Angel in blue or registered mental health nurse? The impact of the angel and hero narrative on student mental health nurses

Judge, Lucy and Fisher, Jane orcid iconORCID: 0000-0002-8422-1315 (2024) Angel in blue or registered mental health nurse? The impact of the angel and hero narrative on student mental health nurses. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 13 (1). pp. 1-4. ISSN 2049-5919

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.12968/bjmh.2023.0031

Abstract

This is a critical reflection and discourse around the significance of Covid-19 and the media portrayal of nursing on student nurses and prospective students. During the pandemic nurses were referred to as ‘angels’ and ‘heroes.’ This impacted public perceptions of nursing and nursing students’ perceptions of what it is to be a nurse. Nursing students were inspired and motivated by heroic and angelic concepts which do not adequately represent modern nursing. This paper depicts an honest, brave, and insightful learning journey of one student mental health nurse. It serves as a reminder to both nurses, students, and the public, that nurses are not merely angels or heroes. We are accountable educated professionals.


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