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Here at medmagazine.com, we spend a LOT of time looking for images to go with our articles, which means we spend a LOT of time looking at pictures of nurses.
Sometimes, though, we hit a wall. We just can’t look at another trite picture, and it got to the point where we just had to laugh at the whole situation. You probably see your share of stereotypical nurse pictures, too. Right? So let’s have a chuckle about it together!
Oh, we readily admit that we’ve used all of the below portrayals once or twice. So we link to articles where we have been the offenders.
10. The group of nurses perfectly posed (clustered in the hallway, standing about the nurse’s station), facing the camera. Smiling.
Who has time to stand in the hallway posing with your team?
9. The nurse standing there, holding the steth chestpiece up at eye level like she’s going to plant it on your face. Even worse, the nurse holding the stethoscope up to a patient’s mouth.
Have you ever approached a patient like that? Excuse me, I’m going to listen to your eyeball.
8. The doctor talking authoritatively to or standing in front of a group of fawning nurses.
Switch the imagery around and maybe we’ll talk. But we have yet to find an image of a doctor looking fascinated by whatever the nurse has to say.
7. The stethoscope on an open medical book.
We need that shot panned out to show the sleeping nursing student (can we add a little drool for effect?) who is using his steth as a bookmark while he catches a little shuteye.
6. The use of media nurses to portray real nurses.
Please, not another picture of Nurse Jackie in articles referencing nurses. And Nurse Ratched? Come ON.
5. Nurses who look like they ate their last meal in 1983.
Enough with the Olive Oil nurses! We need to see some healthy looking people who reflect what we really look like. And on the other end of the spectrum you get images of obese nurses. So it’s either one extreme or the other.
4. Nurses wagging their fingers.
Really? Have you ever wagged your finger at a patient or coworker? After that, were you wearing a splint?
3. Nursing looking all retro in their caps and dresses.
We guess that’s fine for an article about old-timey nurses, but when we see a modern photo with a retro looking nurse, we can’t help but think, “Halloween costume!”
2. Speaking of which: Sexy nurses.
‘Nuff said.
1. Closeup. Nurse. Mask. She looks serious.
This is the catch-all image, really. And we admit it’s kind of a copout. You want to illustrate an article about nursing? You don’t want to be too flippant? Find a closeup of a nurse in a surgical mask. Done.
See a slideshow of the worst photos we’ve encountered, then tell us, what did we miss? What pictures of nurses do you encounter again and again that you’d rather never see again?
