For millions of people worldwide, nurses are the difference between life and death, self-sufficiency and dependency, hope and despair. But a lack of understanding of what nurses really do -- one perpetuated by popular media's portrayal of nurses as simplistic archetypes -- has devalued the profession and contributed to a global shortage that constitutes a public health crisis. Today, the thin ranks of the nursing workforce contribute to countless preventable deaths. This fully updated and expanded edition of Saving Lives highlights the essential roles nurses play in contemporary health care and how this role is marginalized by contemporary culture. Through engaging prose and examples drawn from television, advertising, and news coverage, the authors detail the media's role in reinforcing stereotypes that fuel the nursing shortage and devalue a highly educated sector of the contemporary workforce. Perhaps most important, the authors provide a wealth of ideas to help reinvigorate the nursing field and correct this imbalance. As American health care undergoes its greatest overhaul in decades, the practical role of nurses -- that as autonomous, highly skilled practitioners -- has never been more important. Accordingly, Saving Lives addresses both the sources of, and prescription for, misperceptions surrounding contemporary nursing.

About the Author
Sandy Summers is the founder and executive director of The Truth About Nursing. She practiced nursing for many years in the emergency departments and intensive care units of major U.S. trauma centers. Ms. Summers has master's degrees in nursing and public health from Johns Hopkins University. A native of Connecticut, she lives with her family in Baltimore. Harry Summers is the senior advisor of The Truth About Nursing. A lawyer who practices in Washington, DC, his background includes international development work in Cambodia and a Fulbright scholarship in New Zealand. Mr. Summers has degrees from Columbia and Georgetown. A native of Pennsylvania, he lives with his family in Baltimore.

Reviews
Extensively referenced the book is a thought-provoking dissection of the depiction of nurses and nursing in the entertainment industry and media... Extensively filled with examples from television and the print media it leaves one exasperated and exhausted by the negative stereotypes that depict nurses and the nursing profession, where physicians dominate and where the description of nursing as an autonomous profession is considered a misnomer... The detailed explanations of what nurses can, and must do themselves to more realistically inform their own image will ensure that the book assumes a unique place in the chronology of the evolution of nursing practice in 21st century. * Glycosmedia *
The authors of this book document evidence of the relative absence of the profession of nursing in popular media and make a strong case that in those few instances that nurses are portrayed, they are presented erroneously or in an extremely poor light. * Doody's Notes *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199337064
Author Sandy Summers
Format Paperback
Page Count 456
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 590g
Dimensions(mm) 150mm * 231mm * 33mm