Abstract
Introduction
‘The time when only doctors cured and nurses only cared is over. This superficial separation between the ability to ‘care’ and the skills to ‘cure’ never properly described the core of the two professions. This was one of the statements made by Suzanne Gordon (journalist, author, patient advocate) during the annual meeting of the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses in Minneapolis this year. During her motivational lecture entitled: “When Chicken Soup Isn't Enough: Standing Up for Heart Failure Nurses” she critically reflected over the images and words that are used to describe nursing. While the lay public or media describe good doctors as ‘they know their stuff’, a good nurse is described as ‘nice’. Nice in that sense is not equal to respect, recognition, rewards and resources, but nice is seen as a virtue. By categorising nurses as nice the focus moved away from knowledge, professional skills and clinical expertise to a more angel like personality.
We nurses ourselves, are not always the best advertisers and advocates of the importance and value of nursing, instead sometimes describing ourselves as ‘just being nurses’. In pictures (and also in a lot of flyers or conference posters) nurses are depicted as white angels, surrounded by golden hearts and always smiling. These images and the language we use often contradict the seriousness of what we do and trivialises the work we perform. Nurses are not always good at showing pride in their work and its outcomes.
Swedish nurses who trained for a different position for example in research, management or administration sometimes would say ‘on the bottom I am a nurse (i botten är jag sjuksköterska) instead of putting the nursing profession up front. In the Netherlands these nurses often say something like ‘from my upbringing I also was a nurse (Van huis uit ben ik verpleegkundige), reflecting the feeling that being a nurse is something that came to them, without any form of education of training. Through history, the core of nursing and achievements of leading nurses have been misinterpreted. One of the role models in nursing, Florence Nightingale, is a good example of a person whose deeds have been deeply misunderstood and diminished. “She was really no Florence Nightingale” with regard to not being a nice, self-sacrificing angel. She was a nurse that saved thousands of soldiers’ lives during the Crimean war and had a large impact on health politics through her interest in hygiene, statistics, economics and administration and she fought for good salaries for nurses too [1].
Within cardiovascular nursing we know that the contribution of nurses is more than being nice. As Suzanne Gordon stated: Nurses save lives, prevent pain and suffering and save money. From listening to nurses presenting at the ESC conferences and from reading their publications in the previous issues of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, we know that nurses have a major role in optimising life saving treatment [2], reducing cardiovascular risk [3] and improving survival [4,5].
On top of that nurses have an important role in decreasing anxiety, providing support and improving quality of life [6].
This is so much more than just being nice.