- 14 April 2020
- 5 min read
I’m a nurse, not a soldier going to war so please stop with the metaphors
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Mental Health Nurse, Chloe, examines the narrative surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic from a nursing perspective, and asks how much of it actually translates into reality.
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Introduction
You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who would disagree when I say that we’re living in a pretty weird time at the moment, or to use the favourite word of many politicians “unprecedented.”
What I’m finding weirder though, is the choice of language many people, politicians and newspapers are using.
There seems to be a consistent war theme emerging in the words and analogies I’ve been seeing.
Medical staff are being described as “on the front line,” a phrase usually reserved for soldiers going to war.
There is a consistent message of “your country needs you” in bulletins aimed at encouraging people to adhere to the lockdown and maintain social distancing, a message reminiscent of the propaganda of World Wars 1 and 2.
This isn’t just something that we’ve seen in the U.K press either; Donald Trump has been referring to himself as a ‘wartime president’ despite dodging the Vietnam draft in the 1960’s, and Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly declared to the French people that they are at war.
About this contributor
Registered Mental Health Nurse
I qualified as a Mental Health Nurse (RMN) in August of 2018 and started as a newly qualified nurse shortly after. On top of nursing I juggle creating content for both my YouTube channel and blog.
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