"Saving Lives has a serious point, that the devaluation of
nursing-both by overlooking nurses' contributions to positive
outcomes for patients, and more subtly by emphasizing their
devotion, compassion and self-sacrifice over their lifesaving
skills-discourages students from the field and contributes to a
critical nursing shortage." -Newsweek
"Saving Lives is an important book because it so
clearly delineates how ubiquitous negative portrayals of nursing
are in today's media, particularly three common stereotypes of
nurses - the "Naughty Nurse," the "Angel" and the "Battle Axe."
-New York Times.com
"Every nurse should recognise the damage that negative
portrayals of nursing in the press, films, television and even
books can do to our image. ... This well-researched text explores
the negative effects of adverse publicity and how it inhibits our
professional growth. ... The book deserves wide reading.
Hopefully some firebrand may even be driven to duplicate this
study in the UK." -Dame Betty Kershaw, Nursing
Standard (UK)
"Saving Lives provides a stunning exposé of the media's
inaccurate portrayals of nurses and their work, and documents the
impact this has on public health. It should be mandatory reading
for journalists, script writers, producers, physicians,
policymakers, the public, and anyone who perpetuates nursing
invisibility and the often blasphemous representations of nurses'
everyday heroism. There's no longer any excuse for media creators
to fail to speak truth about the exquisite skill and essential
contributions of nurses to safe, humanistic, intelligent health
care." -Diana J. Mason, RN, PhD, FAAN, Editor-in-Chief,
American Journal of Nursing, and co-host, HealthStyles,
WBAI Radio
"This wonderful book hits the reader in the heart and the mind.
As a clinician it hit me hard, with a 'yes, I've been there'
feeling. It still hurts. As an educator it struck me in a different
way. Will my brilliant nursing students have to endure the same
stereotypical images over and over again? But the book is not only
evocative and educational; with a strong sense of hope, it points
the way forward." -Claire M. Fagin, PhD, RN, FAAN,
Professor Emerita, Dean Emerita, and Interim President Emerita, the
University of Pennsylvania
"Saving Lives is a fascinating in-depth look at how
Hollywood and other media undermine nursing by feeding the public
damning myths and derogatory views of nurses decade after decade.
The book instills an awareness that will forever change the way the
reader views nurses in the media. Reader take warning: you may be
left with a strong desire to do something to change the system.
Luckily, the authors tell you how." -Echo Heron, RN, author
of Intensive Care: The Story of a Nurse; Tending Lives: Nurses
on the Medical Front, and the Adele Monsarrat medical mystery
series
"Why is watching Grey's Anatomy bad for you? Why is House a
public health problem? Read this book and find out. Sandy and Harry
Summers provide an insightful and often witty guide to the media's
'nursing problem.' They help us understand the consequences of the
media's love affair with physicians and its failure to appreciate
the critical work of nurses. This book is an important contribution
to the study of nursing and health care." -Suzanne Gordon,
author of Nursing Against the Odds: How Health Care Cost
Cutting, Media Stereotypes, and Medical Hubris Undermine Nurses and
Patient Care, co-author of Silence to Voice: What Nurses
Know and Must Communicate to the Public
"In this irreverent tour of the popular health media, Sandy and
Harry Summers lift the cloak of invisibility from the health care
professionals who are the front line of healing." -Andrew
Holtz, MPH, former CNN Medical Correspondent and author of The
Medical Science of House, M.D.
"Nurses are health scientists who save our lives every day, in
countless ways. But most people, unless they've been hospitalized
for an extended period, don't know that fact-thanks to media
portrayals of nurses as nothing more than bedpan jockeys, backrub
dispensers, and passive handmaidens of brilliant physicians, in
whose shadows nurses wilt. This important, long-overdue book
vividly illustrates the dynamism and rigor of the nursing
profession-and explains in sobering detail how flawed media images
of nursing affect the health of us all." -Ronnie
Polaneczky, Columnist, Philadelphia Daily
News
"I did not just 'read' Saving Lives; I could not put it
down. With compelling prose and examples, the book reveals how the
media has failed at portraying the profession of nursing. If you
are a nurse you should be infuriated. If you are in the media you
should be ashamed. Fortunately, the authors have included a 'tool
box' that provides many ways to seek change." -Richard
Kahn, Independent Filmmaker and Producer, Lifeline: The Nursing
Diaries; In Our Midst: The Long-Term Impact of Neonatal Intensive
Care; and Frontline: Street Cop
"Saving Lives is a powerful indictment of how the
media portrays nursing today. With astute yet playful analyses of
products ranging from Hollywood sitcoms to elite news pieces, this
book shows why the media has contributed to poor understanding,
which has in turn fueled the global nursing shortage. But the
authors also offer a compelling vision for the future, showing how
everyone can help nurses lead the way to a new world of health and
well-being. The change starts here." -Nancy King Reame, RN,
PhD, FAAN, Professor of Nursing, Columbia University, former
contributor, iVillage, and co-author, Our Bodies,
Ourselves