ER last night made me mad!

Nurses General Nursing

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: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
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! :)

Yea, that's what I watch, "trauma in the ER." there was a good one on there last nite where the nurse was struggling with the many adversaties of being an ER nurse. At one point the DR. said to her: "whose running this floor, me or you." But the nurse handled the situation well. That show is more realistic and the nurses get a lot more credit for what they do. I love it! So stop watching ER and turn to Trauma in the ER!

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Specializes in LDRP; Education.

I stopped watching ER about 2 years ago due to asinine comments like the one the OP mentioned.

Yes, it's a TV show and yes, we all know it's fiction and not fact-based. Yes, we all know what the "truth" is. The problem is the public does NOT.

A 2000 JWT study of kids grade 2-10 found that they got their impressions of nursing from ER. Impressions were: a girl's job; a "technical field" equivalent to shop class in school.

Kasier found that 1 in 3 adults who watched ER based their medical decision and opinions on it.

So yes, it's a TV show but unfortunately, that's what portrays nursing in our society today.

Visit http://www.nursingadvocacy.org. They have a letter writing campaign.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

Wheres Marcus Welby MD when we need him

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Specializes in Neuro Critical Care.

Personally I love to watch ER, I know it is just entertainment and that is all I expect. I do see a lot of people who base their medical decision on what they saw on TV, but I also have a lot of patients make decisions based on what "Uncle John" had done or request meds because their cousin was on "it" when he had surgery. The general public has no idea what nurses do daily, I don't think they want to know.

I don't watch a show like ER expecting to see what an ER is like, I expect to watch an hour long drama. Trauma Life in the ER is a much better portrrayal of a true ER. When is the last time a network program showed something that was 100% accurate? The truth won't sell commercial slots!

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Helping someone onto a bedpan who can't get out of bed to use the toilet is perhaps the greatest honor you will ever have in this world. The rest (money, credentials, power) is all just smoke and mirrors. Cleaning someone up who has soiled themselves is the greatest act of kindness you will ever do. Shows like ER aren't real, so who cares how they portray anything?

When you see the truth, you will see that God has played a big joke on those who must elevate themselves to the status of emporer or die trying. If you can't see the incredible honor, dignity and power in being the person who provides perineal care to an incontinent patient--then you're in hell.

The Monist

Thank you for this words! You have an attitude to nursing that mirrors an etic fundament relateted to the human being who need help with the most private act: to clean them selves and to empty the bladder- all because of illness/handicap. I have worked with severe ill patients in intensive care; IV, bagging and medication and so on are only technic, To care is an art.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I would like to see a reality show about nursing. Make the camera a 'floater'. You know, different department each week, different shift, etc.

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I would like to see a reality show about nursing. Make the camera a 'floater'. You know, different department each week, different shift, etc.

Theres a show on discovery Health called Nurses where they follow nurses in different departments.

The other night on there, they had a show called "The Residents" but it focused a lot on the nurses. Thats another reality show.

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I would like to see a reality show about nursing. Make the camera a 'floater'. You know, different department each week, different shift, etc.

Theres a show on discovery Health called Nurses where they follow nurses in different departments.

The other night on there, they had a show called "The Residents" but it focused a lot on the nurses. Thats another reality show. One nurse really got in a doctor's face when he wanted to double bunk a comabitve patient with a really sick patient. That was fun to watch :)

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That episode of "The Residents" was great (this past monday on TLC). I don't usually watch it because, well you know, I don't really need to see a bunch of bumbling residents outside of work, but I caught the end of it and was so happy to see a nurse promenently (sp?) featured. But "ER" = yuck and people really do always ask, "is your job just like the tv show" :rolleyes:

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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

seen it at work for years, no decades

why watch it on TV

Thank god its not on the golf channel

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Can't watch medical dramas with my family any more -- they say I take the fun out of them -- particularily some of the older ones -- with real poor effects -- like the breathing corpse, or the person who's found dead -- supposedly been dead for hours and is still pink -- apparently ( and I know they're right -:rolleyes: - I do) I occasionally will snort or chuckle and make some comment like "Yeah right, that's what a corpse looks like" Or "Did you see that?! -- we don't do that ! " I believe I have even launched into a discussion of what it really ought to look like etc. It is a bit of a joke at our house -- if a medical drama is on -- they tell me I can't watch it unless I promise not to run a commentary through it.... and even if I agree -- I tend to need reminders from time to time. :p

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Theres a show on discovery Health called Nurses where they follow nurses in different departments.

The other night on there, they had a show called "The Residents" but it focused a lot on the nurses. Thats another reality show. One nurse really got in a doctor's face when he wanted to double bunk a comabitve patient with a really sick patient. That was fun to watch :)

Yea, I saw that. And thats why I only watch the Discovery Health channel b/c they are the only ones who give an accurate account of what it really means to be a nurse. they actually show respect to the RN. Techs don't get much play tho, but what can u expect....

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