The Wal-Mart ad slogan, "It doesn't take a brain surgeon to recognize a good deal on scrubs," implies that even someone of limited intelligence can recognize a bargain. Because the person in the ad is, I presume, a nurse, I have to ask: what was your advertising staff thinking when they accepted this ad?

The mythologic hierarchy that places physicians at the top and nurses at the bottom is pervasive in the media, which influence young people as they choose careers. This ad sends a message that's not much different: nursing is a career someone would settle for if she isn't smart enough to become a physician.

Eleanor Evenson, RN, CCRN

St. Charles, MN