There are over 250,000 nurses in Canada, the majority are women (94.7% according to CNA). Although more men are entering the profession, the majority (44.6%)of male nurses in Canada work in Quebec (according to CNA).  Only 6.4% of all male nurses work in British Columbia.
        Nurses have a voice in a number of areas within the health care system and the health care team. Nurses can be leaders in changing the image of the nurse, improving the quality of health care, and empowering the efforts of nursing.

Image

        The nursing cap and white uniform at one time set the nurse apart from other individuals working in health care.  Civilization.ca discusses the image of the nurse over the last century.  At one time every patient and visitor knew who was a nurse or a nursing student.  Most were able to tell what School of Nursing the nurse had graduated from based on her pin.  In the mid-1970s this started to change.  Nurses stopped wearing their caps and school pins.  Uniforms changed to brighter colors and pant outfits.  To-day it is more difficult to determine who is a nurse, who is respiratory therapist or even a porter.

        Society's image of a nurse is largely influenced by the media. The media, in the past and to some extent to-day,  has portrayed the nurse as either a sex symbol or a stern, no-nonsense individual.  Neither of these extremes typifies the nurse to-day. Television shows like ER and Chicago Hope have attempted to show a more realistic image of the nurse.  Nurses work in a variety of settings including acute care hospitals, community clinics, research and education.  They are members of a caring profession that helps people stay healthy or helps them get well.

        Dr. Bea Kalisch has written a number of articles and books on the image of nurses in the media. 

        NurseWeek, an on-line nursing resource, printed a number of articles about the image of the nurse.  The article A Sharper Image outlines how the nursing can improve its image in the media.  The focus of Image Overhaul was on the representation of the image of the nurse by the media. 

         The early roots of nursing, the role of women in society and the image of the nurse in the past has had a dramatic impact on the voice that nursing has in the health team. This has been changing, in part due to the feminist movement and in part due to excellent nurse leaders.  A recent book by Bernice Buresh and Suzanne Gordon From Silence To Voice empowers nurses to tell the world what nursing does.  An excerpt from this book is available in the June (2000) issue of Canadian Nurse.
 

        In Canada the provincial professional associations and unions provide a voice for nursing.  Similarly the Canadian Nurses Association and the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions provides a national voice.

Empowering the Nurse

         Power  is many things to many people. Some may define power as the ability to influence others to do what they don't want to. Whereas, others may define power as the ability to refuse to do what others want you to do. However power is defined, “The real power base in nursing begins and is actualized through the strength and performance of each nurse” (Heineken, 1985, p. 40).

        However, many nurses lack experience in dealing with power dynamics and mobilizing power resources. “Because women have historically lacked social and professional power and because nursing has been a predominantly female profession, nurses have often used indirect power sources to accomplish their aims” (Grant, 1994, p. 383). Often, nurses are reluctant to become involved in decision making, believing that “if others decide what is best and if the nurse’s responsibility is to follow orders, then nurses have no responsibility for judging initial decisions or ultimate outcomes” (Grant, 1994, p. 383). Furthermore, these nurses may consider a dependent position more comfortable because it lacks personal risk.

        Nurses have a high potential for successful use of power when they act together. Once nurses can recognize their own expertise and that of their peers, can they actually increase the power of all nurses. By sharing information, ideas, and skills, nurses are able to improve their nursing practice. “Increasing the total amount of power in a situation by pooling individual power recognizes that the whole is greater that the sum of its parts” (Boyle, 1984, p. 165). Not only does power sharing enhance respect for others and self, it can lead to empowerment.  “Empowerment requires a commitment to connection between self and others, enabling individuals or groups to recognize their own strengths, resources, and abilities to make change in their personal and professional lives. It is a process of confirming one’s self and/or one’s group” (Mason, Backer & Georges, 1991, p. 73).