It all started at the Miss America pageant. Miss Colorado, Kelley Johnson, is a nurse. She showcased her talent dressed in scrubs, telling a story about an Alzheimer’s patient for whom she was caring. The next day on The View, one of the hosts, Michelle Collins, stated she thought she was “basically reading her emails out loud.” Joy Behar added “Why does she have the doctor’s stethoscope around her neck?” Outrage by the nurses of the world ensued.
Nurses from everywhere went crazy over the reference to the “doctor’s stethoscope” comment. It is apparent that Ms. Behar has limited knowledge about what a nurse does. Okay. The great thing that occurred is the passionate outpouring by nurses regarding the significance of our job. Facebook is now inundated with posts from “Show Me Your Stethoscope,” a Facebook group started by Janie Harvey Garner, a nurse from Missouri. This group, with 800,000 members now, posts nurses’ personal experiences with patients, ethical dilemmas, professional practice questions, jokes, and other stories from nurses. Today there is a post about the new research on uterus transplants. There are now “Show me your Stethoscope” T-shirts, earrings, and necklaces! Johnson & Johnson pulled their advertisements from “The View”. There is a hashtag: “#NursesUnite”!
What does this all mean? Nurses have a lot of power. What a ruckus. I’m glad to hear all of the noise.