May 2, 2019

Stacking the Deck: A Reflection on How We Might Teach Students to Use Media Attention towards Nursing

An important part of professional nursing is educating the public about our role and our value to the health of the nation. I have been reflecting on the comments made by Washington state senator Maureen Walsh, but also on the responses to her comments and ways in which we might use this as a teachable moment for pre-licensure students. I would guess that most people know by now that Ms. Walsh commented that nurses in critical access hospitals have few patients and don’t need mandated breaks because they “probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day”. Nurses and the general public responded with indignation, ridicule, and anger. Responses served to address the public image of nurses and to humble Ms. Walsh, but I find myself wondering how we can take the greatest advantage of this teachable moment. I would want to engage my students on distinguishing and reflecting on two distinct issues in Ms. Walsh’s statement: what nurses really do (which received copious attention) and whether or not the distinct needs of critical access areas necessitate different treatment of nurses (which has received relatively little attention).

 

Regarding the former, nurses have long fought to raise public awareness of the high level of knowledge and skill needed in our profession, as well as the demanding nature of the job. Hot-takes and memes circulating in response to Ms. Walsh‘s comments rightly oppose the view she stated but do little to promote understanding of the full scope of nursing practice. As I work with pre-licensure nurses, I would want these students to reflect on how to use the kind of widespread but shallow responses we see in social media as a segue to more in-depth conversation and education of the public about the true value of nurses and promotion of the nations’ health.

The foolishness of Ms. Walsh‘s comments about nurses eclipsed a valid concern about the pressing needs of critical access areas, which is the other topic I would invite students to engage. She is correct that sometimes the needs of more urban/suburban areas does not reflect the needs of rural and medically underserved areas. However, she is mistaken to propose that meeting these areas’ needs necessitates restricting protections for nursing staff. To her credit, Ms. Walsh has been open to educating herself by shadowing a nurse (though her apology was somewhat defensive). I would also like to see her have a greater understanding of the profession from a broader perspective. It would be my hope that she dialogs with leaders in the field to understand the impact of nursing fatigue on patient safety and the importance of working at the top of our scope of practice. From an education perspective, I would be to help students also to pause and examine such issues and greater death and consider how as professionals they might elevate popular dialogue for the benefit of the nursing profession and also the benefit of patient care and population health.

One exercise that I might do with the class would be to have small groups compose a letter to Ms. Walsh. What are other exercises you might do with your students to teach students how to engage the professional role of patient advocacy by engaging topics that arise in media and social media?

Photo source: https://twitter.com/BrianSpyros/status/1119779699574624256