Nurse stereotypes

Background
A stereotype is a generalized belief applied to a group with a common characteristic and it often involves simplification or distortion. The common characteristic in this instance is the profession of nursing. Stereotypes of nurses have often devolved into caricature and sometimes more than one stereotype is applied simultaneously.

Nurse stereotypes have the ability to affect the way people relate to nurses in a harmful manner and may even discourage people from entering or practicing the profession.

It is important to note that some people hold these stereotypes to be valid to one degree or another and that they do not exist only in the mass media.

Angel
The image of a nurse as an "angel of mercy"&mdash;selfless, altruistic reliever of suffering&mdash;is based on the origin of nursing in the religious orders. In modern times, Florence Nightingale was the epitome of the nurse as an angel.

However, angels can fall from grace. Nurses such as Beverley Allitt or Kristen Gilbert, who have deliberately killed patients under their care, have frequently been referred to as "angels of death".

Battleaxe
The "battleaxe" is a malevolent authority figure exemplified by the fictional villains Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Annie Wilkes in the novel and film Misery.

Handmaiden
The "handmaiden" stereotype is that of a person with little intelligence, knowledge, judgment, or autonomy, a person who exists only to assist the physician. The idea of the purpose of nursing being service to the medical profession instead of service to the patient was promoted by physicians in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is sometimes unconsciously promoted by nurses even today&mdash;in the Nightingale Pledge, for instance.

Homosexual male
Men in nursing are often stereotyped as effeminate homosexuals because of the concept (in recent history) of nursing as "women's work". The character Jack McFarland on the television situation comedy Will & Grace was a nursing student for several episodes. It was parodied in several episodes of Scrubs by having an effeminate, but clearly heterosexual, male nurse named Paul Flaurs ("flowers"). It was also the basis for humor in the film Meet the Parents.

Matron
The "Matron" stereotype plays on the old concept of the matron as the prim, proper, no-nonsense, efficient and sometimes feared overseer of all nursing activities in a hospital. Respected by doctors, nurses and patients alike. "Ooh, matron!" is a popular catchphrase from the Carry On film series, several of which featured a matron, though this stereotype had an undercurrent of sexuality.

Nymphomaniac
The "nymphomaniac" or "naughty nurse" stereotype has origins in sexual fantasies. Nurses frequently have visual and physical contact with the entire body of their patients, including the sexual organs, in the course of providing routine nursing care. "Hello-o-o, Nurse!" was a phrase used in vaudeville when a "nurse" dressed in a sexually-suggestive manner appeared on stage. This particular stereotype is perhaps the one most frequently used in caricature.

The old-fashioned nursing uniform&mdash;white dress, stockings, and cap&mdash;is often used as part of this stereotype.