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Real-Life Nurses Talk About How They're Portrayed on TV
Morning Star
September 20, 2009
The newest rash of television medical dramas have many of the same elements we’ve become used to: dramatic traumas, personal baggage and plenty of tawdry affairs.
The difference between this batch and its predecessors, like “ER” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” is that this time around, the nurses are taking center stage instead of the doctors.
For some in the nursing profession, it’s a welcome pop-culture change.
Showtime premiered its offering, “Nurse Jackie,” with Edie Falco first in June.
TNT followed up a week later with “HawthoRNe,” starring Jada Pinkett Smith as a chief nursing officer.
“Mercy,” featuring Taylor Schilling as a nurse newly returned from a tour in Iraq, premieres 8 p.m. Sept. 23 on NBC.
There are definite similarities between the shows.
The main nurses are strong-willed, whether with dragging doctors, doe-eyed newbies or hospital administrators. It’s the nurses who share the most compassionate moments with patients. And the nurses definitely run the show.
“In working on this role, it’s become more and more clear to me how nurses are sort of the backbone of our hospital system,” Schilling said last month at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif.
“I’ve been spending time in different hospitals around New York, and it’s been really, really exciting. And there’s this period of time before the doctor comes in and after the doctor leaves — that’s most of the time a patient is in the hospital, and they’re with their nurses.
“There hasn’t been an opportunity to sort of acknowledge that or really explore that period of time.”
From Maj. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in “M*A*S*H” to Abby Lockhart in “ER,” TV has seen its share of memorable nurses.
But for actual practicing registered nurses, the secondary role those characters played, has been a little insulting — and unrealistic.
“I think it’s awesome that they’re bringing the nurses to the forefront where we’ve been in the background for the past couple of years,” said Julie King, a clinical manager for Wilmington Health Associates.
kstiltner1
about 1 month ago
7268 comments
I know they think all nurses do on the job is have sex. First I more picky than hook up with a doctor and second out patients are more important than a bunch of drama nonsense.
BB99
about 1 month ago
6 comments
I haven't seen Nurse Jackie, not getting Showtime or whichever channel it's on, but something about the previews turned me off. The rest of the current crop of nurse-centered TV shows (HawthoRNe, Mercy) seem to me to portray nurses in a much more realistic light...although I take exception with the number of times Hawthorne is able to work one on one with patients, being what I assume is the equivalent of a nursing director or Manager....most units I've worked on in my 10 years as a travel nurse, nurses in a management position rarely have time to work one on one with patients. Still, I'm enjoying these 2 shows, and enjoyed the improvements in ER over the years, showing nurses in a more accurate light and as main characters on the show, and I'm SOOO glad we've gotten away from the stereotypical nurses in short skirts kowtowing to doctors roll that we saw on TV not too many years ago.
My favorite TV nurse, though? Margaret Hoolihan on MASH...although even she had her moments. (Hot Lips!!) She was fully capable of running that unit.
USAFlightMedic
2 months ago
78 comments
It is entertainment. None of the shows are realistic, but if that were the case it would not be exciting to the general public. So these shows are built up beyond reality so why argue about entertainment. I like reruns of ER and liked Nurse Jane while it was on, but either one could have been pulled apart by real nurses. So that is entertainment.