A NURSE IS.....

Arizona Nurse,  May 2006  

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Increasing the public's knowledge and interest in the nursing field is something that has become a critical element to the nursing profession. Nursing shortages are everywhere; yet the interest in nursing is great. The fact is that many do not know much about nursing and what information they do have may be incorrect or biased. We decided to approach this problem by starting from the bottom. The target audience was a seventh grade class at Garden Lakes Elementary School in Avondale, Arizona.

These students were an ideal audience for introducing to the nursing profession. When the students reach eighth grade, the local high school does career assessments and the students are introduced to different careers, as well as given ideas about career paths based on their interests. For many children at this age, nursing does not even cross their minds, especially the boys. Nursing stereotypes are very apparent in this age group and breaking these myths might be just enough to encourage them to pursue a career in nursing.

The presentation consisted of a half hour discussion about nursing followed by a question and answer period. The most interesting part of the presentation was that when asked what they thought we did, just about every career imaginable came up with the exception of nursing (we were dressed in street clothes). The biggest stereotype was realized when the students pointed out that Tony was a nurse and a man. It is very apparent that in the minds of children this age, the word nurse has a definite feminine connotation. We provided the students with information about nursing including the story of Florence Nightingale, different areas of the nursing profession, as well as statistics on nursing.

During the question and answer period, it was very clear that we had stirred their interest as the questions began to pour in. Questions ranged from the amount of education required to becoming a nurse to the different areas of practice. The students were curious whether or not we spoke Spanish. Our immediate thoughts were of personal experiences dealing with families whose primary language was Spanish and the frustrations they feel not being able to communicate. Could this have been something members of this class had experienced personally as many of the students and their family members spoke Spanish? The students were given information on the need for multilingual nurses as they were not aware of the asset that being bilingual is. During the question and answer period we believe that the ideas the students had about nursing were changed. Nursing was now a definite career possibility for some children in the class, including the boys.

Educating the public about our wonderful profession of nursing will continue to be a challenge. This project of presenting students with information is a beginning and hopefully it will encourage the students to consider nursing during their eighth grade career assessment.

Copyright Arizona State Nurses Association May 2006
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