I was just wondering what other nurses' thoughts are on the show, "Grey's Anatomy". I have been following the show for a while (who can resist Patrick Dempsey?? :) and I have to say, it seems to me that the show portrays nurses in a derogatory way a lot of the time.
For example, every time a doctor or intern needs something, they yell "Nurse!" and then the nurse comes and is ordered to do something. I have never seen them addressed by their name. Or last week, an intern yelled at a nurse like she was a child because his patient had been discharged without orders, and she responded, "I assumed someone else had taken care of the paperwork. We're short staffed". I thought that was kind of ridiculous. As nurses it is our job to be sure the patient has received any necessary teaching/materials before they go home and paperwork and charting is one of the most important components of our job. That is our responsibility. The show made it look like the nurse didn't even care about the discharged patient, and that just looks unprofessional.
Or last night, the nurses were shown going on strike and at one point they were passing along information to one of the doctors about their patients, such as "so and so never takes their pills, etc.". The doctor acted surprised they were doing this and one nurse responded, "They're our patients too, Geroge." I felt upset after hearing this statement because in nursing school we are taught to be the advocates for our patients. That is our professional responsibility and if anything, I would think it'd be the other way around. Nurses are the ones who spend most of their time with the patients, not the doctors and interns- of course they are OUR patients!! Although the show doesn't depict this at all. On the show doctors are seen spending lots of time with the patients in their rooms, moving beds, bringing food trays, transporting patients, etc. I saw a nurse in a room once, but when the doctor walked in he said "Why don't you go get Mrs. Smith's meds together?" as if she were a child or something. Obviously the show overlooked the fact that managing/distributing meds are solely the nurse's responsiblity, not the doctor's.
Finally, on the show there was a syphilis outbreak and of course, the nurse was the one who gave it to one of the interns. She got it from one of the other doctors.
I am not trying to put down the show- it's a good show- but I think that the writers need to take more responsibility for the way they portray the profession of nursing, especially considering what a shortage we have right now. Who will want to go into nursing if they see them portrayed that way? And even if they still are interested, we go through too much during nursing school and work too hard to be brushed off as the doctors' slutty handmaidens with STD's. Am I the only one who feels this way?
George would stay true blue . . . . while Patrick would pine away for another woman while laying in bed with you. Still and all, he does have dreamy eyes.
Carolinapooh, you rock! For a while, my favorite work-out mix was Britney and Cher. I have to confess that I love this show, but really, if the creator of this show thinks it's any more than a hunk-fest hospital soap opera, she's got to be dreaming. It's definitely entertaining but I wouldn't ever expect it to deliver a meaningful message about society. I think expecting something more out of this show is like expecting something with societal meaning out of a day-time soap. You can however always expect that you will drool over Patrick Dempsey and be thoroughly entertained for one hour. That's all the show really is. So I'm not trying to knock anyone who thinks this is a serious slap in the face to nurses, because I agree with other posters who don't like how the show portrays nurses, but would you even want this ridiculous, circus-act of a show to be a forum for positively portraying nurses in the media? I think demanding that of such a fluff show would grant it more meaning than it deserves and was ever supposed to have. So I say, let's start our own nursing show. :)
The creator of Grey's Anatomy is Shonda Rhimes, an African American woman. She intends the show to be a feminist approach to the medical field and also prides herself on promoting diversity. Ironically enough in an interview on News and Notes with Ed Gordon on NPR (March 25, 2005) she talks about trying to dispel stereotypes when it comes to minorities on television, saying "the way people look at people on television is the way they perceive the world. And for me the idea of the show, part of it, is that we can change the assumptions that people have simply by the images they see in the background of the show." However, she completely forgets to dispel the nursing stereotype from the show. In fact many articles on the Center for Nursing Advocacy cite examples of reverse misogyny. The female residents seemed to be so intent on asserting themselves as female physicians that they often put down the nurses and their profession. In one episode one of the female residents stands up for her fellow doctors by saying "You're the pig who called Meredith a nurse...I hate you on principle," and demands that the offender treat her with the respect that a doctor deserves (Center for Nursing Advocacy, 2005, April 5). This is deeply disturbing because it is a destructive and elitist form of feminism. A reviewer labels the new paradigm expressed on the show as "dress for success" feminism and explains that it is "an expression of contempt for a traditionally female profession by bright, ambitious women who think they have left all that lowly "women's work" behind in pursuing high-status," (Center for Nursing Advocacy, 2005, April 5). Instead of uniting and encouraging all women, Grey's Anatomy seems to encourage the distinct hierarchy of the medical field. This new feminist approach portrayed on television is only successful by disparaging another whole set of women.
