The NURSE in CLASSIC NURSE FICTION
The NURSE in CLASSIC NURSE FICTION
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May 7, 2025
How are nurses portrayed in literature? This question interests me because in literary representation, we uncover the many assumptions (prejudices or biases), stereotypes, and expectations about the nurse and the nursing profession.
Who and what is the nurse? What does she do? What does it mean to be a nurse? The identity of the nurse is imagined and reimagined through these fictionalized depictions.
More than the revelations about the nurse through the eyes of the authors, literary portrayals hold some historical value. Through these literary works, it is possible to trace the evolution of the nursing profession by treating the narratives as loose references (valuable sources that may or may not be exact).
While researching nurse fiction, I discovered there's no shortage of this kind of literature (from the classic to the more contemporary ones).
If we want to read some of the early nurse fiction, the following list by Goodreads should be a good start:
www.goodreads.com/list/show/125294.Classic_Nurse_Fiction
Relevant Journal:
Anthony, M., Turner, J.A., Novell, M., (May 31, 2019) "Fiction Versus Reality: Nursing Image as Portrayed by Nursing Career Novels" OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 24, No. 2, Manuscript 4.
NURSING, WRITING, and RESEARCH: Three for the win
NURSING, WRITING, and RESEARCH: Three for the win
May 7, 2025
Nursing, writing, and research are the triumvirate of the scholarly arm of the nursing profession. The airtight interconnection between the three is the answer to nursing advancement.
"The advancement of nursing depends mainly on using rigorous research procedures to generate, analyze, and disseminate knowledge and data." (Arshabayeva, 2024, p.1)
Whatever evidence that comes from research has to be communicated via high-quality academic writing. There is no escaping writing in nursing research. With such indispensability, I find it baffling that no decent writing course is included in the nursing curriculum. During nursing school, academic writing took a backseat and received lukewarm attention from the administrators. The nursing research class did not care to discuss strategies to elevate writing skills. The bottom line is that scholarly writing remains an afterthought because it is not a priority.
The dismissal of writing as a separate course in nursing schools is unfortunate because research does not end in test results or research findings. There is sharing through publication. The good news needs to go out into the world officially through the might and power of the pen.
Excellent writing- clear, accurate, organized, consistent, and grammatically sound- is the publication's prerequisite. The reasons for this are simple.
#1 To avoid confusion or misunderstandings about the findings
#2 To make the study impactful
#3 To avoid denials or rejections from noteworthy journals (those that underwent the peer review process)
Bad writing is that rotten apple that spoils what is good and wonderful about research.
Putting all the troubles and issues aside, nursing, writing, and research are hard to separate. They are symbiotically related-for keeps.
Relevant Journals:
Arshabayeva GA, Qumar AB, Yessirkepov M, Zimba O, Kocyigit BF. Advancing Research, Writing, and Publishing in Nursing: Addressing Challenges and Improving Standards. J Korean Med Sci. 2024 Oct 7;39(38):e297. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2024.39.e297. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11458379/pdf/jkms-39-e297.pdf
Mitchell, K. M. (2018). Constructing writing practices in nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 57(7), 399-407.
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