Challenging contrasts: scientists and nurses

Quality teaching requires insights into learners' perceptions of the subject matter and those professionals who use it. Practitioners can benefit from knowledge of how they are perceived generally in society, which provides insight into their own performance. In a paper related to this one, the authors generated data about science and scientists from 229 short stories about science by Australian secondary students. The findings were similar to other image research about scientists and science. The authors then surveyed literature about the image of nurses and nursing. This revealed strongly contrasting images for science/scientists and nurse/nursing. This paper documents the contrasts and explores the implications for science educators working in Schools of Nursing.