Theme One: Students who most frequently encounter romanticized images of nursing often prove naïve about its real professional character.

Across questionnaire responses, one population of students appeared to believe nursing to be an always-glamorous, ever-exciting profession. These students' perspectives were linked directly to romanticized images of nursing, which they had encountered in various genres of popular culture. Responding to television programming, one student wrote, "A lot of shows (Simpsons) portray nurses as playboy bunnies," while another added, " . . . men and women are always good looking and intelligent, etc." These comments reflect an awareness of the romanticism, of course, but the students' perspectives across their questionnaires show that indeed their perception of nursing is aligned with the unrealistic images. A student thinking about movie portrayals showed naivete in assessing Patch Adams' reality: " . . . I was impressed that it was a true story. I think it is great that there are nurses and health care professionals who would help people for no pay. Proves that they really want to be doing their job." Perhaps the most insightful student response explored the way children's fiction may shape perceptions of nursing: "Children's books tend to portray nurses as sweet, motherly, and chubby. I believe it's to help children trust doctors and nurses." Students who use the Internet regularly raised doubts about its usefulness for health care and in so doing articulated a romanticized image of nurses as professionals, that in-person care assures no mistakes. One wrote, "It [the Internet] is no match for person-to-person diagnosis by doctors and nurses. I doubt its accuracy and benefits."