Choose Your Favorite TV Nurse

allnurses Guide · May 10, 2017

I have to admit I love Nurse Jackie - She is a classic Anti-hero. Totally Flawed but also totally Human.

guest52816 · May 10, 2017

Thor Ludgate from "Nurse Jackie." Thor had a passion for emergency nursing and trauma, and, in order to progress as a safe nurse, he had to control his diabetes. Judging by the fact that his being diabetic only figured into one incident, and he hasn't had any problems in his care since then, he has learned from his mistake and is able to work in a high-stress area of nursing while managing a chronic illness. In this way, I think he serves as a foil for Jackie, managing his diabetes well as opposed to her addiction spiraling out of control (in addition to Thor having a chronic physical issue that is not immediately noticeable while Jackie has a chronic mental issue that goes unnoticed for multiple seasons).
He is the best coworker any nurse can ask for. He is portrayed from the beginning as a competent, compassionate nurse, pretending to be a mad scientist to help cheer up a young patient. He relates well to coworkers-he and Momo go out with Zoey in an early episode to cheer her up after she made a medication error. He is the one to assist Zoey with intubation to save an infant, despite questionable legality. (The situation was portrayed as them having no other choice, either intubation or let an infant die. There was no doctor available.) When Akalitus helps out as a floor nurse, he is the one to thank her at the end of the day. He also helps Akalitus feel more confident when she is intimidated by an administrator from a rival hospital. He is the union representative and leads the strike to prevent the hospital from closing. When Jackie first makes a deal with the nasty Norwegian dude who wants to turn the hospital into condos, Jackie and the group of strikers are at odds. However, when Thor hears that Jackie only made the deal to get her nursing license back, he immediately accepts this.
Despite the fact that he is sometimes portrayed as a stereotypical gay male, he has the physical strength necessary to be an asset in the ER, where people can sometimes be unpredictable and violent. The episode where a patient's husband frequently had violent outbursts shows Thor physically restraining him and removing him from an area where the man could hurt others (that memorable scene where Thor is holding a struggling man, both of them covered in something brown. Jackie stares, and Thor says, "It's chocolate pudding; he went off in the cafeteria.") In the penultimate episode, he is the one to put Vigilante Jones in restraints and later put out the fire caused by Vigilante escaping.
He is shown to be supportive of his coworkers, baking a cake for Jackie when (he thought) she was one year sober and even bursting into the meeting between Jackie, Zoey, Akalitus, and the BON to fight to have Jackie's nursing license reinstated. I feel that Zoey ended up being too close to Jackie, and, in the end, enabled her to practice impaired by giving Jackie her own clean urine for Jackie's final drug test. Akalitus and Eddie enabled Jackie's addiction as well, by throwing away Jackie's dirty urine and supplying her with narcotics respectively. Thor was always supportive, despite not knowing the whole story. His support of Jackie was simply a nurse supporting a coworker, never reaching the point where he was enabling her drug use. Thor is one of the few nurses who play a major role in the show whose actions never did anything to enable Jackie's drug use. Based on what Thor knew of Jackie's situation (a former addict who is now totally sober), he was supportive and doing right by her and the hospital by helping her get her nursing license back. Of course, we as viewers have more information.
Throughout the show's run, Thor has been a friend, leader, confidante, and, above all, an excellent nurse.

Wonderful, just wonderful. I voted for Jackie, but after reading this, I am thinking about Thor. Obviously written by a true fan of the show, and that is marvelous.

Good job!

Carathenurse · May 10, 2017

Eli from Grey's anatomy seasons 7&8.

Krystalferrell · May 10, 2017

Carla Espinosa, Scrubs

julesedrn · May 10, 2017

Zoey Barkow from Nurse Jackie, because she has the "new" nurse chipper, optimistic attitude, which is encouraging and sweet to the patients as well as her co-workers.

RNGummy40 · May 11, 2017

Rosario Dawson from Netflix show Daredevil. She is smart, tough, caring, and she is a super hero for saving lives.

FYI: non of the doctors on Greys anatomy are nurses and should not even be included. Sandy Summers and Harry Summers' book SAVING LIVES spells out why the media needs to change for our practice!

Lnesbit · May 11, 2017

The nurse Julia from the show back in the 60's

tia.thompson · May 11, 2017

Nurse Jackie. Even though she had a drug problem she still always put her patients first. Whether she was at work, home, on the street, or anywhere. She always helped those in need. I also loved that had a sarcastic attitude until it came to her patients she was always caring.

Catshor · May 11, 2017

Maggie Lockwood from Chicago Med. She is not afraid to advocate for her patient which is what a good nurse is.

AMcCRN · May 11, 2017

Nurse Ji-Sung from Heartbeat on NBC

mikajean08 · May 11, 2017

Regardless of her faults, Nurse Jackie.

yalondapoll · May 11, 2017

Gaylord Focker, or Greg male nurse in Meet the Parents. Love the movie because it's too funny and still today male nurses are still looked down on and still trying to get approval in a profession typically associated with women.