I agree and I think this is kind of where I was getting at with this post. I mean as nurses we have always had to work to defy the sterotypes society puts on us. But it doesn't help when a popular tv show only perpetrates the "just a nurse" idea.
I admit that part of the reason I take it hard when I see these things on tv is that my family sees nursing as a profession that isn't "good enough" for me. They are always like, "so you're going to be a nurse...is that it?" I may not be able to change their views, but I take every chance I have to show them what the profession is REALLY about, and that there are so many different diections you can go being a nurse. It is discouraging, however, when popular culture comes right back and throws all these stereotypes right back at us.
I agree with everyone who says this show can't be taken seriously. It's a soap opera and doesn't really portray anything that accurately. But if SHonda wants it to be taken seriously, then she damn well better make some changes or she will continue to hear from nurses- and we definitely outnumber everyone else in the medical field!!! Calling someone a nurse does not make anyone a pig. If she thinks she is helping feminism by showing females in high-profile doctor positions, I am wondering what message that then sends to male nurses. Are they less masculine because they choose to be nurses? Hell no. Bottom line is, nursing is a totally seprate profession and being a doctor is not a "step up" from being a nurse. I am a proud feminist, I graduated at the top of my class, and I CHOSE to be a nurse because that is where you can make a real difference in the lives of your patients- to me, that is more empowering than wearing a white coat could ever be.
Carolinapooh, you rock! For a while, my favorite work-out mix was Britney and Cher. I have to confess that I love this show, but really, if the creator of this show thinks it's any more than a hunk-fest hospital soap opera, she's got to be dreaming. It's definitely entertaining but I wouldn't ever expect it to deliver a meaningful message about society. I think expecting something more out of this show is like expecting something with societal meaning out of a day-time soap. You can however always expect that you will drool over Patrick Dempsey and be thoroughly entertained for one hour. That's all the show really is. So I'm not trying to knock anyone who thinks this is a serious slap in the face to nurses, because I agree with other posters who don't like how the show portrays nurses, but would you even want this ridiculous, circus-act of a show to be a forum for positively portraying nurses in the media? I think demanding that of such a fluff show would grant it more meaning than it deserves and was ever supposed to have. So I say, let's start our own nursing show. :)
I love Grey's Anatomy and think it is really entertaining. I think it is about as realistic as Desperate Housewives though. I'm a housewife right now and I don't think that show accurately portrays housewives. I'm not a nurse yet, so I might be more offended by Grey's Anatomy when I become one....but I don't think so.
I am just as exited as that nursing student when I see something I did not see before. I mean in clinicals we are begging the nurses to let us put a NG tube in instead of them, or give all the shots on that unit. So I know why that student was feeling that way. I am not ashamed to say, that I am that nursing student who is very exited when I get to see new things and thankfull for those oppertunities.
Oh I agree with you that I tend to get excited about new procedures but I certainly don't express that at the bedside which was my point. I may leave the room and burst out into a smile and a story with my fellow students but basically I was referring to her immature behavior. I mean, a life was just saved and that's what she says?! Correct me if I'm wrong but it does seem childish. This was hardly an NG tube procedure or an opportunity to give a shot to say the least.
OK... I am a really big fan of this show and, it was pretty good tonight BUT did anyone else think this plot was just a bit farfetched? The part about Bailey etc. is very good. I do really like that part. But the bomb stuff, is a little out there, how it all happened. Ah well. Next week's LOOKS like it'll be better than this week, but honestly I'm a little disappointed w/all the hype of this episode.
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Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN
11,305 Posts
:rotfl:
Funny post - although I listen to Southern Rock while on the treadmill.
steph