Nurse Stereotypes

Nurse Stereotypes

The profession of nursing is stereotyped. Nurses are commonly expected to be female and so male nurses are often stereotyped as effeminate. In forms of low humour such as get-well cards, nurses are commonly portrayed as bimbos and, in medical drama and novels, nurses are commonly portrayed as young, female, single, childless and white. Studies have identified several such popular stereotypes including:

1. Angel, exemplified by the popular accounts of Florence Nightingale – The Lady with the Lamp
2. Battleaxe or harridan, exemplified by Nurse Ratched
3. Bimbo or airhead, exemplified by Nurse Betty
4. Alcoholic, exemplified by Nurse Sarah Gamp
5. Stuff up or mistake maker, exemplified by Nurse Greg Focker
6. Handmaiden – the assistant of a doctor, who would be usually stereotyped as male.
7. Sex symbol or nymphomaniac
8. Torturer, exemplified by Annie Wilkes
9. Woman in White