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Adam Gonzales

Professor Swiger

English 1302

29 January 2020

Rhetorical Analysis

In the article “What Does it Mean to be a Nurse?”, the author Diane Barnet, who is a

registered nurse, argues why nursing is a meaningful profession, and why people should become

one. She writes her ideas and educates the public in order to inform the true aspects of nursing,

revealing what the job actually looks like, and not the altered image of the career. In recent years,

the view of nurses has been devalued due to sitcoms and tv shows representing nurses in an

unrealistic way. She wants people to look at the profession as it once was, as a career path that

requires a lot of dedication, hard work, and a strong passion. In the process of uncovering the

greatness of nursing she simultaneously encourages people to consider joining the heath force.

She examines all aspects of nursing, even revealing bad sides to the profession to start her

argument. She then goes on to mention how rewarding nursing is, how they make a difference in

people’s lives, and how it plays an essential role in society. Examining the article, Barnet well

depicts nursing as a meaningful job, and makes a strong pitch for job hunters to consider this

profession by using ethos, pathos, and logos.

Using a logical appeal to the reader, Barnet shows just how important nurses are in the

job force, as well as making the job appealing. She claims, ​“​The stability of our complex

healthcare system depends on a steady supply of well-educated nurses”​ (​Barnet). When the

author recounts this statement, she helps the reader understand the overall system of society and
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how nurses can directly help the reader even if they are not ill at the time. Nurses play a pivotal

role when it comes to the entirety of the healthcare system. Despite them not being the highest

paid, or having the highest education in the system, they are a key part of the puzzle and the

system could not function without them. “​Healthcare costs are skyrocketing” (Barnet) due to the

shortage of nurses, and if this continues ​the cost of healthcare will continue to climb and become

unaffordable for many families. In today’s politics, a universal healthcare plan is discussed often

and regarded as an extremely important topic. By appealing to the reader in a way that they can

relate to, knowing nurses affect them greatly, makes her argument of why nurses are essential

stronger and relevant. This can also push young college students or even adults to pursue this

career in knowing that this career acts as a major role is the basis of our country.

In her argument for why people should consider nursing as a career choice, she

simultaneously uses logos and pathos. ​To start off the article, Barnet begins to inform the reader

hospital’s desperate need for more nurses. This is where she leads into her pitch for the reader to

consider entering this field of work. To demonstrate this need, she claims, “​the average

American hospital falls short of the nursing staff it needs by at least 10 percent. Many facilities

offer signing bonuses, attempt to coax nurses out of retirement, and recruit them from abroad.”

(​Barnet). ​By starting out her argument in somewhat of a negative light by stating a shortage in

the job, implying that this is a difficult field of work, creates a positive effect for the reader. She

makes her future argument seem more realistic by not trying to falsely advertise nursing. As

readers and learning about a topic, it is always crucial to receive and understand both sides about

said topic, whether it be good or bad. The author is being genuine when she does this and it

causes the reader to be more interested in what she has to say. By appealing to the reader's logic,
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she also appeals to the reader's emotional motivation, by listing a financial benefit and creating a

feeling in the reader that it is their duty to compensate for the lack of nurses and become one

themselves.

Expanding on the use of pathos, Barnet explains the role of nurses in the healthcare

system. ​To present this, she states, “[Nurses] are essential not only to patients and their families,

but also to doctors, who rely on [them] for vital information about their patients’ conditions”

(Barnet). D​ianne Barnet discusses why nurses have a significant role in the healthcare system

itself. As nurses, in any setting, whether it be at a nursing home, hospitals, at home, clinics, or

emergency rooms, the nurses spend more time with the patient than the doctor. This leads to the

nurse developing a greater understanding of the patient in terms of a person and not as a patient.

They also get to witness patterns of the patient and learn everything that they are experiencing.

They can then help in coming up with a plan of care to best suit the patient. She also goes on to

claim “[A] patient, on her way home in a wheelchair, detoured to find the nurses who had looked

after her to thank them” (Barnet)​. ​Expressing this story, she reveals how patients view the nurses

as a blessing and are grateful for what the nurses do for them. Giving us this information, it

begins to shift the reader's image of nurses greatly. Since nurses are looked at as a small part of

the healthcare team, it is hard for an uninformed person to understand the key responsibilities of

them. Most people like to give all the credit to doctors, but this illustrates that doctors could not

perform their job as effectively without nurses.

To make all the information she states relevant, Barnet uses ethos in order for the reader

to listen and take note of what she has to say. ​While reading this article, it is important for the

reader to keep in mind that Dianne Barnet is a registered nurse, as it is noted by her name in the
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beginning of the article. Having this title, she possesses firsthand knowledge of this profession,

which increases her credibility for her argument. Having said this, ​she goes on to portray this job

​ ometimes disillusioned nurses burn out and leave the field…

as a difficult one as she asserts, ​“S

Many graduates leave hospitals once reality hits them”​ ​(Barnet). From an outsider's point of

view, witnessing the author making the claim that people leave this profession after working,

continues the appeal of giving both sides to an argument. This strays her article from being a

cliché sales pitch for why nursing is the best job possible and why it's a crucial job in our society

with no downsides. It's similar to the concept of selling medicines. Consumers would not want to

take a certain medication if the company did not provide all the side effects and downsides to

taking it. When learning about a job, the future worker wants to see what they are getting

themselves into. With this in mind, despite these downsides, the way she takes pride and

fulfillment in her profession becomes more impactful. This is seen when she asserts, “​maybe

things don’t always go smoothly, and maybe we aren’t always perfect, but we can enjoy the

satisfaction of knowing that at least we tried, and sometimes fought well against all odds. How

many other professions can make such a claim?” (Barnet). Here Barnet makes it clear that this

profession is quite rewarding and that she is proud to be one.

In this article, Dianne Barnet makes a great argument in discussing why nurses are so

important in our society and makes a great pitch for why people should consider this job by

using ethos, pathos, and logos. By revealing her passion for nursing, she creates a very

convincing paper. This passion can rub off the reader, causing them to take interest in this job.

While making her claims on how nurses affect everyone and how they play a pivotal role in the

healthcare system, she concurrently makes this career appealing. This article was well thought
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out and written and can lead the reader to do future research about this profession and obtain a

greater understanding of what nursing is all about.

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Works Cited

Barnet, Diane. “What Does It Mean to Be a Nurse?” ​Working Nurse​,

www.workingnurse.com/articles/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-nurse.