Heroism and nursing: A thematic review of the literature

MacDonald, Kathleen; Zylva, Jessica De; McAllister, Margaret; Brien, Donna Lee

doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2018.06.004

Cited by 22 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Clearly, it takes courage for anyone to face a pandemic, but health professionals around the world provide health care every day. While MacDonald, De Zylva, McAllister, and Brien (2018) argued for the inclusion of “heroism training” in undergraduate nursing, we disagree. The requirement of a hero suggests that one must act outside the norm, or protect and defend others, and goes beyond advocacy (an essential nursing role).…”

Section: Undermining Professionalismmentioning

confidence: 70%

Angels and Heroes: The Unintended Consequence of the Hero Narrative

Stokes‐Parish

Elliott

Rolls

et al. 2020

J of Nursing Scholarship

106

101

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COVID-19 has created an unprecedented public health emergency. Nurses are classified as frontline workers and face significant risk for high viral loads, infection, and death (Sim, 2020). Currently, nurses and nursing are highly visible in the media, conducting fever clinics, responding to workforce surges, and caring for critically ill patients, and world leaders acknowledge their contribution in daily reports. This has culminated in a new zeitgeist when the anonymous street artist and political activist, Banksy, portrayed nurses as superheroes (Morris, 2020). Although this acknowledgement and support for nurses is welcome, there is increasing concern about the current constructs of angel and hero used to describe nurses (Stokes-Parish, 2020). This concern was echoed by the British Association of Critical Care Nurses' president, Nicki Credland: We're not angels, we're not heroes, we are human beings that have chosen a career, that are highly educated, that work in a patient safety-critical profession, who simply want to go and do the job that we trained to do and be protected to do it. (British Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2020) In this contemporary discussion article, we propose that the hero and angel constructs undermine the professionalism of the nursing workforce, and reinforces the perception that nursing is an innately feminine, nurturing role. We argue that this discourse continues to undermine the continuing endeavors to consolidate nursing's standing as a profession. Heroes in the COVID-19 Era-The Evolution Nurses' contribution to healthcare outcomes is well documented (Aiken et al., 2011; Guetterman et al., 2019). There are almost 28 million nurses globally, accounting for nearly 60% of the healthcare workforce and delivering approximately 90% of primary healthcare services internationally (World Health Organization, 2020). Nurses are increasingly working in clinical situations where access to essential equipment is limited or denied; they have been exposed to heavy COVID-19 viral loads and have worked long hours, in some instances, and with suboptimal nurse-patient ratios to manage the surge in healthcare demand. Additionally, many have had to simultaneously upskill and develop new ways of working. According to the International Council of Nurses (2020), at least 600 nurses have died as a result of the pandemic. Nurses and nursing have responded to these challenges with maturity, responsiveness, and agility, and perhaps for this reason the constructs angel and hero have been adopted by the media (Frost, 2020; Johnson, 2020; Mosley, 2020; Pownall, 2020). This depiction of nurses as heroes and angels is not new. In their study of the image of the nurse in mass media, Kalish and Kalish (1983) identified that nurses have been portrayed as angels of mercy since the mid-nineteenth century. Although the acknowledgement and support for nursing is welcome, there is increasing concern from political, clinical, and research perspectives about this portrayal. Before examining the consequences of the ange...

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Section: Undermining Professionalismmentioning

confidence: 70%

Angels and Heroes: The Unintended Consequence of the Hero Narrative

Stokes‐Parish

Elliott

Rolls

et al. 2020

J of Nursing Scholarship

106

101

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The behaviour of the students in this sample, supports the view that nurses are sometimes seen as everyday heroes. They often act altruistically and selflessly helping people in need, reporting failures, despite sometimes risking their own health, wellbeing and/or position (MacDonald et al, 2018). The narratives discussed clearly illustrate how even novice nurses are driven by an ethical imperative to speak up when they witness poor care.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Feel the fear and do it anyway” … nursing students’ experiences of confronting poor practice

Jack

Levett‐Jones

Ylonen

et al. 2021

Nurse Education in Practice

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The two aims of this study were, first, to explore nursing students' experiences and perspectives of reporting poor care, and second, examine the process by which they raised concerns. HighlightsThis paper highlights the vital role that students play in highlighting poor nursing care practices.Nursing students are capable of reporting poor nursing care even when it might come at a cost to themselves.Clinical and university education teams must support students' development to be able to challenge poor nursing care practices.

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“…The public want to hear from nurses and we should not be silent. As we have argued elsewhere, heroism is about taking courageous action in the face of danger (Macdonald et al, 2018). Its antithesis is to be passive.…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%