SURFACING THE IMAGES OF NURSES AS PERCEIVED BY FRESHMEN NURSING STUDENTS THROUGH DOODLING

For decades, the nursing profession has long been troubled with its public image. Most of the stereotypical views of nursing were seeing nurses and regarded them as dependent on doctors, powerless, and underpaid. While there have been many studies on the public image of nurses, little is known has been undertaken to utilize doodling as a way of describing it. This qualitative study aimed to capture the faces of nurses from the lenses of the freshmen nursing students. Based on the given characterizations, various representations of the doodles and drawings were formed. Interestingly, positive perceptions about nurses were identified. These positive perceptions about nurses were portrayed as a “pleasing nurse” who possesses a caring attitude, is competent, and is of good character. This study dwells on the need to maintain these images of the nursing profession. While several studies have been initiated on how doodles could surface realities in different professions, its power to describe the image of nurses remains a research imperative in the realm of the nursing profession. Thus, further investigation utilizing this tool is encouraged and recommended.