Media images of physicians and nurses in the United States

Nora J. Krantzler

Social Science & Medicine, 1986, vol. 22, issue 9, 933-952

Abstract: This paper analyzes images of physicians and nurses presented in advertisements in the medical and nursing journals JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) and AJN (American Journal of Nursing). Advertisements are viewed as hyper-ritualized displays of symbols and rituals associated with medical and nursing practice, both reflecting and reaffirming stereotypes and beliefs that are widely held in the society at large. Trends over the past few decades show that medical advertisements are dropping some traditional symbols (such as the white coat and stethoscope) in favor of depicting science-in-action and high technology. Nursing advertisements, however, are more frequently utilizing the symbols formerly reserved for physicians. Both physicians and nurses are depicted in their respective journals of existing largely independent of one another. While these advertisements clearly do not depict social reality, they present a fictionalized version which reflects and reproduces some of the expressed ideals in medical and nursing practice.

Date: 1986
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