Stereotyping: Identifying the Meaning, the Risks, and the Solutions

Nurse educators must relate to each person as an individual. It’s imperative to acknowledge the prejudices, biases, and stereotypical tendencies

that come into play when dealing with other like or unlike us. We must consciously attempt to recognize these possible attitudes and the effect the

may have on others in our care.

Stereotyping-is defined by Purnell and Paulanka (2003) as “an oversimplified conception, opinion or belief about some aspects of an individual or group” (p.357).

Actually, stereotyping can be positive or negative depending on how, where, when, why and about whom it’s applied (Satel, 2002)

Stereotyping can be useful and legitimate process to organize or classify people if based on logical reasoning and accumulated facts.

Example: “he’s Jewish,” “she’s Italian,”

Stereotyping can be negative if it is used to place people in a mold or an artificial, unfair position based on oversimplification without true substantiation by facts

Unfortunately, classification by association is often perfunctory bad therefore, laden with bias. Stereotyping in the sense is used to label someone.

Example: Americans think of themselves as freedom fighters and liberty lovers of the world; in the same breath they may describe members of other groups or nationalities as violators of human rights or terrorists.

Attitude towards sex-role competencies are considered a type of stereotyping. Gender biases have produced inequality in education, employment and other social spheres.

What should nurses do? Nurses must concentrate on treating sexes equally when providing access to

health education, delivering health and illness care, and designing health education materials that contain bias-free language.

Nurses should avoid gender-specific terms and choose words that minimize ambiguity in gender identity, unless critical to the content.

Nurses should avoid using the pronoun “he” or “she” instead use the plural pronoun “they”.

If at all possible, nurses should avoid beginning or ending words with man or men such as, “man-made”, “mankind” or “chairmen”

Don’t specify marital status unless necessary by using “Ms.” instead of “Mrs.” Thorough and accurate assessment should be enforced to determine the

particular abilities, preferences, and needs of each individual. The nurse educator should choose words that are accurate, clear, and free from

bias whenever speaking or writing about various individuals or groups Nurses should refer to someone’s ethnicity, race, religion, age and socioeconomic

status only when it is essential to the content being addressed.

To avoid stereotyping, nurses should ask the following questions to themselves:

Do I use neutral language when teaching clients and families? Do I confront bias when evidenced by other healthcare professionals? Do I request information equally from clients regardless of gender,

socioeconomic status, age and culture? Are my instructional material free of stereotypical terminologies and

expression? Am I an effective role model of equality for my colleagues? Do I treat all clients with fairness, respect and dignity? Does someone’s appearance influence (raise or lower) my expectations of

that person’s abilities or affect the equality of care I deliver? Do I routinely assess the educational backgrounds, experiential background,

personal attributes, and economic resources of clients to ensure appropriate health teachings?

Am I knowledgeable enough of the cultural traditions of various groups to provide sensitive care in our multicultural, pluralistic society?