patient, the documentation and-travelling time (I had calculated that I was down to $4/hr for a visit!!). Still people wonder why nurses leave the profession!! Time to rethink the system!