The formidable spectre of Hattie Jacques ruling over her hospital ward with a rod of iron still lingers in p eople's minds when they come into contact with nurses.

But the "Carry On" film image of the battleaxe matron and buxom Barbara Windsor's dizzy blonde nurse has faded over the years, much to the relief of the professionals on the wards.

A Mori poll carried out for the Royal College of Nursing and Nursing Times magazine, showed only six per cent of those questioned viewed nurses as having "sex appeal", while just eight per cent thought they were "very authoritarian".

Those figures are in stark contrast to findings 15 years ago when many people still clung to the comic Carry On Nurse images in a series of films about the medical profession.

Now, eight out of ten people say nurses are "extremely hardworking" and "caring and understanding", and fewer expect them slavishly to obey doctors' orders without question.

At 37, Basildon Hospital nurse Catherine Pritchard still remembers the screen characters which have dogged her profession for so long.

She admitted: "Nurses do get very uptight when someone jokes about that image, and will immediately jump to each other's defence.

"They may only be light-hearted comments but immediately our hackles rise."

She said the Carry On portrayal had been perpetuated more recently when Anthea Turner appeared on a TV charity programme, dressed in mini-skirted, revealingly-tight nurse's uniform.

Catherine, a nurse for 15 years, said: "There was an immediate outcry from nurses. How dare she portray us like that? Feelings are very strong.

"Nurses want to be viewed as serious professionals.

"Carry On Nurse was funny at the time but it was on-screen entertainment and not to be taken seriously.

"There is a very fine dividing line and people will be shot down in flames if they cross it. "We don't want to be seen like that."

Christine Hancock, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "Quite rightly, the public places the highest value on the essentials of nursing caring for the all-round needs of patients."

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