ER last night made me mad!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

:rolleyes: did you guys hear nusre sam ask abby if she could take her shift the next day, and dr. weaver said let somebody else do it, "we don't need our residents to be seen slinging bedpans." :angryfire I am so ticked at that show right now I am about ready to write a letter. That was uncalled for and continues the impression that all that nurses do is take care of code browns. When are we going to get a show that treats the nurses like the professional that they are without the snarky comments? :angryfire
Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
Can't any staff member be shown showing up for work, working all day without any personal crises and going home to a normal family? Surely someone in that ER could have had a normal social life, married and had children without major complications

You mean the staff at your workplace have "Normal" lives.

Can I work with them? I'm tired of working with the " I have to go home early because I broke a nail/my kid's SO broke up with them/hubby's gotten thrown in jail/kid's spouse beat them up/Spouse has a cold and can't use the remote'" crowd.

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Maybe i am just in a bad mood today..... but when did it become common practice on this board for people to judge whether or not a person should feel the way that they feel? I watched the show and yes it irritated me. No it won't matter in the grand scheme of things and yes there are other things in the world that are MORE upsetting, but that doesn't change the fact that this particular show offended me to some degree. If it didn't irritate you then that is great! I promise you that you will also find some things irritating that others will not. If someone wants to vent a bit to let out frustration, let them without making comments like "there are bigger things to worry about, or why would that upset you? It is just a TV show! get over it!", why can't we just reply without judging a persons right to their individual feelings? I guess this is just turning into another vent, because i have noticed this trend in quite a few threads lately. If the problem being vented about wouldn't or didin't bug you thats fine, say so, but it can be done in away that doesn't gloss over someone elses feelings.

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Maybe i am just in a bad mood today..... but when did it become common practice on this board for people to judge whether or not a person should feel the way that they feel? I watched the show and yes it irritated me. No it won't matter in the grand scheme of things and yes there are other things in the world that are MORE upsetting, but that doesn't change the fact that this particular show offended me to some degree. If it didn't irritate you then that is great! I promise you that you will also find some things irritating that others will not. If someone wants to vent a bit to let out frustration, let them without making comments like "there are bigger things to worry about, or why would that upset you? It is just a TV show! get over it!", why can't we just reply without judging a persons right to their individual feelings? I guess this is just turning into another vent, because i have noticed this trend in quite a few threads lately. If the problem being vented about wouldn't or didin't bug you thats fine, say so, but it can be done in away that doesn't gloss over someone elses feelings.

Don't apologize for your opinion, you are entitled to it. Many people feel that ER is "just a show" and that there are more important issues of concern, but ER, other television shows, advertisements, and the media in general insidiously continue to portray nurses and the profession in a negative manner or in a limited role. Many others share your feelings and concerns and are working to change the way our profession is perceived by the public.

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Specializes in Gerontological Nursing, Acute Rehab.
Don't apologize for your opinion, you are entitled to it. Many people feel that ER is "just a show" and that there are more important issues of concern, but ER, other television shows, advertisements, and the media in general insidiously continue to portray nurses and the profession in a negative manner or in a limited role. Many others share your feelings and concerns and are working to change the way our profession is perceived by the public.

I agree with Gldngrl and smkoepke.....yeah, it's just a show and there are other things going on that are "more" important....but on one hand we blow this concern off, yet we'll all throw a fit when we are not treated with the upmost professionalism and respect by all. This show, and others like it, may be the only "interaction" that some of the public really has with healthcare workers. I know I got pi##sed at ER when they got a float nurse from the (GASP!) geriatric floor.....she was about 70 years old, in her dress and cap, crabby as can be, and did not possess ANY nursing skills whatsoever. As a matter of fact, when asked for help, she quipped "I only make beds!"

Now, if that wasn't a "WTF!!!!" moment for me, I don't know what is.

So, now us LTC nurses are complete bumbling idiots with NO nursing skills (Oh no, I don't think I can POSSIBLY start an IV or push IV meds, doctor sir, I'm just a geriatric nurse!!) who only are good for making beds and fluffing pillows.

Thanks a lot, ER, you bunch of morons.

(I'm in a bad mood, too.....)

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Not to mention that newbie nurse in the Tweetie shirt on one of the episodes. After one too many 'yuckies' she witnessed, she twittered "This is NOT what I went to nursing school for!" and stormed off, never to be seen again.

Umm. Did this character never have a clinical rotation?

I'll join in the grousing over nurses protrayal on ER. Even the her highness Carol was a twit many times. Remember, that character ODed in the pilot. Why do we only have to focus on one nurse (who is usually dating one of the ER docs), and that particular nurse has major issues?

Guess it doesn't make a good enough story.... :rolleyes:

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After reading some of these posts, I'm glad that I have never seen an episode of ER.

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Specializes in Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.

I guess the reason ER's portrayal (or lack thereof) of nurses peeves me so much is that I really do believe the media is an incredibly powerful force in shaping the opinions and behaviors of our society as a whole. Furthermore it happens in such a subtle way; people are unable to pinpoint how they came to have a certain impression of a subject, be it women, nurses, George Bush. They just "knew of a nurse that..." or "heard somewhere". It isn't a very big step to "everbody knows that nurses...(fill in the blank)"

There was a similar thread recently discussing some of the stuff on MTV, etc.

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Specializes in Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.
I may be one of the few, I don't know...but I never liked ER because I felt in was a totally inaccurate betrayal of the way the ERs and hospitals in general work! It seems like a big soap opera to me. Sure, there are some juicey things happening in some real hospitals...affairs, etc. But not anywhere close to this stuff...only in the writers imaginations. And the drama is played out very briefly in real life...after all, it's only an ER! Short stays. Short interactions with patients then pass them on to OR, a floor/unit, or home. I like to watch "Trauma in the ER," for those of you who have seen it. It's great. It's real! :)

Haven't seen it. Do nurses exist on this show?

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

And as for the biblicalness of perenial care- I am not only a nurse but was a patient for 3 months, any time perenial care was performed I was not thinking that the nurse was an angel- I was biding my time that she got the h-e- double hockey sticks out of my room so I could regather my dignity.

:p "biblicalness" he he...Is that a real word or did you make it up? I like it....
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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.
After reading some of these posts, I'm glad that I have never seen an episode of ER.

you really havent missed anything

do better on Days of our Lives

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Specializes in Gerontological Nursing, Acute Rehab.
you really havent missed anything

do better on Days of our Lives

Speaking of Days, what the heck is up with Marlena?? Now, that show has really gone off the deep end!

Ok, everyone may resume the original topic..... :chuckle

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It used to bug me too how nurses were portrayed on these shows. But now I look at them like I would Jay Leno's and other shows...a entertaining joke/bash fest. Sad but true...too many people DO believe everything they hear and form opinions based on TV shows. I take the opportunity every chance I get to dispell myths personally. When out in general company people find I'm a nurse invariably I will get "So is it REALLY like ER in your hospital?" That's my opportunity and I take it...probably bore them to death too..if I'm not careful...the public has a short attention span for serious stuff...LOL!!

So true ER has become like the soap General Hospital. If we could get back to a CSI type show based on the fascinating things nurses and medical people run into and do, that would be good. ER started out more like that but has really backslid.

I'd like to see a medical show like that, wouldn't ya'll? Maybe we should design a pilot and try to sell it.....:)

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