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People are regularly enraged by the New York Times crossword. Seemingly unsolvable cryptic clues often infuriate but for Registered Nurse Theresa Brown, the crossword struck a more sensitive nerve. The clue: White Cap Wearer. The answer: Nurse. Theresa was appalled by this outdated and stereotypical reference to nurses. As reported in the New York Times, a new book entitled: “Saving Lives: Why the Media’s Portrayal of Nurses Puts Us All at Risk,” by co-authors Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers, explores the dated ideologies surrounding the nursing industry that they claim: “still persist in the media, ranging from popular television shows to the crossword puzzle.”

The book references another 2007 New York Times crossword with the clue: “I.C.U. Helpers,” and the answer: “Registered Nurse.” The article explains how the authors of the book express their disgust at the term “helpers,” it says; “that one word encapsulates their critique of how nurses are typically portrayed on entertainment television, in movies and in most journalism.”

The book explains how nurses encompass an entirely autonomous sector of the medical profession. They answer to other nurses, follow a specific set of practices applicable solely for nurses and maintain a formal and separate management structure. The book acknowledges that healthcare works best when doctors and nurses cooperate and work together, but reiterates that the nurses’ duties are separate from doctors.

The Summers’ book addresses how the media fails to recognize the importance of the nurse’s role. They state how nurses are constantly reminded in nursing school, and while training, that their primary concern is caring for a patient but this is overlooked by the media. They are also instrumental in maintaining a sense of order in the chaos of hospitals. The Times article points out how important the book is 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.” They argue that these images of nursing degrade the profession by portraying nurses as either vixens, saints or harridans, not college-educated health care workers with life and death responsibilities.”

Medical dramas are criticized in the book for perpetuating the stereotypes. “Grey’s Anotomy,” “E.R.” and “Scrubs” often inaccurately portray the responsibilities of doctors and nurses. They show doctors doing nurse’s jobs: consulting with patients, giving I.V.s etc. The book claims that the problem with undermining the importance of nurses will have ramifications in the real world. The world is already short on nurses and these portrayals, that devalue the work of nurses, hinder this problem.

For Theresa Brown, R.N. The New York Times crossword touched upon an important topic that affects nurses and the future of nurses. She rejects the archaic imagery of white capped nurses claiming: “Nurses don’t need headgear to show the world what we do. It’s what’s inside of our heads that counts.”