Nursing Image and Professionalism:
Are These Related?
In Thinking Critically Box 3.1, you will first read the results of a study
completed by a senior honors student of nursing, Lindy Beyer, who has now
graduated and is an RN. Ms. Beyer did a systematic review and analysis of
nurse-authored blogs, where she found a forum where nurses describe what
it means to be a nurse. Once you have read these results, consider these
questions:
1. What positive effect does blogging in the public domain have on the
profession of nursing?
2. What are possible negative effects that these accounts could have on
the profession?
3. Find an example of two nursing blogs, one that promotes a positive
view of the nursing profession and another that promotes a negative
view of nursing. What are the characteristics of each of these
examples?
4. What are your responsibilities as a member of the profession of
nursing in responding to the posts on these blogs?
5. What is the relationship of the image of nursing and the
professionalization of nursing?
